The design offers a complete solution for high-voltage battery management, featuring monitoring, power conversion, and safety features for ESS. Read more!
The high-voltage reference design from Texas Instruments (TI) offers a comprehensive solution for engineers focused on precise monitoring and control within Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). Designed to handle current, insulation impedance, and battery health in lithium-ion (Li-ion) or LiFePO4 battery racks, this design is ideal for use across residential, commercial, industrial, and grid-based applications. The system can manage up to four high-voltage bus inputs, measure shunt current, track temperature, and monitor insulation impedance up to 1500V—ensuring safe and reliable operation in complex battery rack setups.
Key to the design’s versatility, it includes both onboard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) communication and an off-board daisy-chain interface, allowing engineers to implement stackable, cost-effective connections with reinforced isolation. The BQ79731-Q1 device plays a central role, enabling precise tracking of critical battery system parameters and boosting system health and efficiency. The design also incorporates the TPSI2140-Q1 and a reed relay in a high-voltage, side-grounded, unbalanced bridge configuration to provide accurate insulation impedance measurements.
For power conversion, the design utilizes the SN6507 device and a transformer to efficiently step down 24V from the low-voltage side to 12V on the high-voltage side, ensuring smooth operation across different voltage levels. The system adheres to rigorous 1500V reinforced insulation standards, meeting UL1973 and IEC60664-1-2020 requirements through isolation components like the ISO7841DWWR digital isolator, transformers, and resistor ladders.
The design integrates accurate monitoring, robust control, and reliable safety features, which are crucial for meeting the demanding requirements of modern grid and industrial energy storage systems. Engineers can use integrated current sensors to monitor vital battery parameters such as voltage, current, insulation levels, and state of charge. Additional pins facilitate temperature measurements and relay control, enabling rapid management of overcurrent conditions and easy communication with the main controller.
A solid-state relay acts as a high-tech switch, efficiently managing high voltages without needing an external power source, and is designed to handle voltage surges and challenging conditions. A quad-channel digital isolator provides essential electrical isolation between system components, enhancing safety while allowing data signals to pass through. The high-frequency push-pull transformer driver ensures a compact, stable power supply, minimizing electrical interference and offering durability across a wide temperature range. Furthermore, a voltage regulator maintains stable voltage with minimal power consumption, ensuring continuous operation for critical devices such as fire alarms or smart meters while protecting short circuits.
The reference design provides engineers with a solution for developing high-voltage battery management systems for industrial and grid-based energy storage applications. TI has tested this reference design. It comes with a bill of materials (BOM), schematics, assembly drawing, printed circuit board (PCB) layout, and more. The company’s website has additional data about the reference design. To read more about this reference design, click here.
