Taiwan-based chemist and inventor Edward Chen has developed a method for bringing apparently dead lead acid batteries back to useful life and has demonstrated his development with several battery systems. This should be good news to those with solar panels on their homes and lead-acid storage systems because the batteries in them eventually become almost useless after three or four years of cycling.
The problem with dead batteries is not just having to buy new ones. For instance, Chen sites worstpollution.org for a few lead-related pollution facts, such as 50% of the lead poisoning in China comes from lead-acid batteries. Rejuvenating them will keep them out of questionable recycling systems.
He describes his repair theory this way: During discharge, PbSO4 is generated but is not completely removed during standard charging. So PbSO4 accumulates, and because of its high resistance, the batter loses capacity. Eventually, it cannot be charged. Even a static battery can have same issue. First Battery Technology, his company, provides the electrical equipment which removes PbSO4 to reduce resistance and increase capacity using “plus voltage” (current).
