Battery Testing Laboratory
Testing Today’s Batteries to Power Tomorrow
As Switzerland’s largest battery testing lab, we provide cutting-edge infrastructure and expert support to help startups, SMEs, and industry leaders develop, validate, and optimize their energy storage systems.
Infrastructure Battery Testing Lab
The Swiss Battery Technology Center (SBTC), in collaboration with the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) Center for Energy Storage, operates Switzerland’s largest Battery Testing Laboratory for cells and modules. This public–private partnership offers a comprehensive testing ecosystem, enabling startups, SMEs, and large enterprises to evaluate and optimize their energy storage systems in close cooperation with domain experts.
Battery Testing Laboratory
The Battery Testing Laboratory is equipped to characterize battery cells and modules of all formats under controlled conditions, including variable temperature profiles, charge/discharge rates, and depths of discharge. These characterizations support the derivation of key parameters for battery management systems (BMS) and predictive modeling. Battery cells and modules of all sizes and chemistries relevant to electromobility and stationary energy storage can be tested in the Battery Testing Laboratory.
In addition to standard cycling and ageing protocols, the laboratory offers a range of advanced diagnostic methods:
- Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) Measurement: Used to determine state-of-charge (SoC) characteristics and assess cell relaxation behavior and internal equilibrium.
- Pulse Power Testing: Evaluates dynamic charge/discharge performance, resistance, and efficiency under high-current loads to determine power capabilities and thermal behavior.
- High Precision Coulombic Efficiency (HPCE): Enables early detection of degradation trends by quantifying minute differences in charge/discharge efficiency, allowing reliable ageing analysis within just 50–100 cycles.
- Galvanostatic Intermittent Titration Technique (GITT): Provides insight into lithium diffusion kinetics and thermodynamic properties by applying intermittent current pulses and analyzing voltage responses.
- Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS): Offers frequency-resolved analysis of internal resistances and time constants, useful for identifying ageing mechanisms and interface phenomena.
- Incremental Capacity Analysis (ICA): Detects subtle changes in electrochemical behavior over time by analyzing differential capacity (dQ/dV) curves, supporting the evaluation of ageing and state-of-health (SoH).
Our test infrastructure
- 120 cell test channels
- 12 module test channels
- 13 temperature chambers (10 Hazard Level 4, 3 Hazard Level 6)
- Regularly calibrated equipment to ensure data accuracy and reproducibility
- Largest battery testing lab in Switzerland
- Operated in partnership with the BFH Energy Storage Research Centre (Prof. Dr. Priscilla Caliandro)
Infrastructure
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Temperature range: -45°C to 180°C
Safety rating: 4x hazard level 4 | 3x hazard level 6
Volume: 1100l
Max weight: 50kg to 200kg
Allowable heat load: 4500W
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Temperature range: -20°C to 85°C
Safety rating: hazard level 4
Volume: 105l
Max weight: 50kg to 200kg
Allowable heat load: 4500W
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Channels: 40 channels
Current range: 0 to 50A per channel | max 1000A in parallel
Accuracy: +/- 0.03% FSD
Voltage range: 0 to 5V
Sampling frequency: 1ms
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Channels: 12 channels
Current range: 0 to 50A per channel | max 600A in parallel
Accuracy: +/- 0.02% FSD
Voltage range: 0 to 100V
Sampling frequency: 1ms
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Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy
Current range: 0 to 3A
Booster: up to 30A
EIS: 10 μHz – 1 MHz
Head of Swiss Battery Technology Center,
Partner, Executive Board Member