Battery Storage is Looking Bright!

http://www.thunder-sky.com/pdf/ts-SmartGrid Reservoir System.pdf

How about a 30,000kWh battery pack that can be used to DC fast charge electric city buses at 3000A?
http://www.thunder-sky.com/products_en.asp?fid=102

Very Good Toys!

Very interesting! I work for a major transit agency and would love to see the day when all of our buses are electrified because it would mean no more spills (or atleast a greatly reduced risk of them), not to mention no longer needing to pump and burn through millions of gallons of fuel every year..

Though the Thunder Sky batteries might be able to kick out this much power, I wonder if they are truly affirming that their product could also work on the bus to provide this range and this fast of a charge cycle..

If five 100 Ah cells are in parallel, to be able to deliver a 0.5C current of 250 amps, and perhaps a 6C peak of 3000 amps, 20-minute charging (at 3C, 1500 amps) should be ... well, possible.

500 Ah x 400 volts = 200 kWh. Is that enough to be useful for a bus? Or does one need twice that, even for 2-hour runs?

1500 amps x 400 volts would be 600 kW charging ... a lot of power to control and transfer.

TLeaf said:

Very interesting! I work for a major transit agency and would love to see the day when all of our buses are electrified because it would mean no more spills (or atleast a greatly reduced risk of them), not to mention no longer needing to pump and burn through millions of gallons of fuel every year..

Though the Thunder Sky batteries might be able to kick out this much power, I wonder if they are truly affirming that their product could also work on the bus to provide this range and this fast of a charge cycle..

Click to expand...

Yes - Thunder Sky has electric buses on the road in China. The TS cells have a 3C charge rating - so a 20 minute charge should be routine.

We have two EV busses in San Antonio but I don't know the details.

garygid said:

If five 100 Ah cells are in parallel, to be able to deliver a 0.5C current of 250 amps, and perhaps a 6C peak of 3000 amps, 20-minute charging (at 3C, 1500 amps) should be ... well, possible.

500 Ah x 400 volts = 200 kWh. Is that enough to be useful for a bus? Or does one need twice that, even for 2-hour runs?

1500 amps x 400 volts would be 600 kW charging ... a lot of power to control and transfer.

Click to expand...

'Cept we're not talking about 100Ah cells.

http://www.thunder-sky.com/products_en.asp?fid=71&fid2=75

TS has two bus models fitted with 156 700Ah cells. With 3C constant capability (OK, 1.5C in the real world ) and 20C surge, they'll move some electrons.

If TS uses their motor system with its 420-700V range, it's likely their buses will use a single string of 156 cells for about 360kWh of storage. 80% usable is 288kWh. The good news is that they're talking about a direct DC-DC connection with a battery - lots-o-copper!

As for utility-sized batteries - check out BOB - South Texas' "Big Old Battery"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125561502

The Texas border town of Presidio only has one connection to the U.S. electrical grid — an aging, 60-mile long transmission line that goes down frequently in the area's high winds and electrical storms. The solution? A Texas-sized battery. Host Linda Wertheimer speaks to Calvin Crowder, president of Electric Transmission Texas, about the Presidio battery project.

Click to expand...

Peak demand for Presidio is 4GW - and BOB can do that for 8 hours.
Economics? $25M for the battery VS. $40M-60M to run another power line 60 miles. That's no-brainer territory!

Go BOB!