Supercapacitor Assisted Self-Reconfigurable Battery System for Enhanced Cell Balancing and Voltage Stability

Abstract

Conventional battery systems with fixed configurations often suffer from cell imbalance arising from variations in cell voltages and capacity mismatches. These imbalances lead to overcharging, over-discharging, and under-utilization of individual cells, ultimately accelerating battery capacity degradation. To overcome these challenges, this article presents a self-reconfigurable battery system that dynamically balances cell voltages while maintaining a stable terminal voltage. The proposed system features a highly reconfigurable switching circuit designed with a minimal number of switches, ensuring optimal cost, space, and weight. A supercapacitor is integrated into the system to ensure voltage stability during reconfiguration events and enhance the overall dynamic response of the system. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated through the development of a 24 V self-reconfigurable battery prototype. Experimental results demonstrate the system's capability to mitigate cell imbalance, completely utilize the available battery capacity, and maintain voltage stability. © 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.