Maintenance-Free, 100 Ampere-Hour, Lead Acid Battery for Deep Discharge, Photovoltaic Applications

摘要

A new 6-volt 100 AH totally maintenance-free lead-acid battery was developed for deep discharge photovoltaic applications. During this 14-month contract, notable accomplishments are described. Improvement was made in cycle life of 100 AH batteries with horizontal plate orientation. This improvement corroborates prior art work on the horizontal configuration as applies to cycle life. Eagle-Picher had instituted this work earlier on the 15 AH size CAREFREE battery. The reason for the enhanced performance horizontally is more consistent quantity of electrolyte available along the plate surface. This eliminates preferential electrochemical reaction at any part of the plate surface. Also the horizontal orientation eliminates stratification of electrolyte specific gravity which can occur on vertical oriented batteries. A substantial improvement in cycle life using the partial-state-of-charge cycling routine as conceived by Sandia was demonstrated. Totally sealed operation was accomplished with oxygen gas recombination of starved electrolyte 100 AH batteries at charge rates of C/100 to C/20. The final design was a sealed, starved electrolyte 100 AH battery to provide oxygen gas recombination with the negative plate. (ERA citation 07:047028)