Battery discharge testing, also known as battery load testing, is a process that test battery health statement by constant current discharging of the set value by continuously the discharge current from a fully charged state and then measuring how long the battery lasts.
In battery research, it is common to use C-rate of 0.1C, to charge and discharge a battery in ten hours. The current ( ) necessary to charge or discharge a battery is calculated multiplying the C-rate by the ratio between the battery nominal capacity ( h) and the one hour time (h).
The discharge rate of a battery can be affected by a number of factors, including the load being placed on the battery, the age of the battery, and the temperature at which it is being used. A battery with a high discharge rate is able to deliver a large amount of electrical current in a short period of time.
Go into the Framework software and navigate to “Experiment”- “Electrochemical Energy”- “Cyclic Charge Discharge”. Page one of the experimental setup screen will open. See figure 2. a. Name your experiment identifier under base file name. b. Include any notes like the type of battery and parameters c. Capacity in A-hr.
A typical battery discharge/charge test configuration includes a programmable power supply, an electronic load, an electronic switch, a voltmeter, and an ammeter. Synchronizing all these instruments into a working test station requires significant configuration time.
To draw current from a battery using an SMU instrument, set the voltage source of the SMU instrument to a lower level than the battery voltage and the SMU’s current limit to the desired discharge rate. When the output is enabled, current from the battery will flow into the HI terminal of the SMU instrument.