Powering Batteries Safely

­Welcome to the July edition of Power Systems Design Europe. Having just returned from the PCIM exhibition in Nuremberg, it’s hard not to feel positive about the industry. I talked to well over 20 companies at the show, and almost everyone was introducing new products that gave power solutions higher performance, better efficiency, smaller footprints, made them more cost-effective, or more capable in some other way. Each advance will assist the changeover to alternative energy, electric vehicles, or quicken the digitization of industry to mention a few benefits. The exhibition itself was very busy, with 650 exhibitors from 27 countries, 120 of whom were at the show for the first time. Over 60% of visitors travelled from outside of Germany. The organisers haven’t released the final attendance so far, but it felt as busy as I’ve seen it.

One topic that came up often at the show was batteries, and that makes sense, since power electronics stand between batteries and the load. As well as converting the battery voltage for use by the load, electronics are also responsible for charging and monitoring the batteries, which gets more complex with a greater number of cells. As the cells age, they degrade at different levels and their specifications change, leading to variations in performance. Charging and discharging happens more quickly to weaker cells, and there is a danger if charging continues after the cells are fully charged. This requires careful management and balancing to ensure there is no danger of overheating. The first two articles in our ‘Batteries and Other Storage Devices’ Special Report this month both look at battery management and balancing. The first of those was contributed by Analog Devices. The article looks at how active and passive balancing operate and the advantages and disadvantages of each technique.

The second article in the Special Report was submitted by STMicroelectronics. It covers battery management for humanoid robotics. These humanoid robots are predicted to be a growing part of the industry in the short and medium terms. Barclays investment bank estimates that the market for humanoids is currently valued at $2-3 billion and is projected to surge to $40 billion by 2035 in a base case, with upside scenarios reaching $200 billion. Power electronics are at the heart of humanoid robotic designs, supplying the power to where it is needed and controlling the current to the motors that help the robot to move in a realistic way. The article describes the importance of the power architecture in those designs.

As well as the articles in the Special Report, this month’s issue also contains articles of general interest to the power electronics industry in our Tech Focus section, as well as the latest news and views from the industry.

Best Regards

Ally Winning

European Editor, PSD

Ally@powersystemsdesign.com