2018 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical & Computer Engineering (CCECE)
A New Approach to Improve Li-ion Battery Lifetime
in Home Energy Storage System with Photovoltaic
Modules
Mehdi Alimardani Mehdi Narimani
W Booth Department ECE Department
McMaster University McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
alimarm@mcmaster.ca narimanm@mcmaster.ca
Abstract— This paper proposes a new Home Energy Storage
System (HESS) to improve the lifetime of the electrochemical
batteries while utilizing the maximum available solar energy. In
proposed configuration pulsed charging and discharging method
is employed in split battery banks to improve the longevity of the
Li-ion batteries. In this approach, the harvested energy from
solar panels is alternatively stored in the battery banks to
prevent losing free solar energy and thus reducing the consumer
electricity cost. To show the effectiveness of the proposed
approach, a HESS is developed and the different modes of
operation are discussed in this paper.
Keywords—Solar Panels, Lithium–ion Batteries, Pulsed
Charge-Discharge, HESS, Smart Grid.
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, a number of vendors have shown more interest in
energy storage systems for household applications. The disadvantage
of such a system is the increase in the net produced CO2, SO2, and
NOx emissions due to storage system inefficiencies. Therefore, home
energy storage does not reduce the emissions and energy
consumption unless a renewable energy source such as solar or wind
energy is integrated in the system. [1]
Battery energy storage systems still need to overcome some
barriers to be able to integrate into the power systems. High battery
cost, lack of financial compensations, and safety are some of these
barriers [4].
For household applications, battery storage allows self-
consumption of electricity generated by means of solar panels. This
helps to reduce the extra stress on the local grid equipment during
peak hours [2]. Also, it helps either to store low cost energy during
off-peak hours or free solar energy at any time of the day. Therefore,
various charging and discharging mode of operations is used to
improve the energy storage system based on the household location
and the Time of Use (TOU).
Some battery types, like lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries
require integrated temperature management in the battery systems for
optimal performance and safety. However, lithium-ion batteries are
generally not as sensitive to temperature as lead-acid batteries [3].
The battery management system (BMS) avoids the cells from over-
charging or over-discharging by controlling the charge and discharge
cycles, also it monitors and controls the batteries temperature
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Nafia Al-Mutawaly
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
almutan@mcmaster.ca
continuously. These are so important for safe operation and
performance of the energy storage system [4].
In addition, the battery storage should be capable for supplying
long charge or discharge cycles. In other word, Deep-Cycle batteries
should be utilized. It should have the capability for high number of
charge-discharge cycles as well. For these reasons, Lithium-ion is the
most attractive solution for household applications and is considered
to study in this paper.
Due to electricity cost difference between Off-Peak hours and
Peak hours, charging cycle is enabled during Off-Peak hours when
the electricity cost has the lowest rate. The discharging cycle is
enabled during peak hours when the electricity cost has the highest
rate.
Due to power grid stability, most of the electric utilities don’t
allow consumers to inject electric power to the grid without having
an agreement between the consumer and the utilities. So, it is
assumed that the household user is not allowed to inject any electrical
power to the grid. Therefore, the control system measures the input
power from the power grid and controls the output power of the
inverter to prevent injecting electricity to grid at any time.
Based on number of studies [5], [6], pulsed charging/discharging
method interrupts the battery current with a short relaxation time
during charging or discharging periods. This improves the battery
performance and consequently extending its life time.
The pulsed current is known in the field of electrochemistry
which it has various effects at the electrode-electrolyte interface
layer. This improves the active material utilization and gives the
battery higher charge or discharge capacity and improves the battery
life time. Therefore, Pulsed charging/discharging is an interesting
method to be considered for battery performance optimization [7],
[8].
The proposed HESS employs the benefits of pulsed
charging/discharging method while harvesting the maximum
available solar energy therefore the battery bank is split in two equal
sections. The proposed HESS controller enables the appropriate
switches between the charging circuits or inverters and each battery
bank to maximize the solar energy utilization while improving the
longevity of the batteries.
It should be noted that the split battery bank is suitable only for
the applications in which free energy sources such as solar or wind
energy is used.
In this effort, each batter bank consists of four Lithium-ion
battery cells (LiFeSO4, 40Ah) which they are connected in series
during charging and discharging operations. The Battery
 2018 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical & Computer Engineering (CCECE)

