🔋 Introduction
Professional buyers don’t just look at cycle life.
They look at:
👉 Total energy throughput (kWh over lifetime)
📌 What Is Energy Throughput?
Total energy a battery can deliver over its entire life.
🧮 Formula
Total Energy (kWh) = Capacity × DOD × Cycle Life
📊 Example
LiFePO4 Battery
- Capacity: 10 kWh
- DOD: 80%
- Cycles: 5000
👉 Total energy:
10 × 0.8 × 5000 = 40,000 kWh
Lead-Acid Battery
- Capacity: 10 kWh
- DOD: 50%
- Cycles: 500
👉 Total energy:
10 × 0.5 × 500 = 2,500 kWh
📉 Key Insight
👉 Lithium delivers 10–15× more total energy
⚡ Why This Matters
- Better ROI
- Lower cost per kWh
- More reliable performance
💡 Procurement Tip
👉 Always compare batteries based on total energy output, not price