Shuangdeng Group Co., Ltd. (China Shoto) has established a US$40 million investment project aimed at increasing the life of lead-carbon batteries to more than 4000 cycles at 45 ° C at 60% depth of discharge (DoD) at last week’s ALABC technical workshop in Hang Zhou, China.
According to Mr. Xianyu Cai, the Deputy Director of Technical Center of China Shoto, conventional technology could only reach less than 2000 cycles. Increasing life expectancy of lead-carbon batteries at the high temperature is the key for improving the lead-acid batteries’ performance in electrochemical energy storage.
The study has found the main issue for the limiting lead-carbon battery life is grid corrosion, especially at the high temperatures. Meanwhile, grid corrosion affects other failure modes including grid growth, past softening and water loss.
Mr. Cai claimed the project would extend the life of the batteries by improving the corrosion resistance of the grid. The project will focus on optimising the composition of the alloy used in the grid and controlling the electrode potential, which might offer new ways to minimise the corrosion.
“We believe that high-temperature energy storage will be a new opportunity for lead-acid batteries”, said Mr. Cai.