Need to be clear, What the benefits are in exploring Renewable energy.

Need to be clear,  What the benefits are in exploring Renewable energy.
From Engr. Odusina Adewale Hiworks
To simply assume your green energy system will have economic value will be wrong.
However, the benefit of green energy is not only economical; the need to reduce carbon emissions is equally critical knowing that every green energy deployment contribute into the zero carbon emission campaign.

I must mention that any effort at all by anyone to use alternative energy solution with zero carbon emission must be lauded.

However,  when the business model is such that economic gains is a critical factor,  then,  the approach is a different kettle of fish.

We have had cases, where by our review of expectations, We have had to advised client to forget any economic benefit as all they could get would be
CSR Equity as the benefit could only be a social promotional campaign credit for green energy deployment.

For a country like Nigeria, where public power is still rearly available, petrol and diesel generators are the reliable alternative.
Most companies and individuals run 2400 operational hours yearly and over 50% of this time on generator support.

The 50% implies 1200hours daytime and 1200hours nighttime.

This in naira value will be N360,000.00 yearly on 750W genset implying cost of running petrol. N1,250,000.00 for 10kva diesel gen. N3M for 30kva, N10M for 100Kva, N20M for 200kva, N35M for 300kva, N51M for 500kva. All cases for 2400 operational hours and at N250 per litre. (Kindly use current diesel rate in your neighborhood)

For economic benefit of renewable energy, the deployment must be benchmarked against the savings on diesel consumption.

The particular case I want to focus on is where the load profile hugely substantial and from 10kva minimum and require that gensets are deployed day and night.

To completely replace 10kva gender,  one will require an investment in renewable worth N15M,  with 50% of the investment fixed for 30years and the other 50% reoccurring lithium battery cost every 10years dependent on quality of maintenance and exposure to unfavourable environmental elements. Anything from 5years will make battery cheaper than diesel. A ten Years plan could see a savings of 5years in diesel cost. This is of course after the implementation cost, had been zeroed over 12-15years.

The minimum green energy capacity for economic benefit will be 25% of gensize. For grid tie solar system where there are no batteries, hence no reoccurring expenses, the savings on diesel from 5-8years will pay for the renewable energy system.

This article can not cover the various load profiles, their respective possible solutions, economic benefit, and payback time.

Lithium batteries

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    Community Renewable Energy and Technology Lifespan of Lithium Ion Solar Batteries

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Richard
Richard
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Lifespan of Lithium Ion Solar Batteries
‎23-03-2017 03:43 PM

One aspect of solar battery storage that appears to be under-reported and not transparent in most solar storage providers’ literature is just how long will Lithium ion batteries last before they need to be replaced.

There are a few abbreviations you will come across in some of the material included in this post:

Calendar life: How long the battery will last, influenced mainly by state of charge and operating temperature.

Cycle life: The number of charge/discharge cycles a battery can undergo before it is no longer usable.

DoD: Depth of discharge, meaning how far the battery has been discharged from full charge.

SOC: State of charge, meaning how much charge the battery currently holds.

SOH: State of health, meaning how much usable capacity the battery has left over time.

EOL: End of life, the point at which the battery is no longer usable.

Ah: Amp hours, meaning a measure of total energy; for example, drawing 10 amps current for 2 hours is 20 Ah.

Watt: A watt is a measure of power. For example, to draw 1 amp from a 12 volt battery is 12 watts of power.

kW: A kilowatt is a thousand watts.

kWh: A kilowatt hour is a measure of energy. For example, 1 amp from a 12 volt battery for 100 hours is 1.2 kWh.

Let me start by quoting 7 reasons for using Li ion batteries instead of lead acid batteries, as quoted in http://www.relionbattery.com/blog/7-facts-and-figures-comparing-lithium-ion-vs.-lead-acid-batteries

Lead, which is the heaviest non-radioactive metal, has been the standard in batteries for decades. Why should you consider a lithium battery conversion? Here are seven features explaining the disparity between lead acid and lithium-ion batteries.

1)   Weight: Lithium-ion batteries are one-third the weight of lead acid batteries.

2)   Efficiency: Lithium-ion batteries are nearly 100% efficient in both charge and discharge, allowing for the same amp hours both in and out. Lead acid batteries’ inefficiency leads to a loss of 15 amps while charging and rapid discharging drops voltage quickly and reduces the batteries’ capacity.

“I disagree to some extent with Item 2 above in that Li-ion batteries have about 95% efficiency. That is, if you draw 100Ah from the battery, you will need to put in about 105 Ah to recharge it.”

3)   Discharge: Lithium-ion batteries are discharged 100% versus less than 80% for lead acid. Most lead acid batteries do not recommend more than 50% depth of discharge.

4)   Cycle Life: Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries cycle 5000 times or more compared to just 400-500 cycles in lead acid. Cycle life is greatly affected by higher levels of discharge in lead acid, versus only slightly affected in lithium-ion batteries.

5)   Voltage: Lithium-ion batteries maintain their voltage throughout the entire discharge cycle. This allows for greater and longer-lasting efficiency of electrical components. Lead acid voltage drops consistently throughout the discharge cycle.

6)   Cost: Despite the higher upfront cost of lithium-ion batteries, the true cost of ownership is far less than lead acid when considering life span and performance.

7)   Environmental Impact: Lithium-ion batteries are a much cleaner technology and are safer for the environment. 

Though they are used to power the same applications, that is where the similarity between lithium-ion and lead acid batteries ends. Lithium batteries deliver higher-quality performance in a safer, longer-lasting package.

