Interview Request: Second-Life Battery Packs vs. Black Mass Recycling

[REFLee]

Hello, we are a group of student journalists from Renewable Energy Followers, a university-based non-profit organization in Korea that focuses on renewable energy and sustainable technology.


The writer myself of this article is also a battery enthusiast, and we are very interested in hearing the thoughts and experiences of people in this community. We are currently preparing an article about second-life battery storage and waste battery utilization, and your insights would be very helpful for our research. We would greatly appreciate thoughtful and reliable responses.


In particular, we would like to ask about the following topics:

1. From a resource-efficiency perspective, do you think it is better to reuse waste batteries by rebuilding them into battery packs (second-life use) rather than recycling them into black mass?
2. If DIY battery packs using used batteries became somewhat easier and more common for individuals, do you think this could help reduce electricity waste or improve energy efficiency at a small scale?
3. For those who have actually built DIY battery packs from used batteries, how much electricity or energy do you think you were able to save in practice?

Any experiences, technical insights, or personal opinions would be greatly appreciated and could help us understand the potential of second-life battery storage from a community perspective.

We would also like to clarify that we are a non-profit student organization that aims to introduce and discuss sustainable energy solutions with the public. We have no malicious intentions, and we are not trying to harm or discredit the second-life storage field in any way.

If there are any issues with this post or if it violates community rules, we will immediately take the post down.

Your opinions will be featured in the RE:CHARGE LIVE series, where many people will be able to read them. We would really appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

Thank you very much for your time and for sharing your perspectives.

 

[Korishan]

Thanks for your interest in the site for the primary goal of upcycling battery storage instead of tossing them in the trash. Getting more people to know there are alternatives to buying premade systems, like the Tesla Powerwall packs and similar, for a much cheaper price and more capacity is a great.

There are loads of possibilities available to reclaim and reuse battery packs and cells that would normally be tossed in the trash or crusher. A big source would be all those EVs that have perfectly good battery packs that could be repurposed for home powerwall applications. A lot of these EVs are involved in crashes and the battery packs are perfectly fine reusable. This could help to further reduce to cost of battery manufacturing and even the cost of EVs in the long run as some of the cost of the vehicle could be recouped in the sale of the battery pack.

Even if they are used only for power outage emergencies it's better than tossing them into the trash.

As there are more EVs on the road, there will be more battery packs available. So it's important that there is some sort of way to get these good units available to the public to reuse.

My viewpoint here is mostly on the EV side of things, but there are plenty of other types of batteries/cells as well. I also would encourage others to share their views and experiences.

 

[italianuser]

Hi there, that's a very interesting subject.
Do you have a web link to your organization, I'm curious about your work.

Well done

 

[Wolf]

In particular, we would like to ask about the following topics:

1. From a resource-efficiency perspective, do you think it is better to reuse waste batteries by rebuilding them into battery packs (second-life use) rather than recycling them into black mass?
2. If DIY battery packs using used batteries became somewhat easier and more common for individuals, do you think this could help reduce electricity waste or improve energy efficiency at a small scale?
3. For those who have actually built DIY battery packs from used batteries, how much electricity or energy do you think you were able to save in practice?

I would be more than happy to have you interview me.
Quick but not complete answers to your bullet points.

1. that depends on what you consider waste.
2. I do believe in reusing / testing /reassembly of good cells is environmentally good.
3. If you look at my build you will find that during my spring/ summer/fall season my electric bill is just the minimum required for hookup.

Wolf's PowIRwall

It is time! The journey is about to begin its second phase and I will record the progress here. If you are an avid reader of this board you already know that I have been collecting sorting and testing 18650 cells for about 8 month now. I already have a functional Pb based system up and running...

secondlifestorage.com

Along with @OffGridInTheCity our builds revolve around the 18650 cells.
There are others also.

Wolf

 

[REFLee]

Hi there, that's a very interesting subject.
Do you have a web link to your organization, I'm curious about your work.

Well done

Hello, Thanks to your interest.

After We Write about Glubux's cases, and other DIY batteries, I will inform my article on this site.

However, it is written in Korean, so you might want to translate the article.

I will see what I can do with the translation.

Again, Thank you for your interest on our organization.

Share the Knowledge, Create the Synergy

기자단 소개 | 대학생신재생에너지기자단

지속가능한 사회로의 빠르고 바른전환을 위하여 신재생에너지를 포함한 지속가능기술을 함께 공부하고 홍보하는 대학생 비영리 네트워크

renewableenergyfollowers.org

 

[REFLee]

Thanks for your interest in the site for the primary goal of upcycling battery storage instead of tossing them in the trash. Getting more people to know there are alternatives to buying premade systems, like the Tesla Powerwall packs and similar, for a much cheaper price and more capacity is a great.

