Foreword Ii?<L z
The international Energy Agency (IEA) founded in November 1974, is an autonomous body pOyM/L
within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development @7 " xDgA
(OECD) which carries out a comprehensive programme of energy co-operation among its 23
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member countries. The European Commission also participates in the work of the Agency. ]V6<h Psi
The IEA PhotoVoltaic Power Systems Programme (PVPS) is one of the collaborative R&D ..Zuy|?w
agreements established within the IEA, and since 1993, its Participants have been conducting a \"V7O'S)&
variety of joint projects in the applications of Photovoltaic conversion of solar energy into !\}Dxt
electricity. mSY ;hJi
The Overall programme is headed by an Executive Committee composed of one representative w_ k Hy_)
from each participating country, while the management of individual research projects (Tasks) UkG|5P`
is the responsibility of Operating Agents. Currently nine Tasks have been established in the m_W\jz??k
IEA PVPS programme. ]-bA{@tP.
The Twenty one members are: Australia (AUS), Austria (AUT), Canada (CAN), Denmark Z uo7MR
(DNK), European Commission, Finland (FIN), France (FRA), Germany (DEU), Israel (ISR), ?NGM<nK;7
Italy (ITA), Japan (JPN), Korea (KOR), Mexico (MEX), The Netherlands (NLD), Norway "
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(NOR), Portugal (PRT), Spain (ESP), Sweden (SWE), Switzerland (CHE), The United ZK27^oG
Kingdom (GBR), and The United States (USA). lV?rC z
Task III of the PVPS programme, active since 1993, focuses on the exchange of information, c;xL .
quality assurance and technical surveys on stand alone PV applications. Stand-alone PV 38 L8AJqD
systems will continue to represent a significant PV market segment, not only in developing >5%
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countries, but also in the important home markets of industrial countries. Experts from 15 IEA al F* L
countries are sharing their experiences in this area. 3=o3VGZP
This battery guide is intended for a wide use also close to the end customers to increase the _SY<(2s]B
hands on battery knowledge and thereby increase the system reliability and reduce the lifecycle $LRvPan`
cost for battery storage in small stand alone photovoltaic systems. Also some basic _'ltz!~
environmental concerns are addressed. The report has been prepared under the supervision of mEa\0oPGB
Task III by: kUUN2
Bo Andersson, Catella Generics, (battery expertise) (SWE) .</d$FM JE
Staffan Ulvönäs, (illustrations) (SWE) fZ`b~ZBwIj
Bengt Perers, Vattenfall Utveckling AB (PV system and applications expertise) (SWE) <K=:_
06 December 1999
