A method for determining an electrolyte level in electrochemical cells of a battery or of a plurality of batteries, said method comprising the steps of: a) providing one battery or a plurality of batteries, each battery comprising a container having at least one wall; each battery consisting of one or several electrochemical cells; b) recording an image of the infrared radiations emitted by the wall and by the electrolyte through the wall of the battery or in case of a plurality of batteries recording an image of the infrared radiations emitted by the walls and by the electrolyte through the walls of the plurality of batteries; c) processing the image to locate in each electrochemical cell a boundary between two zones exhibiting a temperature difference thereby determining the electrolyte level in each electrochemical cell.

An electric power demand adjusting device is configured to execute an acquiring process of acquiring an evaluation value ΣD for a high-rate deterioration of a secondary battery connected to a power utility grid, which results from a salt concentration unevenness in an electrolyte solution, and a discharge non-participating process of not allowing the secondary battery to participate in adjustment of discharge demand from the power utility grid when the evaluation value ΣD of the secondary battery is greater than or equal to a predetermined discharge threshold value K1.

According to an example, a charge level of a battery detected with a processing resource communicatively coupled to the battery. In response to detecting a battery at full charge, the current full charge capacity of the battery is recorded, and an error cycle count, a design cycle count, and a full charge capacity at a last calibration are fetched. A maximum allowable battery decay level is calculated based on the error cycle count, the design cycle count, and the full charge capacity at last calibration. In an example, in the event that the current full charge capacity is less than the full charge capacity at the last calibration minus the maximum allowable battery decay level, a battery calibration alert is triggered.

A secondary battery system includes a battery having an electrode body impregnated with an electrolyte containing lithium ions; and an ECU configured to permit charge and discharge of the battery when battery temperature is equal to or more than a threshold temperature and to restrict the charge and discharge of the battery when the battery temperature is less than the threshold temperature. The ECU is configured to obtain a value related to minimum concentration of the lithium ions (minimum salt concentration) caused by a deviation of concentration distribution of the lithium ions in the electrode body, and to set the threshold temperature to be higher as the related value representing the minimum salt concentration becomes lower.

A method of charging and discharging a secondary battery includes detecting a displacement in a secondary battery by one or more sensors and controlling a charging and discharging current based on the detection result of each of the sensors. The charging and discharging current of the secondary battery is controlled so that an amount of displacement of the secondary battery does not exceed a threshold value.

A liquid level sensor for a liquid electrolyte battery is provided. The liquid level sensor includes a probe having a reference electrode and an electrode array. The electrode array includes a plurality of electrodes that are serially disposed in a lengthwise direction of the probe. The reference electrode is capacitively coupled to each electrode within the electrode array, such that the probe provides a capacitance that varies when the probe is immersed in a liquid level that varies in relation to the probe. The liquid level sensor can alert a user of the need to refill the battery or alert a user of the need to refill the battery in the near future. The liquid level sensor can include a series of LEDs that selectively illuminate to indicate each such condition to the user.

An improved battery monitoring system for liquid electrolyte batteries is provided. The battery monitoring system includes a network of sensors for monitoring the condition or performance of a plurality of liquid electrolyte batteries, for example lead-acid batteries. The sensors are adapted to share data regarding battery condition or battery performance to a standalone device over a wireless local area network. A server in electrical communication with the standalone device receives some or all of the data for analysis, which can result in maintenance alerts and other alerts being sent to the standalone device. The improved battery monitoring system can reduce or eliminate the manual inspection of lead-acid batteries and can improve battery operation and longevity by ensuring an appropriate level of maintenance for each lead-acid battery.

A method of testing an oxidation potential of an electrolyte is provided. The method comprises: arranging an electrolyte between a working electrode and an auxiliary electrode to form an electrolytic cell; applying a first voltage U.sub.1 between the working electrode and the auxiliary electrode for a time Δt; applying a second voltage U.sub.2 between the working electrode and the auxiliary electrode for the time Δt, wherein U.sub.2=U.sub.1+ΔU; likewise, applying a nth voltage U.sub.n between the working electrode and the auxiliary electrode for the time Δt, to obtain a change curve of a current and an electric potential of the electrolytic cell with time, wherein U.sub.n=U.sub.(n−1)+ΔU, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 4; and obtaining the oxidation potential of the lithium ion battery electrolyte according to the change curve.

A battery maintenance system includes an enclosure including a plurality of walls. A plurality of battery cells are located in the enclosure and surrounded by electrolyte. An electrolyte agitator such as a piezoelectric device is attached to at least one of the walls of the enclosure and is configured to selectively agitate the electrolyte.

A semiconductor device including: a voltage detection section that outputs a first voltage and a second voltage that is different from the first voltage, the first voltage and the second voltage being voltages of a connected battery; a correction section that, on the basis of potential differences between the first voltage and second voltage, derives second data from first data, the first data representing a relationship between remaining battery levels and open circuit voltages, and the second data representing a relationship between remaining battery levels and battery voltages; and a calculation section that calculates a remaining level of the battery on the basis of a remaining battery level corresponding to a minimum voltage in the second data and outputs the calculated remaining level of the battery.