There are loads of possibilities available to reclaim and reuse battery packs and cells that would normally be tossed in the trash or crusher. A big source would be all those EVs that have perfectly good battery packs that could be repurposed for home powerwall applications. A lot of these EVs are involved in crashes and the battery packs are perfectly fine reusable. This could help to further reduce to cost of battery manufacturing and even the cost of EVs in the long run as some of the cost of the vehicle could be recouped in the sale of the battery pack.

Even if they are used only for power outage emergencies it's better than tossing them into the trash.

As there are more EVs on the road, there will be more battery packs available. So it's important that there is some sort of way to get these good units available to the public to reuse.

My viewpoint here is mostly on the EV side of things, but there are plenty of other types of batteries/cells as well. I also would encourage others to share their views and experiences.

I would be more than happy to have you interview me.
Quick but not complete answers to your bullet points.

1. that depends on what you consider waste.
2. I do believe in reusing / testing /reassembly of good cells is environmentally good.
3. If you look at my build you will find that during my spring/ summer/fall season my electric bill is just the minimum required for hookup.

Wolf's PowIRwall

It is time! The journey is about to begin its second phase and I will record the progress here. If you are an avid reader of this board you already know that I have been collecting sorting and testing 18650 cells for about 8 month now. I already have a functional Pb based system up and running...

secondlifestorage.com

Along with @OffGridInTheCity our builds revolve around the 18650 cells.
There are others also.

Wolf

Thank you for your interest. Thank you very much for your reply.

The content you mentioned will be included in an article on the official website of the University Student Renewable Energy Reporters.

We will share the article with you later.

 

[REFLee]

Hello, we are a group of student journalists from Renewable Energy Followers, a university-based non-profit organization in Korea that focuses on renewable energy and sustainable technology.


The writer myself of this article is also a battery enthusiast, and we are very interested in hearing the thoughts and experiences of people in this community. We are currently preparing an article about second-life battery storage and waste battery utilization, and your insights would be very helpful for our research. We would greatly appreciate thoughtful and reliable responses.


In particular, we would like to ask about the following topics:

1. From a resource-efficiency perspective, do you think it is better to reuse waste batteries by rebuilding them into battery packs (second-life use) rather than recycling them into black mass?
2. If DIY battery packs using used batteries became somewhat easier and more common for individuals, do you think this could help reduce electricity waste or improve energy efficiency at a small scale?
3. For those who have actually built DIY battery packs from used batteries, how much electricity or energy do you think you were able to save in practice?

Any experiences, technical insights, or personal opinions would be greatly appreciated and could help us understand the potential of second-life battery storage from a community perspective.

We would also like to clarify that we are a non-profit student organization that aims to introduce and discuss sustainable energy solutions with the public. We have no malicious intentions, and we are not trying to harm or discredit the second-life storage field in any way.

If there are any issues with this post or if it violates community rules, we will immediately take the post down.

Your opinions will be featured in the RE:CHARGE LIVE series, where many people will be able to read them. We would really appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

Thank you very much for your time and for sharing your perspectives.

[번역][RE:CHARGE LIVE] 버려진 배터리 1000개, 오직 나를 위한 전력망 : 전기차 ·배터리 | 대학생신재생에너지기자단

[번역][RE:CHARGE LIVE] 버려진 배터리 1000개, 오직 나를 위한 전력망대학생신재생에너지기자단 28기 이건혁, 29기 이예람RE:CHARGE LIVE는 배터리 산업의 흐름과 기술 진화를 냉정하게 분석하며, 국내 배터리 연구가 추구해야 할 현실적 목표와 방향성을 제시하기 위해 기획된 배터리 중심 기사이다.RE:CHARGE LIVE is a battery-focused article series designed to critically analyze trends in the battery industry and...

renewableenergyfollowers.org

Our article just came up!
Whoever interested on our article about DIY batteries and my opinion, please visit our website!
I'm college student and I love investigating battery technologies.
And this is where I started writing articles about batteries.

Come and read my 'RE:CHARGE LIVE SERIES'!

Always, Thanks for the interest.

From SOUTH KOREA
Renewable Energy Followers
28th LEE

 

[Korishan]

Pretty interesting read. Overall I do agree with the sentiments. One thing that could have been included is that there are safety measures that DIY builds have. We use BMSs (Battery Management Systems) to do the monitoring and set off alarms if needed.

I do like the idea of manufacturers being more responsible for the whole lifecycle of the cells, and the repurposing/upcycling of the cells in Powerwalls and similar should always be an option.

A lot of cells/batteries are perfectly fine and don't need to have to have the wasted energy used to break them down and recycle them when they can be used as-is (for instance EV battery packs/skids). At that point it would cost more to do the recycling at that point than to just verify the integrity of the pack(s) and resell for reuse. Don't waste money tearing down when money can be made reselling. As long as this reselling isn't locked to wholesellers only and locks the average person from being able to afford the purchase directly.

