Lead Acid Battery Applications

There are numerous applications for the use of lead-acid storage batteries. They range from the extremely large battery systems used in load leveling by electrical utility companies to the relatively small batteries used in hand tools. Batteries may need to undergo deep and frequent cycling such as those used for electric vehicle power or they may remain on "float" as in an emergency lighting application and only rarely be discharged. Clearly, these applications cannot all use the same battery. Restraints on parameters such as operating temperature, desired capacity, voltage and power requirements, etc., affect the type of battery chosen.

All the above considerations are taken into account by determining the battery's duty cycle. The duty cycle is the required operating parameters of a cell or battery including factors such as charge and discharge rates, depth of discharge, cycle length, and length of time in the standby mode. The duty cycle must be known and included in the battery design engineering specification. The duty cycle and battery chosen will also determine the type of charger used.

The major categories of lead-acid battery applications are starting, lighting, and ignition (SLI); industrial, including traction and stationary applications; and small portable equipment.