Victron Energy Battery Management System BMS 12/200 - BMS012201000

BMS 12/200 for 12,8 Volt Lithium-Iron-Phosphate Batteries Especially designed for vehicles and boats

Why lithium-iron-phosphate? Lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4 or LFP) is the safest of the mainstream li-ion battery types. The nominal voltage of a LFP cell is 3,2V (lead-acid: 2V / cell). A 12,8V LFP battery therefore consists of 4 cells connected in series; and a 25,6 V battery consists of 8 cells connected in series.

Why a Battery Management System (BMS) is needed:

1. A LFP cell will be damaged if the voltage over the cell falls to less than 2,5V.

2. A LFP cell will be damaged if the voltage over the cell increases to more than 4,2V. Lead-acid batteries will eventually also be damaged when discharged too deeply or overcharged, but not immediately. A lead-acid battery will recover from total discharge even after it has been left in discharged state during days or weeks (depending on battery type and brand).

3. The cells of a LFP battery do not auto-balance at the end of the charge cycle. The cells in a battery are not 100% identical. Therefore, when cycled, some cells will be fully charged or discharged earlier than others. The differences will increase if the cells are not balanced/equalized from time to time. In a lead-acid battery a small current will continue to flow even after one or more cells are fully charged (the main effect of this current is decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen). This current helps to fully charge other cells that are lagging behind, thus equalizing the charge state of all cells. The current which flows through a fully-charged LFP cell however, is nearly zero, and lagging cells will therefore not be fully charged. Over time the differences between cells may become so extreme that, even though the overall battery voltage is within limits, some cells will be destroyed due to over- or under voltage.

A LFP battery therefore must be protected by a BMS that actively balances the individual cells and prevents under- and over-voltage.

Rugged

A lead-acid battery will fail prematurely due to sulfation:

• If it operates in deficit mode during long periods of time (the battery is rarely, or never at all, fully charged).

• If it is left partially charged or worse, fully discharged (yacht or mobile home during winter time). A LFP battery does not need to be fully charged. Service life even slightly improves in case of partial charge instead of a full charge. This is a major advantage of LFP compared to lead-acid. Other advantages are the wide operating temperature range, excellent cycling performance, low internal resistance and high efficiency (see below). LFP is therefore the chemistry of choice for very demanding applications.

Efficient

In several applications (especially off-grid solar and/or wind), energy efficiency can be of crucial importance. The round trip energy efficiency (discharge from 100% to 0% and back to 100% charged) of the average lead-acid battery is 80%. The round trip energy efficiency of a LFP battery is 92%. The charge process of lead-acid batteries becomes particularly inefficient when the 80% state of charge has been reached, resulting in efficiencies of 50% or even less in solar systems where several days of reserve energy is required (battery operating in 70% to 100% charged state). In contrast, a LFP battery will still achieve 90% efficiency under shallow discharge conditions.

Size and weight

Saves up to 70% in space

Saves up to 70% in weight

Expensive?

LFP batteries are expensive when compared to lead-acid. But in demanding applications, the high initial cost will be more than compensated by longer service life, superior reliability and excellent efficiency

Endless flexibility

LFP batteries are easier to charge than lead-acid batteries. The charge voltage may vary from 14V to 16V (as long as no cell is subjected to more than 4,2V), and they do not need to be fully charged. Several batteries can be connected in parallel and no damage will occur if some batteries are less charged than others. Our 12V BMS will support up to 10 batteries in parallel (BTVs are simply daisy-chained)