Variations in power generation using renewable sources, such as solar and wind power, lead to control problems in the electricity grid. The technology of lithium batteries is a candidate offering great potential in solving these problems. An industrial engineer at the Public University of Navarre (NUP/UPNA) has come up with a new management system that allows good performance of these batteries to be achieved and their useful service life to be preserved when they are connected to a renewable facility for the purposes of storing the electrical power produced.
Variations in power generation using renewable sources, such as solar and wind power, lead to control problems in the electricity grid. The technology of lithium batteries is a candidate offering great potential in solving these problems. An industrial engineer at the Public University of Navarre (NUP/UPNA) has come up with a new management system that allows good performance of these batteries to be achieved and their useful service life to be preserved when they are connected to a renewable facility for the purposes of storing the electrical power produced.
“The installing of renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly important across the world, and this trend is expected to continue over the coming years,” explained Alberto Berrueta-Irigoyen, researcher at the NUP/UPNA’s Institute of Smart Cities (ISC). “Renewable technology has in recent years overcome various technological pitfalls, and after achieving a competitive price with respect to conventional energy sources, the main challenge it is facing today is to manage its variable generation caused by fluctuations in solar radiation or wind. That is why the solution is to store the electricity produced in lithium batteries.”
In his PhD thesis, Alberto Berrueta investigated the physical mechanisms that govern the functioning of lithium batteries and their influence on a battery that functions when connected to a renewable facility. He also explored the way in which these batteries degrade and proposed the above-mentioned new management system.
Read more at Elhuyar Fundazioa
Image: This is Alberto Berrueta (Credit: Elhuyar Fundazioa)