With manufacturers they have the software/hardware to directly communicate with packs/skids of EVs and quickly check the integrity of the battery/cells without ever having pulled a single screw/bolt off the pack.

Another thing to add is that not all Lithium Ion Batteries are possible fire starters. There are different chemistries that change the possibility. For example NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) are very possible to go in flames if they are damaged or overcharged. Whereas LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) just basically out-gas. This does not mean that they can't cause damage. They can swell a lot and create lots of pressure if in an enclosed container.

There are challenges, for sure. It would be great if there were more articles, videos, even legislature that would inform people and encourage companies to follow more of an upcycling/reusing situation instead of just tossing them in the recycle bin and shredding perfectly good materials. Especially if just the packaging was a little dinged up (example of an EV accident that totaled the vehicle, but the battery is perfectly fine)

 

[REFLee]

Pretty interesting read. Overall I do agree with the sentiments. One thing that could have been included is that there are safety measures that DIY builds have. We use BMSs (Battery Management Systems) to do the monitoring and set off alarms if needed.

I do like the idea of manufacturers being more responsible for the whole lifecycle of the cells, and the repurposing/upcycling of the cells in Powerwalls and similar should always be an option.

A lot of cells/batteries are perfectly fine and don't need to have to have the wasted energy used to break them down and recycle them when they can be used as-is (for instance EV battery packs/skids). At that point it would cost more to do the recycling at that point than to just verify the integrity of the pack(s) and resell for reuse. Don't waste money tearing down when money can be made reselling. As long as this reselling isn't locked to wholesellers only and locks the average person from being able to afford the purchase directly.

With manufacturers they have the software/hardware to directly communicate with packs/skids of EVs and quickly check the integrity of the battery/cells without ever having pulled a single screw/bolt off the pack.

Another thing to add is that not all Lithium Ion Batteries are possible fire starters. There are different chemistries that change the possibility. For example NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) are very possible to go in flames if they are damaged or overcharged. Whereas LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) just basically out-gas. This does not mean that they can't cause damage. They can swell a lot and create lots of pressure if in an enclosed container.

There are challenges, for sure. It would be great if there were more articles, videos, even legislature that would inform people and encourage companies to follow more of an upcycling/reusing situation instead of just tossing them in the recycle bin and shredding perfectly good materials. Especially if just the packaging was a little dinged up (example of an EV accident that totaled the vehicle, but the battery is perfectly fine)

Thank you!

I could add your opinion directly, but I believe your thoughts would be conveyed more directly if you commented on my article. It might be a hassle, but I would appreciate it if you could leave a reply on my article. This is a very good response, and I think it would be beneficial for our team members, as well as the many readers of my article, to see your opinion as well. Thank you once again for your kind reply.

 

[Korishan]

Is there a way to leave the comment without having to sign up to the site?

 

[REFLee]

Is there a way to leave the comment without having to sign up to the site?

Oh, shoot.

Sorry about that

You might have to register the site.

If that’s risky, you don’t have to do that.


Again, Thanks for your interest!

 

[Korishan]

Yeah for me, because I have to rely on translations, I can't just sign up without knowing exactly what I'm agreeing to when I go through it. Google is really good at translating normal speech sentences, but it can get legal wording incorrect quite often

 

[REFLee]

I wrote

Yeah for me, because I have to rely on translations, I can't just sign up without knowing exactly what I'm agreeing to when I go through it. Google is really good at translating normal speech sentences, but it can get legal wording incorrect quite often

Yeah for me, because I have to rely on translations, I can't just sign up without knowing exactly what I'm agreeing to when I go through it. Google is really good at translating normal speech sentences, but it can get legal wording incorrect quite often

I wrote your reply on our site!

Ctrl C+V

Had a great time in second life storage.

Willing to visit here often to see other powerwalls

Thanks again

 

[REFLee]

You can like my article without registering though!

 

[REFLee]

I would be more than happy to have you interview me.
Quick but not complete answers to your bullet points.

1. that depends on what you consider waste.
2. I do believe in reusing / testing /reassembly of good cells is environmentally good.
3. If you look at my build you will find that during my spring/ summer/fall season my electric bill is just the minimum required for hookup.

Wolf's PowIRwall

It is time! The journey is about to begin its second phase and I will record the progress here. If you are an avid reader of this board you already know that I have been collecting sorting and testing 18650 cells for about 8 month now. I already have a functional Pb based system up and running...

secondlifestorage.com

Along with @OffGridInTheCity our builds revolve around the 18650 cells.
There are others also.

Wolf

@Wolf @OffGridInTheCity
Check out my article any time!

Your opinions are on my article.

Thanks for your features!