A common battery supplies DC power for electronic circuits in various applications. It may include a charger or rectifier to maintain a charge and can use solar panels or generator sets for redundancy. The rechargeable type is usually used, and the Ah capacity is related to the size of the batteries. The positive side of the battery bank is connected to earth for cathodic protection.
A common battery is an electrical power source that supplies direct current (DC) power for electronic circuits used in various applications such as telephony and data communications. Available in many voltages from about 1.2 to 12 volts (V) or more, the common battery may or may not include a charger or rectifier to maintain a charge or to replace any charge lost when AC mains power is cut ( CA). The charging/rectifier system for a common battery generally serves two purposes.
The system provides the power needed to drive the electronic circuits for the specific system and to maintain the common battery charge so that the battery charger-rectifier-battery system is able to supply DC power during AC power outages. Common telecom battery systems use generator sets that are timed to keep the charger/rectifier energized during AC power outages. In some cases, such as remote sites in hard-to-reach locations, solar panels along with AC grid and generator sets provide the necessary AC power source redundancy.
The choices for the common battery are usually the rechargeable type. For example, telecommunication stations use a common battery voltage of –48 volts direct current (VDC). It is common to use a series leg of four 12V batteries to create a 48V leg. Several 48V lines are connected in parallel to build a battery bank that provides the required amp-hour (Ah) capacity.
The Ah capacity of the common battery bank is related to the size of the batteries in the battery bank. A 48 Ah 12 V battery can theoretically supply 4 amps (A) for 12 hours (h). If the design requires the equipment to disconnect at 10V during an AC outage, the battery will only deliver 4A for 2h instead of 12h. A 48V battery bank using four 12V batteries as mentioned will have a peak capacity of 48Ah, but given the constraint, the nominal 48V may drop to 40V before the power system disconnects the load on low voltage disconnect condition.
For DC power to base stations, the common practice is to connect the positive side of the battery bank to earth or ground. By keeping the active side of the DC current at negative potential, a natural cathodic protection of the equipment prevents further chemical oxidation of exposed metal parts and electronic components. Cathodic protection is a way to prevent corrosion on any critical metallic infrastructure such as vehicles and fuel lines.
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