What's All This Charge About Batteries?

Join us for a moment to charge up your knowledge on some battery terminology!  

As you are scrolling through countless options for batteries you will come across several of the same terms and acronyms.  Let's run down a list of some of the most common and increase our brain power along the way:

Capacity: This is the amount of energy the battery can delivery during a single discharge.  Designated in Amp-Hours(Ah), temperature plays a large role here.  The colder the temperature the less capacity the battery has.  Also as usage occurs, the capacity diminishes as well.  Like they say, "Nothing Lasts Forever."

Cycle: This is one discharge and recharge of the battery.

Depth of Discharge(DOD): This is a representation of how much of the battery has been used.  Usually represented as a percentage.  For example a 60% DOD means you have used 60% of the batteries capacity.  

Life Cycle: This is the number of cycles that a cell or battery can be charged and discharged under specific conditions, before the available capacity falls to a specific performance criteria - normally 80% of the rated capacity.  This is an estimated metric determined by temp, Depth of Discharge(DOD), and the voltage of the battery.  The lower the depth of each discharge will have a direct effect on the life cycle of your battery.

Self Discharge Rate: This is the measurement of the amount of charge lost as the battery sits in storage or not being used.

State of Charge(SOC): This is the current state of the battery.  How much charge capacity it has at the present time.

Voltage or (V): This is the unit of measure used to determine the electric potential. 

Hopefully this small list can add a little value to your life!  Please swing over and check out some of the batteries we carry from our awesome partners!  As always please contact us if you have any questions.  Power On!!!