Performance of valve-regulated lead-acid batteries in real-world stationary applications - utility installations

A multi-phase project to investigate the reliability of valve-regulated lea d-acid (VRLA) batteries in the field has been conducted by US industry and government research organizations. The focus of the study has been to chara cterize the relationships between VRLA technologies, service conditions, pe rformance, and field failures. Two surveys were conducted. one of VRLA end users, and the other of VRLA manufacturers. Data from end users were obtain ed for over 56,000 telecom and utility installations representing over 740, 000 cells. Seven manufacturers participated in the study. Preliminary corre lations between utility end-user data, manufacturer information, and batter y reliability have been developed and will be reported. Data for telecommun ications installations will be reported in a separate publication when comp leted. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.