The following link indicates the characteristics of the Sunverge batteries being employed in the AGL VPP.

https://aglsolar.com.au/solar-battery-storage/

If you examine the “Market Comparison” data for the Sunverge 11.6 kWh battery you will see it has a capacity of 11.6 kWh and a usable energy of 9.9 kWh. This means they are designed to have a DoD of 9.9 / 11.6 or 85%. It also states a warranty period of 10 years. I would expect that the original design concept was for the batteries to be discharged once a day, meaning 3,650 cycles over the ten year warranty period. This in itself suggests to me that a cycle life of about 5,000 cycles would be a reasonable estimate, and that the design would allow for the full 85% drawdown each day. If this is correct, then using off-peak or controlled load to charge the batteries at night, as well as during the day, would lead to a much shorter cycle life. The option of controlled load grid charging may well be appealing to those who have a heavy night time and breakfast load.

Cycle life is dependent upon a number of variables; mainly depth of discharge and temperature, but also rate of charge and discharge, under or over-charging etc.

The following very important link will show you very clearly just what effect depth of discharge (DoD) and temperature will have on your batteries. It is very important, in my opinion, to locate your batteries in as cool a place as possible.

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwiT2Z3Rn-nSAhWCX5QKHTtcA...

The following advertisement is definitely worth reading, if perhaps for no other reason than to suggest that the Sunverge batteries may be well chosen for the VPP, given this manufacturer is proud to claim a total of 2,500 cycles.

http://www.deepcyclesystems.com.au/pv-series-solar-storage/

The following link to a supposedly high quality German battery manufacturer claims 5,000 cycles for 80% DoD. At least they make clear what the specifications are, something lacking in most material.

http://www.offgridenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/BMZ-ESS7.0-English-2016.pdf

I have requested a graph of DoD vs cycles from Sunverge, but they told me to ask AGL. This I have done and will post the graph should it appear. It has to be born in mind that life cycles are very dependent on DoD and temperature, as you will have seen from the third link above to saft batteries.

The following link is very informative and descriptive, and well worth reading.

http://batterytestcentre.com.au/project/lithium-ion/

The following four links are also well worth reading if you have come this far. There is an abundance of material on the web, but it appears educating people about the real facts of solar battery storage is something you have to do yourself.

http://www.batterypoweronline.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Lead-acid-white-paper.pdf

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/batteries_for_medical_consumer_hobbyist

https://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/solar-choice-battery-storage-product-lifespan-comparison-tool

http://www.mpoweruk.com/solar_power.htm

1 REPLY
limydoo
Community Manager limydoo
Community Manager
Re: Lifespan of Lithium Ion Solar Batteries
‎24-03-2017 12:08 PM

Hi @Richard, I just wanted to pop in to this thread and thank you so much for sharing this informative and insightful post with the community! This is brilliant, and with the rapid uptake of Lithium batteries in homes I'm sure this will serve as a great source of information for prospective battery customers to conduct some additional research.

I'd wager @BWSS would have some thoughts on this..

Before posting, make sure you are familiar with our community guidelines.

And be sure to give a like when you see a helpful post from a user!
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How To Get The Size Of Inverter Batteries

How To Get The Size Of Inverter Batteries

From Odusina Adewale Hiworks

If an inverter is needed to support certain load when public power or generator fails,  batteries are needed to store electrical energy for such period. 

The size of such inverter can be calculated by simply adding all the power capacities of the appliances together and multiplying that by a factor of simultaneity which anticipates that not all the connected appliances will be in use at at times;  at some points, some light will be switched off, some TVs will be turned off,  your refrigerator, air-conditioning systems will automatically go on ad off to regulate temperature,

Batteries as some of us have observed are rated in AH implying AMP HOUR.  AMP is current capacity and hour implies time.
Hence a 100AH Battery will automatically run 100A current for 1hour. It also means it could run 50A for 2hours and will run 10A for 10A.  You will observe all the various deployments still equals 100AH.

To now get your required battery capacity,  practically,  you need to profile how you use individual appliances.

Say,  TV rated100W (locate info at the back or on the side of your appliances) is used for 10hours = 100x10WH, and your 10nos light points rated 20W are used for 5hours = 10x20x5 WH and your 5nos standing fans rated 50W each are used for 10hours =5x50x10 WH.

Total WATTHOUR = 1000+1000+2500WH =4500WH

NOTE THAT BATTERIES ARE RATED IN AH

Now you need to know the profile of your inverter.  Inverter is not a generator.  Inverter simply converts Direct Current Supply to Alternating Current Supply just like Transformer converts High Tensions to Low Voltage.

Different inverters have various Dc voltage they work with;  12, 24,48,92,120, 192Volts etc

Inverter also have rated power capacity. For the above example,  we shall assume simultaneity to be 60%. This implies I need inverter size that can support all the above mentioned load TV-100+LIGHTS-200+FANS-250 =550W x 60% = 330W.

Recommended inverter size shall be 500W.  you however need to read the input voltage value for the plate attached to the inverter.

By dividing the input voltage V input by the total WattHour being 4500WH,  you will have your AH value.

Hence for V =12V, AH is 4500/12 = 375AH
For V =24V, AH is 4500/24= 188AH
For  V =48V, AH is 4500/48 = 94AH

it also implies, that as V increases, more batteries will be added.

Most common inverter battery is the 200AH 12V Batteries. Let me spare you other classifications.

It then implies that 2 batteries shall be required irrespective of which inverter profile is used.

Note that the higher the input voltage the smaller the AH.

For further enquiry whatsapp or call Wale on +2348037871708. You can also email hiworksprocurement@gmail.com or hwsl2014@gmail. com