Reconfigurable Battery Systems

Abstract

In a reconfigurable battery pack, the connections among cells can be changed during operation to form different configurations. This can lead a battery, a passive two-terminal device, to a smart battery that can reconfigure itself according to the requirement to enhance operational performance. Several hardware architectures with different levels of complexities have been proposed. Some researchers have used existing hardware and demonstrated improved performance on the basis of novel optimization and scheduling algorithms. The possibility of software techniques to benefit the energy storage systems is exciting, and it is the perfect time for such methods as the need for high-performance and long-lasting batteries is on the rise. This novel field requires new understanding, principles, and evaluation metrics of proposed schemes. In this article, we systematically discuss and critically review the state of the art. This is the first effort to compare the existing hardware topologies in terms of flexibility and functionality. We provide a comprehensive review that encompasses all existing research works, starting from the details of the individual battery including modeling and properties as well as fixed-topology traditional battery packs. To stimulate further research in this area, we highlight key challenges and open problems in this domain.