Second Life Batteries for Commercial Energy Use

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Brill Power, AceOn Group and Cranfield University are collaborating on a project to design, build and install a smart, 2nd life battery system at Cranfield's Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre, made from up-cycled electric bus batteries. The battery system will be connected with a solar PV array and an inverter to feed solar energy back to the local grid at Cranfield campus. This will help Cranfield decarbonise its energy use by maximising the use of renewable solar energy.Cranfield University has more than 1MWp of solar PV generation on its Cranfield campus and is looking for low-cost, sustainable energy storage solutions to help match solar generation with electricity demands. The university also has access to 8 used electric bus batteries, which the university would like to up-cycle for use in energy storage. Upcycling lithium-ion batteries is challenging because there can be large differences in the performance of aged battery cells and conventional battery systems are only as strong and live as their weakest cells. Brill Power has developed a novel battery management system (BMS), which compensates for these differences in cell performance and ensures maximal lifetime, performance and safety. AceOn Group has more than 25 years of experience in designing and manufacturing battery systems and will create a smart 2nd life battery, using Brill Power's BMS and Cranfield's used electric bus batteries. Together, the partners will be able to create and demonstrate a novel energy storage system with a circular economy approach, which helps Cranfield University decarbonise its energy use and save electricity bills. The project will also help Brill Power and AceOn Group create a blueprint for a broader commercial roll-out of this novel technology.The project will enable the partners to overcome a number of challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, including fewer commercial opportunities in the energy storage industry, lower direct use of solar energy at Cranfield University due to lower student an staff numbers on campus, and a lack of funding and project opportunities to re-purpose used electric bus batteries for stationary energy storage.