A Comparison of Batteries for the MECS Project

Abstract

In the context of the MECS project, the batteries are required to operate cooking appliances. In off-grid applications they are needed to store solar PV electricity. In weak-grid or mini-grid applications, batteries are needed to store electricity for later use, when grid electricity is more expensive, insufficiently powerful, or unavailable. All the batteries tested have a nominal capacity of 100Ah and a nominal voltage of 12V. In the case of lead-carbon, a single 100Ah battery was used. In the case of VRLA and LiFePO4, two 50Ah batteries of each were used to make a total of 100Ah when connected in parallel. Of the three battery chemistries tested, the lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4) is clearly superior to the lead-acid and lead-carbon. It maintains a higher open-circuit voltage and can deliver much more energy at high power.