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Battery type for rough weather conditions

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j3h4:
Hi, I am a hobbyist and designing a solution which is going to be outside all year around in the Danish weather. So the temperature will vary between -20 degrees C (-4 degrees F) to 30 degrees C (86).

What is the battery type best suited for this? I hope for some kind of rechargeable...

Psi:
What kind of current/voltage/capacity do you need?

ejeffrey:
I think lithium primary cells have good performance across high and low temperature.  The lithium ion/polymer cells I have seen are rated down to -20 C, but I don't know how much the capacity and max discharge rate drop.  Normal alkaline batteries are crap, as are rechargeable lead acid and NiMH batteries.  30 C is not high temperature so any battery should at that temperature with no problem.  If you have high discharge rates the internal temperature may get much higher.

ipman:
On such cold weather, all kinds of batteries will have some problems anyway.
The lithium-based batteries will handle better lower temperatures, but .... still, we don't have enough input data to recommend something.

Psi:

--- Quote from: ipman on December 20, 2011, 10:25:30 am ---On such cold weather, all kinds of batteries will have some problems anyway.

--- End quote ---

Yeah, that's what i was wondering about the capacity he needs.
Maybe one or two ultra capacitors would be more suitable.
There lifespan would be way longer too. Probably forever.
Downside is you need to design a SMPS to handle their change in volts as they discharge, since they don't have a nice flat area like batteries.
And of course less capacity,  5 Wh/kg  vs 40 Wh/kg for a lead acid.
That's not always an issue though, if you only need a small amount of energy or have room for extra ultra capacitors.

Large trucks in cold regions use ultracapcitors in parallel with their lead acid battery to provide starting current when the whole truck is at sub zero and the battery performance is awful :)  Not to mention the oil is as thick as molasses so turning over the engine isn't easy.

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