Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP or LiFePO4) :

Lithium Iron Phosphate - LFP - LiFePO4-cell

Lithium Ferro Phosphate technology (also known as LFP or LiFePO4), which appeared in 1996, is replacing other battery technologies because of its technical advantages and very high level of safety.

Due to its high power density, this technology is used in medium-power traction applications (robotics, AGV, E-mobility, last mile delivery, etc.) or heavy-duty traction applications (marine traction, industrial vehicles, etc.)

The long service life of the LFP and the possibility of deep cycling make it possible to use LiFePO4 in energy storage applications (stand-alone applications, Off-Grid systems, self-consumption with battery) or stationary storage in general.

Major advantages of Lithium Iron Phosphate:

  • Very safe and secure technology (No Thermal Runaway)
  • Very low toxicity for environment (use of iron, graphite and phosphate)
  • Calendar life > 10 ans
  • Cycle life : from 2000 to several thousand (see chart below)
  • Operational temperature range :up to 70°C
  • Very low internal resistance. Stability or even decline over the cycles.
  • Constant power throughout the discharge range
  • Ease of recycling

Life-cycle ofLithium Iron Phosphate technology (LiFePO4)

Lithium Iron Phosphate technology is that which allows the greatest number of charge / discharge cycles. That is why this technology is mainly adopted in stationary energy storage systems (self-consumption, Off-Grid, UPS, etc.) for applications requiring long life.

The actual number of cycles that can be performed depends on several factors:

  • Quality of Lithium Cell
  • Level of power in C-Rate (1C rate means full discharge or charge in 1 hour, 2C is the same but in half an hour)
  • Depth of Discharge (DOD)
  • Operational environment : temperature, humidity, etc.

Below chart shows the estimated number of cycles for our Lithium Iron Phosphate battery cells (LFP, LiFePO4) according to the discharge power and DOD figures. The test conditions are those of a laboratory (constant temperature of 25 ° C, constant charge and discharge power ).

Lithium
Lithium Iron Phosphate Life Cycle

In standard environment, and for 1C cycles, we can get from the chart the below life cycle estimation for LFP :

  • 3 000 cycles at 100% DoD
  • 4 500 cycles at 80% DoD
  • 10 000 cycles at 60% DoD
  • etc.

It should be noted that following the number of completed cycle, the batteries still have a nominal capacity > 80% of the original capacity.

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