2024 Capability Portfolio Digital | Page 89

Clean Energy Capability Portfolio | Storage Technologies

LiFePO4 Battery

Management System

A wireless battery management system for LiFePO4 batteries capable of surviving cold-soaking at -80oC , with proven performance in Antarctica .

Competitive Advantage

• An innovative battery management system that :
• Has zero wiring
• Uses infrared for communication
• Allows hundreds of cells to be queried in seconds
• Contains one node per cell with infrared programmable firmware
• Can program multiple nodes in parallel , from any single node
• Completely separates digital and analogue sections for redundancy
• Has a large current capacity for charge balancing
• Is proven to survive altitudes of 4,100 metres in Antarctica in -80oC conditions

Impact

• Developed for use in Antarctica where reliability and low-temperature survivability are critical , and where untrained operators need to be able to replace cells easily

Our Collaborators

• Polar Research Institute of China
• Purple Mountain Observatory ( China )

More Information

Professor Michael Ashley
School of Physics
T : + 61 2 9385 5465 E : m . ashley @ unsw . edu . au
• Eliminating wiring and connectors , which are the major cause of failures

Successful Applications

• Used by China ’ s astronomical observatories at Kunlun Station – Dome A , Antarctica
• Capabilities and Facilities
• -80oC fridge for environmental testing
• Fault-tolerant software using low-power AVR microcontrollers

89