Energy storage in photovoltaic stand-alone energy supply systems

✍ Scribed by Georg Bopp; Hansjörg Gabler; Klaus Preiser; Dirk Uwe Sauer; Heribert Schmidt

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 520 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1062-7995
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-159x(199807/08)6:4<271::aid-pip223>3.0.co;2-p

✦ Synopsis

Energy storage is a key element in solar energy supply. Thirty per cent of the lifetime costs of solar o-grid systems or even more may be attributed to the storage. Although a variety of storage technologies is under development, the lead±acid battery still is, and will be for some years to come, the working horse for electricity supplies in remote areas.

This paper discusses the operating conditions of batteries in photovoltaic systems. The ageing eects that limit battery lifetimes are treated in detail. Electronic equipment, which is used to support the operation of batteries, is presented. Optimized control strategies will in future allow a considerable reduction of the overall system costs mainly through an extension of battery service lifetimes.