Emergency light batteries, as the name suggests, are batteries that provide power for emergency lighting devices. There are many types of emergency light batteries on the market, including lead-acid batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, lithium batteries, etc. Among these batteries, which one is the best?
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When choosing products such as emergency light batteries, in addition to the quality and safety of the product, you should also consider the life cycle cost of the product, including subsequent maintenance costs, to avoid frequent replacement in the future that consumes more manpower, material resources, and financial resources . Next, let’s talk about the characteristics of these emergency light batteries.
Lead-acid batteries are mainly used in central battery systems . This is also one of the earliest emergency lighting systems. It has certain advantages for installation sites with complex terrain, because all its accessories are connected to one power supply, and subsequent maintenance of the battery will be more convenient, but it also means that once a single point of failure occurs, it will affect the entire system; at the same time, the installation of a centralized battery system will be relatively complicated, because the connection between the battery and the lamp requires a long cable, and its cost will increase. Centralized battery systems can easily create high-temperature environments. The increase in temperature has a certain impact on the life of lead-acid batteries. The theoretical optimal temperature of lead-acid batteries is 20°C-25°C. Every time the theoretical data changes by 10°C, the lifespan will be reduced 20 %-50%, therefore the battery indoor temperature needs to be controlled through external conditions, which also means an increase in other costs.
Nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries contain toxic heavy metals such as nickel-cadmium, which have a certain impact on the human and the environment. However, due to their small size and high energy density, they were widely used on the market.Nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries were not gradually replaced until the appearance and development of lithium batteries.
Lithium batteries currently often used in emergency lights are ternary lithium and lithium iron phosphate cylindrical batteries. Lithium iron phosphate batteries are not only cheaper than ternary lithium batteries, but also much safer than ternary lithium batteries. For details, you can check《Why are LiFePO4 batteries safer?》. Compared with other batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries are relatively new to the market, but they have obvious advantages in terms of stability, sustainability, and service life.
Next, let’s know the advantages of lithium iron phosphate batteries compared with alternatives such as nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries:
To sum up, emergency lights using lithium iron phosphate batteries are the safest and most cost-effective. Users can obtain maximum benefits at the lowest cost throughout the product life cycle.
By René Joppi, Managing Director, Mackwell
Rechargeable lithium battery technology first emerged in commercial products in the early s and has since grown in popularity. The development of lithium batteries was driven by the need for higher energy density, with portable electronic devices and electric vehicles being the main application areas.
However, lithium batteries are now also one of the preferred solutions for powering emergency lighting standby applications. Not only will this article uncover the many reasons behind why lithium batteries are popular when compared to alternative technologies, but it will also outline some of the considerations that must be made when specifying battery technology…
The Rise in Lithium Technology in Emergency Lighting
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Lithium technology competes with the more established Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) technologies, and is often specified due to its potential for longer cycle life and increased energy efficiencies. This, in turn, allows for longer warranties to be offered. Furthermore, due to its lightweight and compact design, the technology is easily installed and can operate at high temperatures.
In today’s emergency lighting market, only one type of lithium chemistry – lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) – is recommended as opposed to lithium-cobalt and lithium-manganese systems more commonly used in portable electronics and electric vehicle applications. This is due to the ‘standby’ nature of emergency lighting applications, where the batteries are not regularly charged and discharged, instead operating in a state of ‘constant top-up’. LiFePO4 batteries are less prone to internal degradation of electrodes and electrode-electrolyte interfaces when used in this way compared to the other lithium chemistries.
Barriers to Safe Lithium Batteries
When handling emergency lighting batteries, safety must always remain front of mind.
Lithium is highly flammable in air and moisture, and great care must be taken when manufacturing and using lithium batteries – especially ensuring temperature limits are not exceeded to prevent fires. Lithium fires result from thermal runaway and are dangerous as they can be particularly difficult to extinguish. This is another reason why it is favoured to opt for LiFePO4 as it has a lower temperature rise in a thermal runaway situation compared to other lithium systems, making it inherently safer.
Instilling Robust Thermal Management
It is highly recommended to only use lithium technology in emergency lighting applications where there is a robust method of thermal management implemented, in particular, thermal monitoring of the battery case temperature through life. Where only a small number of suppliers of lithium battery systems for emergency lighting currently offer this, it is a safety measure not to be overlooked.
It must be noted that the extended lifecycles offered by lithium are still prone to be reduced by poor battery charge regimes and unintentional cycling of charge and discharge during the construction and installation phase. In this respect, lithium systems are no different to NiCd and NiMH. Therefore, choosing systems where the emergency driver has smart-charge and construction protection features is crucial to ensure that the benefits of choosing lithium can be fully realised.
There is no doubt that the emergency lighting industry can benefit from the implementation of lithium battery technology due to its many benefits, such as long cycle life and increased energy density. This can often result in extended warranties being available, something that has traditionally not been offered for other emergency lighting battery systems.
Yet, lithium batteries do not come without their challenges. Great care must be taken when manufacturing and using lithium batteries within the industry, especially with respect to thermal management. Manufacturers need to adhere to safety compliance in the form of temperature monitoring circuits to ensure 100% safety!
Facilities managers looking to reap the benefits of lithium batteries without the safety concerns can look to specialised suppliers of lithium batteries and technology that offer thermal monitoring of the battery case.
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