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Lithium ion is a bad choice for a UPS. You ideally want your battery at 100% charge all the time so you have full backup capacity when you need it. Lithium ion
by utensil4778 2y ago
Lithium ion is a bad choice for a UPS. You ideally want your battery at 100% charge all the time so you have full backup capacity when you need it. Lithium ion cells hate this and will quickly lose most of their capacity, rendering the UPS useless.
Lithium iron phosphate cells would hold up much better in a UPS application, but the price is still too high.
For now, Lead is still the most good enough solution for standby backup power.
As far as innovation goes, there's not really any to be had. This problem is already solved: you just can't do any better than a true-sine inverter and a battery that lasts a number of years. The only variable left is price, which is what most consumer products come down to in the end.
- ianburrell 2y agoLithium iron phosphate prices have been dropping recently. They are now cheaper than lithium ion. I think they are cheaper even considering the lower density. I think they are cheaper than lead-acid when consider the lead-acid lifespan and usable capacity.
- wkat4242 2y agoIt depends, standby lead acid batteries are really cheap. Cyclic use lead acid is much more expensive. And also a much better comparison to lithium phosphate because it can also handle cyclic. But these are not what's used in a UPS because of the usecase. If your target is really backup power for that once a year max power outage, lead acid still rules. I believe this is why it was exempted from RoHS. And the lead can be recycled well.
- WorldMaker 2y agoLead acid can be recycled "well", but a problem is that it must be recycled, being toxic, a fire hazard, and even possibly a toxic fire hazard when handled wrong. (Sometimes even when handled right.) That seems like a good reason to avoid lead acid batteries in home appliances, personally.