Substation batteries

[HamburgerHelper]

Can someone explain to me why voltage regulators or boost converters are never used in a substation? When I have sized batteries, the amp-hours calculated assumed the batteries were not usefull after the voltage had dropped down to 70% or whatever. You could get a lot more amp-hours out of the batteries and get by with a lot less if you used something to step up the voltage as the batteries drained.

 

[waross]

Dependability is of prime importance in substations. It may not be wise to introduce additional points of possible failure into a critical control scheme.
Also, the expected life of some types of batteries is reduced with deep discharge cycles.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[stevenal]

The converter trades voltage for amps, so as it boosts the voltage at the output it is sucking more amperage from your already depleted battery. I see little gain here, especially after factoring in the loss of the converter. For that reason and waross' I'd rather install a larger battery.

 

[ShooterBoter]

Usually the battery manufacturer will define a "end voltage". Discharging the battery below this point will probably cause damage to the battery.
If you discharge the battery way below this pint you'll not be able to charge it to full capacity again.

 

[LionelHutz]

The batteries are dead to the point of being damaged if you discharge them to 70% voltage. Charging to discharged should be less than a 10% voltage drop.