Abstract
In most applications using batteries, a certain number of cells are connected in series to reach the desired voltage. In these cases, special care must be taken to ensure that no cell is overcharged or discharged, due to the electrochemical inequalities of the cells inherent to the manufacturing process, unequal deterioration processes, etc. Therefore, a cell balancing system must be designed to extend the cell’s life, to improve the performance of the module and to guarantee the user’s safety. This issue has been conventionally approached through the preliminar design of the equalization system, followed by its ulterior validation by experimental tests. In this work, a sizing of passive cell balancing system method based on an initial full characterization of the li-ion cells is proposed, in order to optimize the selection of the components involved in the balancing of the cells and, therefore, the volume, weight and cost of the final device.
Keywords: equalization, sizing, experimental tests, battery module.