1. Bern University of Applied Sciences
  2. School of Engineering and Computer Science
  3. Research + Consulting services
  4. Research areas
  5. Energy storage
  6. Projects
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Projects

In the Energy Storage Research Centre, engineers, lecturers and experts from other disciplines collaborate on interdisciplinary projects. These projects give an insight into the broad remit of each individual research group.

Reference projects

CircuBAT: Swiss circular economy model for automotive lithium batteries

The research project CircuBAT aims to create a circular business model for the production, application and recycling of lithium-ion batteries used for mobility purposes.

  • Institute Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM
    Intelligente industrielle Systeme (I3S)
  • Research unit IEM / Batteries and storage systems
  • Head of project Andrea Vezzini

HIDDEN

The EU Horizon project HIDDEN is developing processes to enable the self-healing of lithium-ion batteries. This could improve their lifespan and energy density by 50% compared to conventional lithium-ion...

  • Institute Institute for Intelligent Industrial Systems
  • Head of project Michael Stalder

BIENE – Battery swarm in the railway electricity grid

The collaboration between BFH, SBB and RhB is intended to pave the way for the future use of battery rail vehicles and support an efficient technology shift from fossil fuels to a climate-neutral fleet.

  • Institute Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM
  • Research unit IEM / Batteries and storage systems
  • Head of project Priscilla Caliandro

GENESIS: Gauging the environmental sustainability of electric aircraft systems

In the EU project GENESIS, scientists from the Energy Storage Research Centre at BFH are therefore working with partners from all over Europe to research fully electric and hybrid aircraft engines.

  • Institute Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM
  • Research unit IEM / Batteries and storage systems
  • Head of project Priscilla Caliandro

In-situ assessment of battery state of health

Batteries storage systems are the core components of environmentally friendly e-buses. A measurement procedure is being developed to quickly determine current battery capacity in-situ at the vehicle.

  • Institute Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM
  • Research unit IEM / Batteries and storage systems
  • Head of project Bruno Eric Marc Lemoine

Megawatt charger for e-trucks

A fast-charging station that can charge e-trucks within 45 minutes is being developed to enable such vehicles to travel long distances. This will increase the proportion of low-emission means of transport.

  • Institute Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM
  • Research unit IEM / Batteries and storage systems
  • Head of project Christian Ochsenbein

Swiss eBus plus

In order to make public transport even more environmentally friendly, conventional diesel buses are to be replaced with electrically powered vehicles. Their disadvantages are to be reduced within this project.

  • Institute Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM
  • Research unit IEM / Batteries and storage systems
  • Head of project Priscilla Caliandro

More projects

Battery storage systems used today are not operated to support the stability of the distribution grid. The primary reason for this unused potential is the fact that there is no incentive for the battery storage operator to use a grid-friendly mode of operation. Distribution system operators are increasingly interested in grid-friendly operation for reasons of grid stability, grid optimization and due to the growing popularity of battery storage, but they do not know how to motivate customers to operate their storage systems on a grid-friendly basis. In a first step, this project, which is funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, aims to quantify the benefits of decentralized, customer-side battery storage for the distribution grid. In a second step, incentive systems for grid-friendly operating strategies will be identified and evaluated. Finally, recommendations will be made to show how a grid-friendly operating strategy can be designed and technically implemented.

‘Swiss Trolley plus’ is a lighthouse project sponsored by the Swiss Office of Energy, the aim of which is the manufacture of a fully electric, Swiss-made vehicle with sustainable components and controls. With its high-performance traction battery, it can also be operated without overhead cables. Thanks to regenerative braking, the ‘Swiss Trolley plus’ can also generate energy savings of up to 15 per cent, making trolley bus lines more cost-efficient, more reliable and more flexible to run.

Gemeinsam mit verschiedenen Partnern hat sich das Zentrum Energiespeicherung zum Ziel gesetzt, das grösste elektrisch angetriebene Fahrzeug bis Anfang 2017 zu planen und konzipieren und dieses bis im Spätsommer 2017 zu bauen. Das Zentrum Energiespeicherung befasst sich mit der elektrischen und thermischen Charakterisierung der zum Einsatz kommenden Batterie sowie mit Energiemessungen und -modellierungsarbeiten am Fahrzeug.

 

The Prosumer Lab project is a pilot and demonstration project financed by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (BFE) and BKW Energie AG. At the forefront of the project is a test facility set up in the Energy Storage Research Centre’s laboratory, where the flow of electric energy to a house or apartment block with photovoltaics and storage devices can be analysed in reproducible simulations. During these simulations, system components such as energy managers, inverters and battery storage devices are compared and tested.

By integrating decentralised feed-in and storage, the capacity of network grids can be increased. Network-side measures have differing effects on network usage, availability and power quality (PQ). The latter, in particular, is strongly influenced by the increased use of power electronics and the change in frequency-related impedance. Using measurements and simulations, these basic principles are explored to generate recommendations and tools for facilitating network planning.

The team around evolaris aviation, a BFH spin-off, aims to develop and commercialise high-tech electric drive systems for single-engine aircraft. Switzerland’s reputation for reliability and precision will play an important role, especially when designing the new drive concept. The development of the high-performance electric motor and electric system, battery, energy manager, battery charger, etc. represents the first step in this direction. Votec evolaris from MSW Aviation was used to identify the most appropriate test aircraft for the project.

Der steigende Einsatz von Leistungselektronik sowie die Zunahme an dezentraler Einspeisung, Speicherung und flexiblen Lasten führen dazu, dass Fragen zu Rückwirkungen auf das Versorgungsnetz und deren Beurteilung immer mehr in den Vordergrund treten. Aufgrund der komplexen Zusammenhänge in der Praxis und der gegebenen Randbedingungen in Bezug auf Verfügbarkeit und Qualität unter Berücksichtigung von wechselnden Topologiezuständen ist es schwierig, Stromnetze wirtschaftlich zu optimieren. Für einen technisch korrekten und kosteneffizienten Betrieb der volatilen Verteilnetze der Zukunft ist es eminent wichtig zu verstehen, welchen Einfluss verschiedene Netzvarianten und Belastungszustände auf die Netzstabilität und die Spannungsqualität haben. Dazu wird in diesem vom Bundesamt für Energie BFE geförderten Projekt mit Messkampagnen in verschiedenen Niederspannungsnetzen untersucht, welche Auswirkungen auf die Einhaltung der EN 50160 auftreten, wenn Anlagen über die Grenzen der Regeln, welche die Netzbetreiber bei der Beurteilung von Anschlussgesuchen heute anwenden, hinaus betrieben werden. Daraus wird das wirtschaftliche Potential verschiedener Methoden beim Netzbau abgeleitet und verglichen sowie ein generisches Überwachungskonzept aufgestellt.