Proper Grounding is Critical for Battery Energy Storage Systems
To help avoid these risks, it is essential to ensure system integrity by using a fully integrated, highly engineered grounding and bonding system. Total Site Electrical Protection.
For grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), grounding and bonding is essential for safety and performance. The goal of grounding and bonding is to achieve customer-targeted resistance levels. These low resistance levels allow fault currents to easily discharge into the ground, protecting people, equipment and the BESS itself.
The ancillary equipment (charging units, etc) would be grounded. Grounding of DC battery system enhances safety really because, if ungrounded, any short of power conductor to battery system would not be cleared by OCPD and personnel doing routine maintenance on the batteries are liable to be shocked or to suffer worse than that.
For a standard substation DC battery rack, I am having trouble determining whether a ground is required to be installed along with the wires between the battery disconnect switch and the battery rack. It's 125VDC. My usual approach is to include a ground until I can prove that a ground is not useful or is detrimental to the system.
These low resistance levels allow fault currents to easily discharge into the ground, protecting people, equipment and the BESS itself. The consequences of a failed or insufficient grounding system can be severe – thermal runaway leading to fires, system downtime, component failures, reduced efficiency and other safety hazards.
PDF version includes complete article with source references. Suitable for printing and offline reading.
Download detailed specifications, case studies, and technical data sheets for our ESS containers and containerized PV systems.
15 Rue des Énergies Renouvelables
Paris 75015, France
+33 1 84 83 72 76
Monday - Friday: 8:30 AM - 6:30 PM CET