SOC Equalization Control Method Considering SOH in DC–DC Converter Cascaded Energy Storage Systems

In large-scale industrial and commercial energy storage systems, as well as ground power station energy storage systems, the trend is to adopt large-capacity battery cells to reduce system construction costs. It is essential to screen the consistency of battery cells during the initial design phase. In conventional energy storage systems, battery clusters utilize multiple batteries connected in series, which can lead to differential attenuation over time and inconsistent state of charge (SOC) among the batteries. The “barrel effect” diminishes the effective capacity of the energy storage system. To mitigate this issue, a DC–DC converter cascaded energy storage system has been developed, incorporating precise charge and discharge management for each battery module within a cluster. By implementing SOC equalization control at the module level, it mitigates the barrel effect and enables full utilization of each battery module’s charging and discharging capabilities, thereby enhancing the overall charge–discharge capacity of the energy storage system. However, when considering only the SOC equalizing factor, its effectiveness may be limited by constraints such as DC–DC converter power limitations and device voltage stress levels. Therefore, a novel SOC equalization control method that considers both SOH and SOC variations across battery modules is proposed here. Through a droop control methodology combined with closed-loop control implementation on eight DC–DC converter cascaded energy storage systems, we validate the improved effectiveness achieved by incorporating SOH-aware SOC equalization control. The energy storage system has the capability to enhance both charging and discharging capacities, achieving a remarkable increase of 1.85% every 10 min, thereby yielding significant economic advantages.