A battery storage system concentrates a lot of energy in a small space. That is its main strength, and also the reason safety comes up before savings. The risks are well understood, and modern stationary systems deal with them in several layers. Here they are, one at a time.
Where the risks come from
A lithium cell is safe as long as it operates within the conditions it was designed for. Trouble starts when it leaves them: through overheating, overcharging, deep discharge, mechanical damage or a manufacturing defect.
The most serious scenario is thermal runaway. An overheated cell starts generating heat and gases on its own and can heat the cells around it. Storage design therefore has two aims: to prevent this, and if it happens anyway, to stop it from spreading.
Other risks are electrical, such as short circuits, insulation faults or control errors, and external: frost, heat, moisture and unauthorised access, both physical and digital. Safety is therefore a property of the whole system, not just the battery.
How modern stationary storage manages them
Cell chemistry
Stationary storage today most often uses LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cells. They are generally regarded as more thermally stable than some other lithium chemistries, at the cost of lower energy density. For equipment that stays in one place, that is a sensible trade-off. Chemistry is only the first layer, though, and does not guarantee safety by itself.
Keeping temperature in check
Cells are safest and age most slowly within a narrow temperature band. Frost limits how fast they can be charged; heat speeds up their ageing. That is why our storage is liquid-cooled. In winter, waste heat from the liquid-cooled inverters keeps the batteries warm, so the system works down to −25 °C without heating and without compressor cooling.
Suppression and independent modules
The coolant contains fire-suppressing additives, so the circuit that carries heat away also helps to suppress any incipient fire. On top of that, the system has integrated fire suppression. The battery modules are automotive grade, and each one works on its own, so a fault in one need not take the whole system offline.
Round-the-clock monitoring
The control system monitors the state of the modules continuously online. A deviation triggers an alarm so that it can be dealt with before it grows into a problem, and our service team sees it remotely. The same data feed regular KPI reports.
Certification and proper installation
Independent testing is the simplest way for a buyer to check a supplier’s claims. Our storage is certified by TÜV and DEKRA and complies with RfG, the EU grid connection code. We design and build it in the Czech Republic from European components. With any supplier, ask exactly what a certificate covers: the whole system or just one part of it.
A certificate does not replace a good project, however. Location, clearances, fire brigade access, the quality of the connection and regular inspections all matter. They belong in the plan from the start, not in a final check before commissioning.
Control and data are part of safety
Storage is run by software that talks to the outside world: it pulls market prices and sends data to the service team. Every such link is a potential way in. The concern is not only data leaks: whoever took over the controls could run the storage outside safe limits, or shut it down just when you need it.
Our storage uses its own control system with no remote access for third parties. Control of the system and data about your operations stay with you and us, and nobody else.
What to ask a supplier
Before you sign, ask for clear answers to at least these questions:
- Which modules does the system use, and who made them?
- How is it cooled, and over what temperature range does it operate?
- What fire suppression does it have, and how does it stop a fault spreading between modules?
- Who monitors it, who receives the alarms, and what happens next?
- Which certificates cover the whole system, not just individual components?
- Who has access to the control system and the data?
- How long will spare parts be available?
Our answer to the last one is specific: we guarantee spare parts for 10 years after the warranty ends. We are happy to go through the rest for your particular project. For how storage saves money and how to size it, see battery storage for business.
You will find the safety features and technical data of our storage on the energy storage page.