Testing protocols for battery characterization

Abstract

Batteries are among the most promising storage technologies. Their high efficiencies, high power and energy densities and short response times make them ideal to sustain the flexibility needs for a smarter grid to integrate renewable sources and favor active user participation. Being complex systems, batteries need to be adequately modeled to be effectively integrated into the grid. Multiple models exist in literature, targeted to describe different aspects of battery behavior, with the issue being model validation: the extensive testing required generally involves long measurement sessions, which benefit greatly from measurement process automation. We propose a flexible and easily programmable Automated Measurement Station (AMS) for battery testing. The software to interface with and control the instrumentation is realized as blocks in Labview, providing an easy environment to customize battery tests for the specific application. Moreover, in this paper we provide application examples for the realized AMS, with related steps for battery characterization tests setting-up.