- South Korean battery manufacturer LG Chem has unveiled two new battery series for residential applications that are said to have a 9% higher energy content than their predecessors.
- The company claims to have increased their efficiency by 5.8% to over 90% and that the batteries can now be piled up to reach a storage capacity of 32 kWh.
The LG Resu Prime series will be available in two sizes, the Resu 10H Prime with a capacity of 9.6 kWh and a maximum discharge capacity of 5 kW, and the Resu 16H Prime with a capacity of 16 kWh and a maximum discharge capacity of 11 kW.
“We initially developed a new cell when we started with the new product generation,” said Stefan Krokowski, LG Chem’s head of sales and marketing for residential energy storage systems in the EMEA region. This cell, named JH5, has a higher energy density, can be packed more tightly and at the same time the cobalt content has dropped by 37%. Cobalt is often extracted under poor conditions and costs can also be saved by reducing it.
Easy-to-deploy high-voltage batteries
The Prime batteries have a converter that enables them to operate with high-voltage battery inverters, for example with devices from major manufacturers such as Germany’s SMA and Israel-based Solaredge. As with the existing Resu 10M series, the entire electronics are built into the main unit so that they can be easily replaced in the event of a fault.
As for the battery deployment, the manufacturer says feedback from installers was taken into account. For example, the battery can be screwed to the base plate on the side of the battery itself and not from below. Overall, the two battery modules, the base plate and the electronics for the 10 kWh storage unit weigh 110 kilograms.
The new batteries can be cascaded in a master-slave arrangement. With regard to the settings, the company praises the functionalities of the associated app. The installer can scan a QR code on an installed device and the battery is registered. LG Chem can then monitor the battery and carry out software updates — an important step as the guarantee depends on the registration.
“Resu 10H Prime will be manufactured in March 2021 and will then be available on the German market about two to three months later,” said Krokowski. The Resu 16H can be expected from February or March.
The Resu Flex series
In addition to the Prime series, LG Chem has also unveiled the Flex series, which can be used with hybrid inverters. The converter of the Prime series is not designed for this. The Flex series, on the other hand, does not require a converter.
In order to achieve a high voltage without a converter, smaller battery cells have been developed with JH5 technology and can be connected in series. As a result, they are not only suitable for this application, but also achieve an even higher level of efficiency.
During the launch of the two new products, LG Chem also announced that it had spun off its battery business into new subsidiary LG Energy Solution at the beginning of December.
Author: Michael Fuhs
This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.