Management System (BMS) is responsible to estimate the State of
Charge (SOC) for each battery bank continuously. The SOC value of
each battery bank is being estimated and used to adjust the pulsed
charge /discharging duty cycle to make sure that both battery banks
are charged or discharged equally.
It is also important to ensure that all battery cells have the same
SOC value. Despite that the HESS balances the battery banks
automatically, it does not guaranty that all battery cells are balanced.
Although the battery cells are identical and assumed with the
same energy capacity value, practically they will not keep the same
energy capacity value while they age. Since the cells are connected in
series, the weakest cell with the lowest capacity will be the dominant
cell in the bank and it leads to lower the total battery bank energy
capacity.
To overcome the aforementioned issues, the HESS controls
balancing/equalizing circuit as shown in Fig. 1 when the battery
banks are not charged or discharged (i.e. during mid-peak hours).
The controller connects all cells in parallel during cell balancing
mode of operation. A fuse and one 1Ÿ resistor in series with each
battery cell are used to protect and limit the balancing current,
respectively.
Fig. 1. Cells Balancing/Equalizing Circuit
II. PROPOSED HESS AND MODES OF OPERATION
Fig. 2 shows the conventional structure of a HESS that includes
solar panels, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) solar charge
controller, programmable battery charger, single Li-ion battery bank,
grid-tie and off-grid inverters.
The battery bank can be charged either by solar power or grid
power during off-peak hours using conventional Continuous Current
Continuous Voltage (CCCV) method. The energy stored in the
battery bank is only used for household loads through the grid-tie
inverter which it reduces the power consumption from power grid
during peak hours. It can also provide backup power by use of the
off-grid inverter during the power outage. Solar energy availability
extends the power coverage capacity during the power outage.
In this paper a new HESS is proposed that introduces the split
banks strategy. In this approach the battery bank is split in two equal
sections in order to employ Pulsed Charging/Discharging method.
This method not only improves the battery performance which
increases the life time of the batteries but also utilizes available free
solar energy. In this strategy, the total energy storage capacity
remains the same (320Ah) as in the conventional method. However,
the power capacity will be halved as only one battery bank is allowed
to get charged or discharged at any time.
Figs. 3 to 7 represent the proposed HESS in different modes of
operation. The HESS controllers monitors the loads power, grid
voltage and power continuously to determine the appropriate mode of
operation according to the Time-of-Use schedule from the local
electrical utility.
Based on literatures, over-charging, over-discharging and
temperature increase, reduce the life time of the batteries [4], [7].
Therefore, the Battery Management System monitors and controls
the voltage of each cell to prevent overcharging or discharging of
each battery cell at any time. In order to maintain the battery
temperature, the BMS controls cooling fans to lower the batteries
temperature to room temperature.
The following modes of operation are available of the proposed
HESS. In each mode of operation, Black wires represent no power
flow in the connected circuit. The other colors of each wire show that
there is some power flow in the related circuit based on the source of
energy. Green and red colors represent power from solar and grid
power sources, respectively. Blue and brown colors represent
combinational ratios of energy source from both solar and grid.

Battery Charger MPPT Solar Charger

12V 12V
Solar Solar
Panels Panels
P- Charger P- Solar

Grid-Tie Inverter
10-30V DC to 120V AC
SW-1

Off-Grid Inverter
24V DC to 120V AC
SW-2
SW-3 P-Load P-Bank

Aux. Critical
Loads Loads
Outlet Outlet
P-Grid

Grid
Exhaust Batteries Battery Bank
Fans Cooling Fans

Fig. 2. Conventional HESS

 2018 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical & Computer Engineering (CCECE)

Battery Charger MPPT Solar Charger

12V 12V
Solar Solar
Panels Panels
P- Charger P- Solar

Grid-Tie Inverter SW-2 SW-1

10-30V DC to 120V AC SW-3

Off-Grid Inverter SW-4

24V DC to 120V AC

SW-6 P-Load
SW-5

Aux. Critical
Loads Loads
Outlet Outlet
P-Grid

Grid
Exhaust Batteries Battery Bank #1 Battery Bank #2
Fans Cooling Fans

Fig. 3. No Solar Energy, during mid-peak hours (Mode 1)

The modes of operation are explained in the following: In this mode, SW-1 and SW-2 are turned ON or OFF
• Mode (1): Fig. 3 shows that when there is no solar energy alternatively every 10 seconds. SW-3, SW-4 and SW-5 are
available during mid-peak hours, there is no advantage to turned OFF.
charge or discharge the battery banks.
Battery Charger MPPT Solar Charger
12V 12V
In this mode, SW-1, SW-2, SW-3, SW-4 and SW-5 are all Solar Solar
Panels Panels
turned OFF. The HESS enables the balancing circuit to P- Charger P- Solar

equalize all battery cells.

