Reliability and safety
With the increasing specific energy and power densities of electrochemical storages, there is also a growing (latent) hazard potential. The launch of new material combinations and increasing requirements for storage systems with simultaneous cost pressure therefore require research activities on the safe use of batteries at cell, module and system level. That applies to mobile as well as stationary applications. Accordingly, starting from small laboratory cells to large battery systems, the electrochemical, electrophysical, and thermodynamic processes must be recognized, understood and specific handling rules established. Due to the complexity of electrochemical storages, this requires a special, cross-system bundling of competences in electrical engineering, electrochemical process engineering, sensor technology and energy system technology as well as the necessary research infrastructure. The following scientific topics are subjects of current research work (here called batteries, but usually also applicable to other energy storage systems):
- Development and validation of safety concepts for batteries
- Evaluation of test methods regarding functionality and safety
- Battery condition detection and residual value detection e.g. for Second Life applications
- Methods for applying reliability and availability metrics for electrical energy storage systems, performance guarantees
- Risk assessment and management
- battery aging