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Author What is the efficiency of a battery recharging system?
Gary Helfert

2005-08-11, 2:21 am

When charging a battery both the charger & battery get warm (lost energy).
I am curious to know:

If you pump 100 Watt-Hours of electricity into a bank a Lead Acid batterys,
what can I expect to get out?

Do Ni-Cads recharge with more/less/same loss?


Robert Morein

2005-08-11, 3:21 am


"Gary Helfert" <ghelfert@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:GeAKe.2794$Z87.942@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
> When charging a battery both the charger & battery get warm (lost energy).
> I am curious to know:
>
> If you pump 100 Watt-Hours of electricity into a bank a Lead Acid
> batterys,
> what can I expect to get out?
>

This is a complicated question, because it depends upon the design of the
charger.
For example, if the charging current is too low, the answer to your question
is 0, because the battery does not charge at all.
The following document,
http://www.vicr.com/documents/desig...ery-charger.pdf gives
calculated efficiencies of between 77% and 85%, depending upon the depth of
discharge of the battery.

> Do Ni-Cads recharge with more/less/same loss?
>

No, claims vary between 85% - 90%. The faster, the more efficient. On the
other hand, very fast charging is harmful to the cell.

Currently, the most efficient cell is lithium, because the cell does not
heat up during charging; hence, minimal thermal loss.


BobG

2005-08-11, 10:21 am

The charger CAN be very efficient just like a switching power supply...
90% or more. The efficiency of the lead-acid charging process is also
know, but I cant remember it so I wont guess. RMs number of 77-85%
sounds familar

LinkBot





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