Introduction To Battery Monitoring

Importance Of Monitoring In Battery Management Systems

Battery monitoring stands as a crucial component within a Battery Management System (BMS). Fundamentally, monitoring within a BMS provides an immediate view into the internal operations of a battery, serving as a diagnostic instrument that imparts valuable knowledge about the battery's well-being, efficiency, and condition.

Comprehending the battery's condition can enhance its safety, dependability, and lifespan. Moreover, monitoring facilitates the foresight and mitigation of potential detrimental circumstances that may deteriorate the battery or pose safety hazards. This proactive strategy allows preventative measures to be implemented before a significant problem emerges.

The battery monitoring feature estimates the battery’s State of Charge (SOC), which is an important element for the users. The SOC tells about the battery’s estimated remaining charge by informing the user about the left energy before it requires recharging. The correct evaluation of the SOC offers systematic energy management, averts unforeseen power, and expands the battery’s life cycle.

Parameters Monitored By BMS

Figure 1: Battery monitoring

To make sure that the battery is functioning within its safe and well-organized limits, the BMS continuously tracks various parameters. BMS monitors the basic elements which include:

Voltage: Overcharge and over-discharge scenarios might hamper the battery or decrease its life, so cell voltage monitoring plays a vital role in preventing them.

Current: Current sensing prevents overcurrent conditions that can become potentially risky and produce excess heat.

Temperature: The excess of both low and high temperatures can have an adverse impact on the battery’s performance and life because batteries are temperature-sensitive. Therefore, the temperature of battery cells is monitored periodically to make sure that they are within an acceptable range.

State of Charge (SOC): The SOC, obtained from voltage, current, and temperature data, is an assessment of the remaining capacity.

State of Health (SOH): The battery’s general health or a comparison between the degraded performance and the initial performance is suggested by SOH. Numerous factors such as the count of charge-discharge cycles, self-discharge rate, and other performance criteria help in calculating SOH.

By ensuring safety, dependability, and efficiency, a BMS can successfully control and handle a battery’s function by constantly keeping track of these parameters. Informed decision-making about battery usage and maintenance is possible by the necessary data provided by BMS for SOC and SOH evaluation.