{"id":75931,"date":"2023-06-27T09:58:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T23:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=75931"},"modified":"2023-06-27T09:58:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T23:28:18","slug":"vaulta-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/vaulta-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaulta: Brisbane-Made Batteries With A Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vault<\/p>\n

A battery enclosure doesn\u2019t sound like something that could change a market, but that\u2019s what Dominic Spooner, founder and CEO of Brisbane-based company Vaulta hopes to do.<\/p>\n

Vaulta<\/a> offers the world a battery enclosure \u2013 with a difference: it can be disassembled right down to the individual battery cells without special tools or expertise.<\/p>\n

And that means a lithium battery, for example, can be made repairable and much more easily recyclable.<\/p>\n

Speaking to SolarQuotes, Spooner explained, he began understanding batteries<\/a> and how they are put together because he was tasked with making batteries repairable in a previous job as a battery designer.<\/p>\n

There are good reasons for an easily repairable battery: a failure might be down to a single cell, a cable failure, a connector failure, a dry solder joint in the battery management system circuit board, or more.<\/p>\n

In a typical lithium battery, that means replacing the whole unit.<\/p>\n

Once components go into a traditional battery pack, they\u2019re never coming out:<\/p>\n

\u201cyou\u2019re relying on the whole battery lasting the duration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We believe you need to be able to access the battery cells if there\u2019s a failure. With our cases, there are no screws, no glues, and no welds,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Spooner told SolarQuotes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat makes it possible to re-access the batteries once they go into the package\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf something that might cost $5 to replace cannot be replaced, and that will render the battery as end-of-life.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Handling the failed battery is its own saga:<\/p>\n

\u201cyou might have 200kg worth of stuff \u2013 who pays for the dangerous goods freight? What of all the non-dangerous goods in the package, all the plastics, all the metals? You end up paying dangerous goods freight rates on that stuff.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If the battery can be easily disassembled,<\/p>\n

\u201conly stuff that needs to go to the end-of-life facility has to go, without carrying everything along for the ride\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That, Spooner said, takes a battery much closer to being part of a circular economy.<\/p>\n

He said the approach is attracting interest from battery vendors, although to date, negotiations are in confidence.<\/p>\n

Vaulta\u2019s Batteries<\/h2>\n

The company is also manufacturing complete batteries under its name, like this one<\/a>, a 48V, 14.36kWh unit that offers a decent warranty \u2013 3000 cycles equates to 43MWh delivered.<\/p>\n

\"vaulta<\/p>\n

Warranty considerations are another reason to make a battery repairable, Spooner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s built into our pricing model \u2013 we know we can replace a cell, a cable, the battery management system, a connector \u2013 not the entire item.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We can send finished goods with packages of critical spares. And furthermore, the current design is built in a simplistic manner without special tools\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That, he said, means that local licensed electricians would be able to learn to repair the batteries.<\/p>\n

That could be critical in remote locations:<\/p>\n

\u201cyou can have it back up and running quicker without ultra-trained specially skilled service technicians. We can bring regions that aren\u2019t part of the renewable transition, we can bring them along for the ride and get people trained.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Australian Components<\/h2>\n

In keeping with the desire to have everything in the battery repairable, Spooner said, every component of the Vaulta battery that can be manufactured in Australia is built here.<\/p>\n

The BMS, for example, is built in Brisbane, meaning Vaulta could work with the vendor to get the capabilities Spooner wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BMS is 100% configurable to suit different inverter protocols,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been able to integrate inverters, with minimal contact with the inverter company, because we can adjust the protocols to suit the inverter.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While Spooner wasn\u2019t willing to disclose the shipped price of Vaulta\u2019s batteries \u2013 it\u2019s early days in terms of shipments \u2013 he said the company\u2019s target is $600-$700 per kWh.<\/p>\n

The speed of assembly of the Vaulta batteries is demonstrated in this short video:<\/p>\n