• Mode (2): as per Fig. 4, when there is no solar energy

Grid-Tie Inverter
available during Peak hours, it uses the stored energy in the 10-30V DC to 120V AC SW-3 SW-2 SW-1

batteries to reduce the high electricity cost during Peak

hours. In this mode, SW-1, SW-2 and SW-5 are turned Off-Grid Inverter SW-4
24V DC to 120V AC
OFF, SW-3 and SW-4 are turned ON or OFF every 10 P-Load
SW-6
seconds alternatively to employ pulsed charging and SW-5
P-Bank #2 P-Bank #1
discharging method.
Aux. Critical
• Mode (3): Fig. 5 shows that when solar energy is available Loads Loads
Outlet Outlet
during peak hours, it either charges the batteries partially
P-Grid
when harvested solar energy is greater than the house hold
loads demand or discharges the batteries partially to reduce Grid
high energy cost from the power grid when harvested solar Exhaust Batteries Battery Bank #2 Battery Bank #1
energy is less that the loads demand. Fans Cooling Fans

Fig. 4. No solar energy during peak hours (Mode 2)

In this mode, SW-1 and SW-3 or SW-2 and SW-4 are
turned ON or OFF alternatively every 10 seconds. SW-5 is
turned OFF.
In both Mode 2 and Mode 3, the generated power by the
grid–tie inverter is controlled to prevent power injection to
the grid system. In other word, the grid power value is
always greater than the load power value.
• Mode (4): as per Fig. 6, when the electricity cost is at the
lowest rate during off-Peak hours and there is no solar
energy available, the battery charger which it is fed from
the power grid, charges the battery banks.
• Mode (5): Fig. 7 shows that during power outage, the Off-
Grid inverter which has an embedded transfer switch
isolates the power grid.
Based on the specification of the existing Off-Grid inverter,
the input voltage must be about 24V for normal operation.
Therefore, the battery banks have to be connected in series.
This increases the system efficiency. However, pulsed
charging/discharging method cannot be used in this mode.
If solar energy is available during power outage it helps to
extend the duration of power coverage time. In this mode,
SW-2 and SW-5 are turned ON. SW-3 and SW-4 are turned
OFF.
 2018 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical & Computer Engineering (CCECE)

Battery Charger MPPT Solar Charger Battery Charger MPPT Solar Charger
12V 12V 12V 12V
Solar Solar Solar Solar
Panels Panels Panels Panels
P- Charger P- Solar P- Charger P- Solar

Grid-Tie Inverter Grid-Tie Inverter SW-2 SW-1

SW-3 SW-2 SW-1 SW-3
10-30V DC to 120V AC 10-30V DC to 120V AC

Off-Grid Inverter SW-4 Off-Grid Inverter SW-4

24V DC to 120V AC 24V DC to 120V AC
P-Load P-Load
SW-6 SW-6
P-Bank #2 P-Bank #1 P-Bank #1
SW-5 SW-5 P-Bank #2

Aux. Critical Aux. Critical

Loads Loads Loads Loads
Outlet Outlet Outlet Outlet
P-Grid P-Grid

Grid Grid

Exhaust Batteries Exhaust Batteries Battery Bank #2 Battery Bank #1

Battery Bank #2 Battery Bank #1 Fans Cooling Fans
Fans Cooling Fans

Fig.5. Available solar energy during peak hours (Mode 3) Fig. 7. During power outage (Mode 5)

Battery Charger MPPT Solar Charger

12V 12V
Solar Solar
Panels Panels
P- Charger P- Solar

Grid-Tie Inverter SW-2 SW-1

10-30V DC to 120V AC SW-3

Off-Grid Inverter SW-4

24V DC to 120V AC
P-Load
SW-6
P-Bank #2 P-Bank #1
SW-5

Aux. Critical
Loads Loads
Outlet Outlet
P-Grid

Grid
Exhaust Batteries Battery Bank #2 Battery Bank #1
Fans Cooling Fans

Fig. 6. No Solar Energy during off-peak hours (Mode 4)

III. EXPERIMENT SETUP
Primary hardware components of the HESS consists of Solar
Panels, MPPT solar charge controller, battery charger, measuring
board, relay boards, data acquisition board, Lithium-ion battery cells,
Grid-Tie and pure sine-wave off- grid inverters. Fig. 8 shows the
implemented HESS. National Instruments LabVIEW program was
utilized for system monitoring and control.
IV. CONCLUSTION
In this paper, a new strategy to operate and improve the lifetime
of the Li-ion batteries for a Home Energy Storage System was
proposed and implemented. The HESS reduces the consumer’s total
electricity cost while harvesting maximum available free solar energy
and improving the longevity of the Li-ion batteries.
The HESS provides users with a mobile, fully controllable, self-
contained experimental platform that supports a spectrum of training
and research initiatives.
V. ACKNOWLEDMENT
The authors would like to thank W Booth School of Engineering
Practice and Technology at McMaster University and specially Dr.
Ishwar Singh for providing the support to implement the Home
Energy Storage System.
Fig. 8. Implemented Home Energy Storage System (HESS)
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