CAMEB project - first experience with battery storage
On September 9th, 2021 we reached another important milestone – the first unit of the second generation energy storage station, developed by AERS s.r.o., was installed and brought into operation in Omice, Czech Republic.
The new generation of energy storage stations, bearing the type designation HES (Home Energy Storage), is based on the proven AES (Advanced Energy Storage) series. The new version also uses its proven All-in-one design approach. The key change is the use of automotive Li-ion batteries, which have a higher energy density and therefore significantly higher capacity. Due to this, the storage capacity increased from the original 11 kWh to 41 kWh, which is almost fourfold, while maintaining the original dimensions of 60 x 60 x 193 cm. The HES energy storage station, despite its large capacity, is thus comparable in size with standard home appliances, such as refrigerators.
The new design also includes other innovations. It has, for example, significantly lower internal consumption (which prolongs the operation of the station in island mode), and extended options for control (energy management) by a master control system. It is thus possible to control the charging of the integrated storage system more efficiently and prevent an unplanned flow of energy from one storage device to another – typically between a home station and an electric car.
Why the HES System?
The catalyst for the creation of a second generation HES energy storage system came from the Škoda Auto a.s. group, which was looking into the possible uses for used batteries from electric cars. These are high-quality batteries whose capacity has decreased by approximately 20%. This decrease is significant for electric cars, which require top performance. However, these batteries still far exceed the common standards for stationary energy storage systems. The use of such second-life batteries in HES energy storage stations thus offers another efficient use for these batteries, which would otherwise be discarded. Given the trend towards electromobility, we expect that the availability of used batteries will increase in the future. The HES project is one of the options available for repurposing these resources.
First impressions.
As can be seen from the graph below, the expanded capacity of the battery storage system enables coverage of a significantly larger share of total domestic energy consumption. This reduces the amount of energy purchased from the distribution network. Of course, these are only preliminary results, but the building continues to be monitored closely in cooperation with a team of specialists from the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB – CTU). This means that rigorous statistical analysis will also be available in the near future.
