POWER & ENERGY EFFICIENCY HANDBOOK
Battery chemistries that excel in inaccessible applications
Remotely located wireless devices require extra-long-life batteries to reduce the cost of ownership. Sol Jacobs • Tadiran Batteries
REMOTE
wireless devices serve as the cornerstone for all types of IIoTrelated applications, including asset tracking, system control and data automation (SCADA), environmental monitoring, AI, and machine learning, to name a few. Applications that are easily accessible and that operate in relatively moderate temperatures typically allow for use of numerous battery technologies, including inexpensive consumer alkaline and lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. However, the choice of power source becomes far more critical for wireless devices in scorching deserts, the frigid Arctic, or other harsh environments. Choice of battery technology is especially important where battery replacement is difficult or impossible, or if the application involves extreme temperature cycling. Specifying the right battery becomes
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DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
10 • 2020
even more important if the application requires 10+ year battery operating life to reduce the cost of ownership. It is useful to review the properties of ultra-long-life lithium battery chemistries to see how their benefits relate to the real world. There are two types of low-power wireless devices. The vast majority of them draw microamps of current and are powered by industrial-grade primary (non-rechargeable) lithium batteries. The second type of device draws current in the milliamp range. This level is enough to exhaust a primary battery relatively quickly. So a better approach may be an energy harvesting device in combination with an industrial grade rechargeable lthium-ion (Li-ion) cell to store the harvested energy. Low-power devices that require two-way connectivity often utilize a low-power communications protocol (i.e. WirelessHART, ZigBee, LoRa) along with a low-power chipset to maximize battery life. eeworldonline.com | designworldonline.com
