VARTA research bets on AI to achieve longer battery storage lifespan
PRESS RELEASE – Nördlingen, 20.02.2023:
Together with three renowned partners, German battery specialist VARTA is developing a battery management system based on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). The research project, entitled “Longer,” aims to map the typical operating modes of home storage systems and their effect on batteries more precisely than existing software. This will allow the use of available battery capacity to be optimized, while at the same time conserving the battery. The partners’ goal is to achieve a longer battery life, decrease the material input needed, and reduce CO2 emissions at a lower cost.
Pressebilder: https://sunbeam-communications.com/en/varta-research-bets-on-ai-to-achieve-longer-battery-storage-lifespan-2/
The company launches a joint project with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, NOVUM engineering GmbH, and TWT GmbH Science & Innovation
Research Coordinator at VARTA Storage Benjamin Achzet explained: “Home battery storage systems, today, typically complete 200 to 300 full charge cycles per year and are used almost exclusively to store solar power. In the future, home storage will also be able to act as an ‘electricity trader,’ thus further reducing energy costs and actively relieving the power grid.”
This will require storage systems with higher cycle stability, however. The Longer research project, which will run until the end of 2025, is intended to help prepare storage systems for such new tasks. With VARTA Storage as its coordinator, the project also has support from Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, NOVUM engineering, and TWT Science & Innovation.
AI to model individual battery aging
How battery storage systems age depends heavily on the number and depth of charging cycles, but also on a variety of other factors, including charging and discharging power as well as ambient temperature. Because both the processes within the battery and user behavior are very complex, aging is difficult to estimate using conventional methods. It has to be examined on an individual basis.
Through the Longer project, VARTA is using AI, together with machine learning, to develop models of user behavior and battery aging. To this end, programs are being implemented on field test devices of the VARTA.wall home storage system.
A new generation of individualized battery management
The AI is expected not only precisely to analyze load profiles in buildings, but also to learn how the battery should best be discharged or charged in any given situation, in order to operate more efficiently over time. “In the field trial, the AI independently learns how a particular load profile affects the battery, its state-of-heath. Over time, it will be able to predict the state-of-health, then allowing for predictive control,” said Jens Haupt, NOVUM engineering battery aging specialist. Such AI-based battery management will thus be able to make optimal use of the battery’s capacity, while also maximizing its service life.
Simulation models of storage facilities will be used in the Longer research, too, to test and validate the AI-based operating strategy efficiently, in a targeted manner. “Efficient simulation methods – or digital twins – not only allow validation in reasonable time frames, but also the testing of borderline scenarios that are otherwise costly to realize in the laboratory,” explained Alejandro Cárdenas, simulation expert at TWT Science & Innovation.
Instead of following fixed rules, AI finds the best strategy for each use case. “Typical yield and consumption patterns are already known to the AI and it constantly refines them through machine learning. This way, each home gets its own customized energy and battery management. Depending on personal preferences, it maximizes self-consumption, minimizes CO2 emissions, or optimizes for profitability,” added Arne Groß, Fraunhofer ISE software expert.
Through the research, the AI is to be used in storage devices produced by VARTA, which intends to deploy the technology to continuously improve its batteries. The company’s ultimate stated goal is to be able to offer a storage device with a lifetime warranty.
Press contact:
VARTA AG
Christian Kucznierz
Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: +49 79 61 921-2727
christian.kucznierz@varta-ag.com
VARTA presents high-performance energy storage in a unique aluminum design
PRESS RELEASE – Ellwangen, 5. Mai 2022:
VARTA.wall is the start of a new product generation for energy self-sufficient living.
VARTA is presenting the completely new high-performance energy storage system VARTA.wall at Smarter E Europe. Its newly developed die-cast aluminum housing with an installation depth of just ten centimeters makes it one of the most space-saving storage systems on the German market. A special boost function increases the security of supply in emergency power mode. The storage system is the first element of a new VARTA product generation for energy self-sufficient living, which will be expanded with additional devices and services in the coming months.
Press pictures: https://sunbeam-communications.com/en/press-pictures-varta-presents-high-performance-energy-storage-in-a-unique-aluminum-design/
Peter Werner, General Manager Energy Storage Systems: „VARTA.wall stands for VARTA’s development and design expertise. This new storage device is based on the experience and technology commitment from 135 years of VARTA’s company history. It heralds a generation change in our stationary storage systems.“
High performance even in emergency power mode
VARTA.wall was developed in Germany, is produced in Europe and is the first high-voltage storage system from VARTA with a capacity of ten to 20 kilowatt hours. Depending on the inverter used, the power is between 5.24 kW and 10.4 kW. Up to five systems can be operated in parallel.
The storage system is capable of providing emergency power and can supply the entire house with electricity in the event of a grid failure. A boost function increases the discharge rate (C rate), which is 0.5 in continuous operation, to 0.75 for a short time. This enables the storage system to absorb peak loads, such as those that occur when electronic devices are started.
Extremely flexible and easy installation
Dominik Gluba, Head of Operations Energy Storage Systems: „During the development, the focus was on our specialist partners’ desire for flexible and simple installation. This starts with the inverter compatibility, continues with the modularity and also includes the innovative module design and connector system. This allows the storage system to be installed in under 30 minutes.“
VARTA.wall is compatible with various market-leading inverter brands, including the market leader SMA, which is also the launch partner of the new storage system, and Kostal. Further compatibilities are in preparation. Thanks to its modular design, the storage device is also suitable for a wide variety of system configurations. The VARTA connector system ensures that the system components do not have to be wired.
New product family for energy self-sufficient living
In the coming months, VARTA will be launching further devices and services for energy self-sufficient living. This will include a wall box and a separate electricity tariff. The company is thus establishing itself as a partner for all households that are promoting their own energy transition.
VARTA will be presenting its energy storage systems from 11th to 13th May at Smarter E Europe in Munich in Hall B1, Stand 210.
About VARTA AG
VARTA AG produces and markets a comprehensive battery portfolio from microbatteries, household batteries, energy storage systems to customer-specific battery solutions for a variety of applications and, as a technology leader, sets industry standards in important areas. As the parent company of the group, it operates in the business segments “Lithium-Ion Solutions & Microbatteries” and “Household Batteries”.
The “Lithium-Ion Solutions & Microbatteries” segment focuses on microbatteries, lithium-ion coin power, lithium-ion round cells (lithium-ion large cells) and the lithium-ion battery pack business. Through intensive research and development, VARTA sets global standards in many areas of lithium-ion technology and microbatteries, making it a recognized innovation leader in the important growth markets of lithium-ion technology and in primary hearing aid batteries. The “Household Batteries” segment comprises the battery business for end customers, including household batteries, accumulators, chargers, portable power (power banks) and lights as well as energy storage devices.
The VARTA AG Group currently employs almost 4,700 people. With five production and manufacturing facilities in Europe and Asia as well as sales centers in Asia, Europe and the USA, the operating subsidiaries of VARTA AG are currently active in over 75 countries around the world.
Media contact
Christian Kucznierz
Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: +49 79 61 921-2727
christian.kucznierz@varta-ag.com
