NEC introduces 12V Li-ion battery line for stationary applications
29 January 2015
NEC Energy Solutions, along with NEC Corporation, has announced production availability of the Li-ion ALM 12V35 product line of 12-Volt batteries utilizing Nanophosphate lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) technology from A123 Systems.
With its EverSafe battery protection technology, the ALM 12V35 is immune to short circuit, overvoltage, undervoltage, and other common accidental battery abuse conditions, the company said. In addition, it can be assembled into battery arrays of 24V, 36V, or 48V for up to 350 Ah and 18 kWh systems with no additional BMS devices necessary.
The ALM 12V35 batteries are drop‐in alternatives to common 12-Volt, 35 Amp-hour lead- acid batteries and significantly extend the service life and reduce the total cost of ownership of energy storage systems used with telecommunication equipment, remote off-grid power systems, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), medical carts, and solar photo voltaic systems.
NEC says the ALM 12V35 is especially well-suited for deep cycling applications such as weak and off-grid power systems, including remote wireless base stations, oil and gas infrastructure, and portable lighting and signage systems.
The key benefits of the ALM 12V35 vs. typical lead-acid batteries include:
Up to twice the usable energy at fast discharge rates, reducing by up to half the number of similarly sized batteries required for high power applications.
Market-leading cycle life and calendar life combine for an ALM 12V35 service life that may match or exceed the life of the equipment it supports, virtually eliminating battery replacements.
Charge rates up to 100X faster than lead-acid batteries and 5-15X faster than other lithium-ion solutions enable systems to remain in service longer, reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Compatibility with most popular lead acid battery chargers.
Built-in management and communications (CAN bus or SMBus) enable accurate monitoring and alarms, eliminating the need for complex external battery management systems.
Fully integrated, redundant safety systems using NEC Energy SolutionsNEC EverSafe battery protection technology provide multilayer protection at the cell, battery and system level.
The intelligent ALM 12V35i is offered with integrated CAN Bus or SMbus communications for access to critical battery status, usage tracking, state of charge (SOC), runtime to empty, and other parameters.
All ALM 12V35 models are available now and are shipping to initial customers.
This is an excellent chemistry for stationary storage applications, and although if you can get grid power it is an economic nonsense almost everywhere to use batteries for when solar is not available, if you are off grid this is a far easier alternative than maintaining lead acid batteries.
The chemistry is also a lot more stable than Panasonic's NCA chemistry, whose main advantage is high energy density at the cost of needing sophisticated thermal management.
Posted by: Davemart | 29 January 2015 at 12:54 PM
At almost $900 per battery it will be for niche markets only.
Posted by: Joe | 29 January 2015 at 01:29 PM
Thanks for the pricing info, Joe.
If you have one a link would be appreciated.
I expected the early costs to be high.
Posted by: Davemart | 29 January 2015 at 02:11 PM
Means 2150 $/kWh ...
Posted by: bob | 29 January 2015 at 03:39 PM
I wondered what happened to A123'a high power cells and now find NEC is using them:
http://assets.buya123batteries.com/images/neces/ALM12V35_Data_Sheet.pdf
http://assets.buya123batteries.com/images/neces/ALM12V35_Users_Guide_MD405009-04EN_r04.pdf
NEC using A123 cells also opens up a lot of speculation about Nissan's involvement.
Posted by: Lad | 29 January 2015 at 06:53 PM
I found the MSRP price of $895 on one of their spec sheets. It seems awfully high in terms of $/kwh, but even at that price it appears they expect to sell for specialized applications that require robust batteries. Telecomm medical and critical backup and that sort of thing.
I wonder at what price point they would replace the deep cycle lead batteries used in warehouses forklifts and pallet jacks etc. The spec sheets show 10 year life to about 75% at 3 complete cycles per day.
Posted by: Calgarygary | 30 January 2015 at 07:58 AM
Davemart
http://www.buya123batteries.com/ALM_12V35s_p/alm12v35s.htm
Posted by: Joe | 30 January 2015 at 11:13 AM
If it lasts 10X longer, but @ 10X higher price - is seems to be little gain, esp. for stationary use.
Posted by: kelly | 31 January 2015 at 05:27 PM