Quite possibly the most advanced and forward-thinking energy storage system producers in Europe, AutarcTech GmbH’s LiHome batteries feature an impressive Battery Management System (BMS) with active balancing and remote monitoring. We caught up with the company’s Patrick Cousins.
PES: Welcome to PES. Can you explain a little about the company and outline how you serve the PV industry?
Patrick Cousins: The company was founded by our CEO Werner Zenke in 2010 because he realised that the future of PV systems could only be in conjunction with energy storage systems. It was already then quite clear that Lithium Iron Phosphate cells were far more efficient and long-lasting than any other battery chemistry, especially when compared with lead-based batteries.
We started full production in 2013 using a passive balancing system and have gained valuable experience which quickly showed us the properties a new active balancing system should have. All our products are now available exclusively with the new LiConnect active balancing. We produce the LiConnect Plug & Play balancer system and Lithium batteries between 3.5 and 55kWh.
PES: What is your key area of competence?
PC: The critical issue is balancing the cells and protecting them from over and under voltage. This is where our expertise lies.
We have developed here in Germany an active balancing system based on high frequency inductive energy transfer. We do not just ‘waste’ the energy in the full cells while waiting for the others to catch up, we use the surplus energy by transferring it into the cells which need it most.
This process happens automatically (when required) during the entire charge and discharge cycle. This means that the efficiency of the balancing process rises from 0% to 95%. Other important issues are communication with other connected electronics like Inverters, chargers or smart home systems etc. We also have autonomous internet connection which allows us to see what is happening in each battery at cell level.
