Multi-Cell Battery Monitors Beef Up Protection For Industrial Li-Ions
The bq76920, bq76930 and bq76940 from TI are the first scalable, multi-cell battery monitors that significantly improve battery pack safety and reduce design time of 12 V to 48 V lithium-ion and lithium-iron phosphate batteries used in e-bikes, power tools and energy storage systems. Efficiently protecting and controlling 3- to 15-cell batteries when charging or operating in harsh environment conditions, the advanced monitors incorporate cell-balancing drivers, regulated output supplies and other features to reduce external component count and provide heightened protection against overvoltage, undervoltage and overcurrent conditions. The monitors accurately measure cell voltages, temperature and pack current to determine remaining battery capacity and battery state-of-health. Simplifying battery design and optimizing board space, the bq76920 supports 3- to 5-series cells or typical 18 V packs and comes in a 20-pin, 4.4 x 6.5 mm TSSOP package with a suggested price of $1.50 each/1,000; the bq76930 manages up to 10-series cells or 36 V packs and comes in a 30-pin, 4.4 x 7.8 mm TSSOP at $2.75 each/1,000; and bq76940 monitors up to 15 cells or typical 48 V batteries and comes in a 44-pin, 4.4 x 11.3 mm TSSOP at $3.95 each/1,000. All devices are available in volume production.