Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Field Testing Results

Abstract

The Electric Power Research Institute, Southern Research, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have collaborated on field testing of vanadium flow batteries. Numerous structured tests were performed using standard battery test protocols at two locations. Although the inverter configuration differed between the sites, the batteries were sourced from the same manufacturer and similar results were found. This paper describes the basic system architecture, the testing protocols used, and results pertaining to system efficiency measurements, standby losses, ramp rates, PV smoothing, and power quality issues experienced at one of the sites.