Navigating Complexity in Battery Energy Storage

Person plugging their electric vehicle into a charger

Author: LaTanya Schwalb

Four best practices for manufacturers and OEMs to promote, safety, performance and sustainability

The past five years have seen a rapid acceleration in electric vehicle (EVs) sales and significant additions of energy storage capacity on power grids around the world. Batteries are at the heart of both trends, as the batteries used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems share key characteristics and are produced by many of the same manufacturers. Out to 2030, battery deployment will continue accelerating, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasting that a sixfold expansion of energy storage capacity globally¹ will be needed to keep up with key climate targets (requiring 1,200 GW) of battery storage.

Complexity amid rapid energy storage system commercialization

As battery technologies commercialize and scale, several challenges emerge, spanning everything from battery chemistries to their applications:

Safety

Improper handling, manufacturing defects and operational failures in battery systems can lead to fires and explosions. This poses significant risks across manufacturing environments as well as to end users, first responders and others.

Environmental impact

Responsible design, sourcing, manufacturing and management of battery disposal and recycling can help minimize the environmental impact of manufacturing.

Performance

Due to the wide range of battery designs, performance metrics and conditions batteries are exposed to in different environments and applications, systems, packs and cells must often be evaluated with multiple assessment methods to adequately assess potential issues.

Compliance with evolving standards

Staying current with evolving regulatory and compliance frameworks is essential for battery systems to meet safety, environmental and performance requirements for market acceptance. These frameworks often evolve as the underlying technologies do, adding complexity to what manufacturers must navigate.

All of these dimensions drive real-world impacts. Recent manufacturing accidents including a battery fire at a factory in South Korea², as well as fires started by finished products like e-bikes in New York City³, have killed dozens of people and harmed many more.

How battery innovators can promote safety and performance for sustainability

Here are key considerations for manufacturers and OEMs to advance safety and performance and support sustainability as they scale battery energy storage manufacturing deployment.

Safety testing

Manufacturers can work proactively with qualified third parties to test and certify products to bring safer battery systems to market. Key parameters for testing include:

Thermal runaway testing: Tests batteries in conditions that could cause battery cells to overheat, potentially propagate to other cells or cause a fire or explosion.
Short-circuit testing: Tests batteries’ responses to internal and external short circuits to help prevent other safety hazards.
Overcharge–discharge protection: Tests batteries to evaluate their ability to manage excessive charging or discharging without failure.

Performance testing

To effectively assess the diverse characteristics and conditions performance testing can span, many manufacturers work with qualified third parties to test performance parameters, including:

Cycle life testing: Tests how many charge-discharge cycles a battery can undergo before its capacity degrades below a usable threshold.
Capacity and energy density testing: Tests and measures the total charge a battery can hold and its energy per unit weight or volume.
Power density testing: Tests the rate at which a battery can deliver energy.

Robust quality control

Leading battery manufacturers aim to continuously improve their quality control systems and procedures from in-line testing to final inspections. This is particularly important as technologies evolve along with regulations, standards and certifications for performance and safety.

Environmental and sustainability practices

Manufacturers can also differentiate themselves by prioritizing analyses of the environmental impact of their manufacturing and operations, including by conducting lifecycle assessments, increasing the transparency of their data, and developing products that lend themselves to recycling or safe reuse in other applications.

Overhead view of an energy power station next to a solar farm

Stay ready to respond to evolving battery challenges and opportunities

Proactivity can help manufacturers and OEMs maintain an edge in the battery landscape, as new hurdles will continue to emerge. For instance, as larger battery packs and systems come to market, new testing capabilities and specialized testing facilities will be needed for manufacturers and OEMs to adequately test safety and performance across their potential applications.

UL Solutions helps manufacturers evaluate and test products to specific standards and participate in working groups to keep up with and inform the development of new standards and certification requirements as technologies evolve. We consistently develop new offerings, like our new battery testing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan, that are responsive to market evolutions and designed to help manufacturers keep pace with a changing industry landscape and continue to bring safe products with substantiated performance to the market.