| abstract |
Without battery cell balancing, voltages of multiple series-connected battery cells may quickly become out of balance, which causes some cells of the battery to deteriorate faster than others, and reduces the life cycle of the battery. Embodiments of the present invention address this problem by providing a system for balanced charging of multiple series-connected battery cells. The system includes resistors that are selectably and electrically coupled in parallel with respective battery cells via activation and deactivation of respective switches. The system also includes a control unit that is configured to determine a battery cell having a lowest voltage among the battery cells, and to activate and deactivate the switches as a function of differences in voltages between the voltage of the lowest battery cell and voltages of each of the other battery cells, thus, providing balanced charging of the multiple series-connected battery cells. |