Off-Grid Systems With Reused Notebook Batteries – A Cost Analysis

Technologies that fall under alternative energy generation methods are currently among the main topics discussed in many environmental and sustainability debates. Among the most commonly used generation methods, on-grid and off-grid photovoltaic systems are prominent, mainly due to the abundance of the energy source. Offgrid, or autonomous, systems rely on energy storage, which requires the use of batteries. The construction of a battery generally involves the combination of cells. In this article, a cost analysis will be carried out to economically demonstrate the viability of a simulated battery assembled from reused cells compared to a new battery with the same characteristics. In this work, batteries are designed using 18650 cells, which are cylindrical cells with a diameter of 18 mm and a length of 65 mm. These cells power many devices, such as laptops and power banks, and were chosen due to the abundance of raw material in discarded equipment. The main result of this analysis is that the use of batteries made from reused cells can make the installation of an off-grid system economically viable, while the installation of such a system with a battery made from new cells is unfeasible. A reused cell can cost about 15% of the price of an equivalent new cell. In an initial analysis, the payback period of an off-grid photovoltaic system can be reduced by approximately 70% when using reused cells, compared to the payback period for a system with new cells