Description

The Battery Management System (BMS) monitors and controls each cell in the battery pack by measuring its parameters. The capacity of the battery pack differs from one cell to another and this increases with number of charging/discharging cycles. The LiFePO4 batteries are fully charged at typical cell voltage 3.5 – 3.7 V. Due to the different capacity this voltage is not reached at the same time for all cells in the pack. The lower the cell’s capacity the sooner this voltage is reached. When charging series connected cells with a single charger, voltage on some cells might be higher than the maximum allowed voltage. Overcharging the cell additionally lowers its capacity and number of charging cycles. The BMS equalizes cell’s voltage by diverting some of the charging current from higher voltage cells to power resistors – passive balancing. The device’s temperature is measured to protect the circuit from over-heating due to unexpected failure. Battery pack’s temperature is monitored by Dallas DS18B20 digital temperature sensor/s. Maximum 3 temperature sensors per unit may be used. Current is measured by a low-side shunt resistor. Battery pack current, temperature and cell’s voltage determine state of charge (SOC). State of health (SOH) is determined by comparing cell’s current parameters with the parameters of a new battery pack.