Methods, systems, and devices for maintenance and optimization of battery cabinets
Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and devices for supporting the transition to lithium-ion batteries and leveraging the value that lithium-ion batteries offer in double conversion uninterruptible power supply (UPS) applications. In one embodiment, a battery pack includes (1) a plurality of battery cells electrically coupled between a positive terminal and a negative terminal; (2) monitoring and control circuitry electrically coupled with the plurality of battery cells; (3) a controller electrically coupled with the monitoring and control circuitry; (4) a communication interface and electrically coupled with the communication interface; and (5) a user interface. The monitoring and control circuitry includes a plurality of integrated shunt resistors and a plurality of integrated load circuits electrically coupled with the plurality of battery cells. The monitoring and control circuitry is configured for determining a current state-of-charge (SOC) for each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells and for discharging each battery cell to a predetermined SOC.
1. A battery pack comprising:
a plurality of battery cells electrically coupled between a positive terminal and a negative terminal;
monitoring and control circuitry electrically coupled with the plurality of battery cells, wherein:
the monitoring and control circuitry comprises a plurality of integrated shunt resistors and a plurality of integrated load circuits electrically coupled with the plurality of battery cells, wherein the plurality of integrated load circuits are configured for self-discharging of the battery pack; and
the monitoring and control circuitry is configured for determining a current state-of-charge (SOC) for each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells and for internally discharging each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells to a predetermined SOC using the plurality of integrated load circuits;
a controller electrically coupled with the monitoring and control circuitry;
a communication interface electrically coupled with controller; and
a user interface electrically coupled with the controller, wherein the controller is configured for:
receiving a discharge command from at least one of the communication interface and the user interface;
activating the plurality of integrated load circuits, upon receiving the discharge command; and
internally discharging each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells to a reduced SOC using the plurality of integrated load circuits.
2. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the reduced SOC is less than 50 percent.
3. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the reduced SOC is between 20 percent and 30 percent.
4. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of integrated load circuits comprises a plurality of load resistors.
5. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured for;
measuring a cell voltage across each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells; and
determining a current SOC for each battery cell based on the cell voltage.
6. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the controller is further configured for;
measuring a shunt voltage across each shunt resistor of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells; and
determining the current SOC for each battery cell is further based on the shunt voltage.
7. The battery pack of claim 1 further comprising a non-volatile memory electrically coupled with the controller; and the controller is configured for
determining a current SOC of the plurality of battery cells on a periodic interval; and upon determining the current SOC, storing the current SOC and a timestamp in the non-volatile memory.
8. The battery pack of claim 7 , wherein the period interval is a least one of hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly.
9. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the communication interface is at least one an external bus interface (EBI), a personal area network (PAN) communication interface, a local area network (LAN) interface; and a wide area network (WAN) interface.
10. The battery pack of claim 9 , wherein the communication interface is compliant to at least one version of a Bluetooth® standard and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard.
11. The battery pack of claim 9 , wherein the communication interface is a controller area network (CAN) bus interface.
12. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the plurality of battery cells are coupled in parallel between the positive terminal and the negative terminal.
13. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein at least of portion of the plurality of battery cells are coupled in series between the positive terminal and the negative terminal.
14. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises a touchpad display.
15. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises a liquid crystal display and a switch.
16. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the battery pack is a field replaceable battery pack for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system.
17. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of battery cells is a plurality of lithium-ion battery cells.
18. A method implemented by a controller within a battery pack, the method comprising:
receiving a discharge command from at least one of a communication interface and a user interface, wherein:
the communication interface is electrically coupled with the controller;
the user interface is electrically coupled with the controller; and
the battery pack further comprises:
a plurality of battery cells electrically coupled between a positive terminal and a negative terminal;
monitoring and control circuitry electrically coupled with the plurality of battery cells, wherein:
the monitoring and control circuitry comprises a plurality of integrated shunt resistors and a plurality of integrated load circuits electrically coupled with the plurality of battery cells, wherein the plurality of integrated load circuits are configured for self-discharging of the battery pack; and
the monitoring and control circuitry is configured for determining a current state-of-charge (SOC) for each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells and for discharging each battery cell to a predetermined SOC;
activating the plurality of integrated load circuits, upon receiving the discharge command; and
internally discharging each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells to a reduced SOC charge using the plurality of integrated load circuits.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions to be implemented on a controller within a battery pack, the instructions when executed by the controller provide a method for:
receiving a discharge command from at least one of a communication interface and a user interface, wherein:
the communication interface is electrically coupled with the controller;
the user interface is electrically coupled with the controller; and
the battery pack further comprises:
a plurality of battery cells electrically coupled between a positive terminal and a negative terminal;
monitoring and control circuitry electrically coupled with the plurality of battery cells, wherein:
the monitoring and control circuitry comprises a plurality of integrated shunt resistors and a plurality of integrated load circuits electrically coupled with the plurality of battery cells, wherein the plurality of integrated load circuits are configured for self-discharging of the battery pack; and
the monitoring and control circuitry is configured for determining a current state-of-charge (SOC) for each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells and for discharging each battery cell to a predetermined SOC;
activating the plurality of integrated load circuits, upon receiving the discharge command; and
internally discharging each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells to a reduced SOC charge using the plurality of integrated load circuits.
20. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the reduced SOC is compliant with a maximum allowed SOC for shipping and storage of the battery pack.