What is Rechargeable battery: Definition and 12 Discussions

A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell, (or archaically accumulator) is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or primary battery, which is supplied fully charged and discarded after use. It is composed of one or more electrochemical cells. The term "accumulator" is used as it accumulates and stores energy through a reversible electrochemical reaction. Rechargeable batteries are produced in many different shapes and sizes, ranging from button cells to megawatt systems connected to stabilize an electrical distribution network. Several different combinations of electrode materials and electrolytes are used, including lead–acid, zinc–air, nickel–cadmium (NiCd), nickel–metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), and lithium-ion polymer (Li-ion polymer).
Rechargeable batteries typically initially cost more than disposable batteries, but have a much lower total cost of ownership and environmental impact, as they can be recharged inexpensively many times before they need replacing. Some rechargeable battery types are available in the same sizes and voltages as disposable types, and can be used interchangeably with them.
Billions of dollars in research are being invested around the world for improving batteries.

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  1. H

    Automotive Understanding 12V Car Battery Voltage Readings: Explained

    Why are these batteries stated as 12V batteries if often they have a reading of greater than 12V e.g 13 or 14 and when you rev the engine hard while in neutral and do a voltage test on some components in the car circuit you get a reading of much much greater like 40V! How is this working? Could...
  2. C

    How to choose the discharge time of a rechargeable battery

    I am working on a project which involves rechargeable batteries. To calculate the variations in the internal resistance of the battery, i used data from the existing experimental results to establish an approximate value for the internal resistance as a function of the SOC, discharge time and...
  3. E

    Battery charging: Minimum voltage differential?

    I have a question that I believe requires knowledge on the graduate level, but I can't necessarily express it in terms more complicated than plain English. If this is not so, moderator, please adjust to your taste, and thank you! If it helps to know this, I'm an audio/video systems designer and...
  4. G

    How come my rechargeable battery self discharges so fast?

    Hi, I am working on a piezoelectric energy harvesting project. i was able to use my piezoelectric to charge up my AA NI MH battery 1300mAH from 0.93V to 1.201V. However, once i removed the battery from the battery holder, the cell voltage starts to drop without being connected to any load...
  5. ryanuser

    How to store electrical energy?

    Hello I made a little wind turbine so when it is directed at wind it turns and generates electricity as I can see the outcoming voltage on voltmeter. My question is how can I store its energy? Can I use a rechargable battery and let it run out, then stick copper wires at each sides of it coming...
  6. A

    Are Heat Loss and Energy Conversion Key Factors in Rechargeable Batteries?

    Trying to get my head around some ideas about "rechargeable" batteries and getting in a muddle! So I get the idea that rechargeable is a rubbish word for them but I have 2 questions: 1) Does heat loss (i.e. from bulbs) in a DC circuit result in eventual lower PD across a cell? Thinking in...
  7. W

    Replacing Rechargeable Battery with Wall-Wart Power Supply

    I have a LifeFitness exercise bike. It uses a Hawker Energy Sealed Lead Rechargeable Battery that is three cells with a rating of 6 volts at 2.5 AmpHours for 1019 Watts. The battery is recharged by usage of the bike. However, the bike is designed for commercial use and the battery discharges...
  8. epenguin

    Devices operated by both rechargeable battery and mains

    This may be in the 'you were afraid to ask' category. There are many devices which work on batteries or alternatively when plugged into the mains. You can recharge the batteries. Obviously when you are using batteries alone they have to have been charged. Now I am finding that while some...
  9. M

    XRF: Producing X Rays with a Rechargeable Battery

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  10. M

    Charging a 1.2 rechargeable battery

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  11. Redbelly98

    Lifetime of rechargeable battery (sealed lead acid)

    I have a cordless electric lawnmower that runs on sealed lead acid batteries. It is on it's second battery, which has noticeable degraded performance and will need replacing soon. My question is why the original battery, which was rated at 17 Amp-hours, lasted twice as long as this second...
  12. A

    Can i use a 1mA source to charge a 3V rechargeable battery?

    Can i use a 1mA source to charge a 3V rechargeable battery? (1mA source is the output from Photodiode. I can't put an amplifier because of some reason. Note that, the photodiode in this case is used to transfer power only.) Got one engineer told me that i can't do that. Because instead of...
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