Enabling EV Battery Circular Economy
Advancing second-life EV batteries and pairing with solar PV to enable energy resiliency.
ReJoule Incorporated
Recipient
Signal Hill, CA
Recipient Location
33rd
Senate District
69th
Assembly District
$2,540,092
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
ReJoule is reaching the completion of its commissioning plan, for its second life battery storage system, at the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) in Pomona. The system is currently running on limited power flow, producing real-time data and is expecting full operation by the summer of 2025. Meanwhile, ReJoule continues to develop and deploy its rapid battery grading technology on battery modules and packs. This technology is now being piloted with OEMs, battery remanufacturers and within battery storage systems.
The Issue
As more full electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) reach their end of life, there are serious concerns regarding the enormous amount of hazardous waste that decommissioned EV/PHEV batteries could produce. However, these batteries often retain 70-90% of their original capacity, making them ideal candidates for repurposed, second-life energy storage applications. Unfortunately, safety concerns and a lack of reliable performance projections have proven to be roadblocks for many potential customers. The biggest barriers to repurposing used EV batteries are the cost of disassembly, long test times, and uncertainty about the remaining useful life (RUL).
Project Innovation
ReJoule, Inc. is developing a battery-grading tool for assessing the health of repurposed batteries and validating its battery management system's ability to extend the life and performance of second-life batteries. The research team is also piloting its operational strategy for optimizing the performance of second-life batteries to integrate solar and provide resiliency at a commercial site located in a low-income and disadvantaged community.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
ReJoule is conducting accelerated cycling testing to establish a relationship between AC impedance, DC internal resistance, and battery degradation. This degradation rate model feeds into the pilot testing phase, where the team is deploying a second-life battery system that consists of retired battery modules at a multi-business commercial building, located in a disadvantaged and low-income community. Through this pilot demonstration, ReJoule is validating that its battery management system is capable of active load-balancing and real-time degradation monitoring.
Affordability
This research project aims to reduce the cost of a second-life battery and solar PV installation by 30% compared to an equivalent installation that incorporates a brand-new battery.
Economic Development
The project employs GRID Alternatives as a subcontractor, which performs workforce development activities for the local community. We have also partnered with a minority-owned and operated contracting company for electrical work at our project site.
Reliability
The pilot study under this research agreement aims to validate the ability of second-life batteries to integrate solar PV and provide energy resilience to a commercial building.
Key Project Members
Zora Chung
Steven Chung
Subrecipients
CleanSpark LLC
SepiSolar, Inc.
Coffman Engineers, Inc.
Sigway Energy
American Museum of Ceramic Art
GRID Alternatives Greater Los Angeles, Inc.
Match Partners
CleanSpark LLC
GRID Alternatives
ReJoule Incorporated
