Remote Assessment of Battery Degradation-Related Service Interruptions in an Energy Kiosk

Abstract

It is estimated that over 800 million people do not have adequate access to electrical energy. In many cases, electrification through traditional centralized grid expansion is not a viable option. As such, community-scale systems have been installed in numerous locations and rely on renewable resources as their power source. To maintain system reliability, off-grid electricity systems require batteries to store energy. While new battery technology is evolving at a rapid pace, the lead-acid battery remains the most cost-effective solution. Motivated by outages caused by low battery voltages, this paper explores the factors that can reduce lead-acid battery life, and looks specifically at the effects of temperature using recent field data from the Chalokwa energy kiosk in Zambia. This paper highlights the importance of selecting the right environment for batteries, and offers solutions to improve battery performance.