They are less than a third of the weight and half the size of Lead Acid batteries – and are maintenance free.

Lithium batteries have many more charge cycles than Lead Acid, up to 4000 for a 200Ah battery – this makes them perfect for energy storage systems, or as back up for your battery charger or UPS.

They have a high efficiency charge/discharge rate, low self-discharge and a long shelf life.

Since Magellan Power introduced Lithium to its products in 2008, their use in commercial and industrial back up power applications has been increasing rapidly.

This year we supplied a large percentage of our customer’s projects with Lithium Iron phosphate, and in 2015 that is set to grow further, with the use of the technology in our renewable products such as the Residential Energy Storage System and Solar Smoother.

In the past seven years we have supplied Lithium to projects for Rio Tinto, Nilsen, CSIRO, Ergon Energy, ABB, BHP Billiton, WA Police and Lend Lease among many others.

Lithium Q&A with Magellan Power Research and Development Department:

• Magellan Power has been using Lithium batteries for a while now, and we have just outlined their strengths – what are their weaknesses? A main weakness is their susceptibility to uneven charging between cells and overcharging. An overcharged cell can grow dendrites on its electrodes which can eventually lead to cell failure if these dendrites poke into adjacent cells.
• How can you overcome this problem? Do they require any special care? Each cell requires careful monitoring of its voltage, combined with additional circuitry to keep the cells in balance. The charging system must also be aware of the cell overcharge condition and take action to protect the cells.
• What are some of the best features? The best feature of Lithium is high efficiency, ruggedness, and compact size for a modest price increase.
• Do you see them changing the landscape of industrial battery usage in Australia? Yes they have already displaced NiCad in many applications, and are well suited to Australia’s rugged high-temperature environment. 5. What are the dangers of not looking after them correctly, or having proper knowledge? Lithium cells can become defective if abused, and can experience irreversible internal damage requiring replacement. A standard lead-acid charging system without BMS is not suitable for Lithium.

For pricing or more information please contact sales@magellanpower.com.au