The Power Behind Energy Management

Recognising the need to improve the performance of energy storage devices Xipower has developed patented technology that has the ability to move charge from any cell or group of cells into any other cell or group of cells within a battery. This feature enables cell balancing in both charge and discharge states and can also function as a distributed integral charger.

The technology also makes possible the construction of ‘complex’ mixed chemistry batteries, for example NiCd and Li-Ion where the high charge/discharge rate of NiCd can be combined with the high energy density and low self leakage of Lithium based chemistries.

Xipower technology has been developed as a total energy management system designed to be embedded into a battery pack and includes an integrated charger function. In addition the monitoring circuitry which is used for energy transference purposes also provides many other features including advanced diagnostics and logging of performance data coupled with safety, monitoring and remote communication functions.

Key Features:

Active Cell Balancing in Charge and Discharge
Suitable for use with multiple battery Chemistries
Accurate State of Charge indication
Advanced monitoring of State of Health
Automatic battery monitoring and diagnostics
Remote monitoring enabling predictable preventative maintenance with wireless, wired, and IP enabled data communication options to guarantee increased security of supply

Key Benefits:

Extended time between charges
Maximisation of stored energy
Maximisation of available energy
Extended battery operating life
Enhanced battery safety with each cell monitored
Lower lifetime product cost

The technology works with both Serial & Parallel cell configurations. Preventative maintenance data can be used to identify single cells needing replaced rather than entire battery's, therby extending the operational battery life. This lowers running costs while ensuring security of supply.

Cell Capacity Mismatch	Run Time without Cell Balancing	Run Time with XiPower Cell Balancing	Increase
10%	87 minutes	93 minutes	7%
25%	73 minutes	89 minutes	20%
**Measured under labratory conditions using a typical 4 cell laptop battery pack.

Xipower is working towards encapsulating the energy management system function in a microelectronic chip. This will give greater system flexibility and reduce the overall solution size and cost.