Method and apparatus for estimating lifespan of battery

1. A method for estimating a residual lifespan of a battery, comprising the steps of:

fully discharging the battery;

partially charging the fully discharged battery under a predetermined charging condition;

acquiring pieces of voltage information at multiple specific points of measurement time while partially charging the battery; and

calculating a remaining capacity of the battery by using the acquired pieces of voltage information,

wherein, at the step of acquiring pieces of voltage information, increments of voltage from a time of starting to charge the fully discharged battery to the specific points of measurement time are acquired,

wherein, at the step of calculating the remaining capacity of the battery, a particle filter is applied to the acquired pieces of voltage information,

wherein the step of calculating the remaining capacity of the battery includes the steps of: calculating a battery capacity measured at one cycle of full discharge and charge once by using the measured increments of voltage; and

calculating the residual lifespan of the battery by applying capacities measured at multiple cycles of full discharge and charge to a statistical method.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of fully discharging is performed when a load starts to be stabilized based on an operation schedule or an accumulated operation pattern of an ESS composed of the battery.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of fully charging is performed if a state of charge (SOC) of the battery is lower than a preset threshold when the load starts to be stabilized.

4. An apparatus for estimating a residual lifespan of a battery, comprising:

a reference data-storing unit for storing reference data that become a basis of estimating the residual lifespan of the battery;

a charge/discharge-controlling unit for fully discharging the battery to estimate the residual lifespan of and partially charging the battery under a predetermined charging condition;

a voltage information-acquiring unit for acquiring pieces of voltage information of the battery at multiple specific points of measurement time while partially discharging the battery; and

a remaining capacity-calculating unit for calculating a remaining capacity of the battery by using the acquired voltage information and the reference data,

wherein the remaining capacity-calculating unit repeats the step of calculating battery capacities measured at one cycle of full discharge and charge and also at multiple cycles of full discharge and charge, and calculates the residual lifespan of the battery by the calculated battery capacities which are applied to particle filter.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein, during actual use of the battery, full discharge is performed when a load starts to be stabilized based on an operation schedule or an accumulated operation pattern of an ESS composed of the battery.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising a unit for creating reference data to acquire the pieces of voltage information of the battery at the multiple specific points of measurement time if charge/discharge operations are conducted in a scope that meets the predetermined charging condition after the full discharge, and creating the reference data stored in the reference data-storing unit.