The Brain of the Batteries - IDTechEx Covers Battery Pack Sensors

Sensor technologies within battery packs are a core part of the battery management system, enabling diagnostics by monitoring temperature, voltage and current. Advanced sensors can be used to enhance thermal runaway prediction, by detecting cell venting, monitoring degradation, faults and potential leakages. IDTechEx's report, "Advanced Battery Pack Sensors and Remote Monitoring 2026-2036: Technologies, Markets and Forecasts", covers developing advanced technologies that are concerned with an array of variables in addition to simply temperature, voltage, and current.

 

 

The battery management system acts as the 'brain' of the battery pack, and is responsible for monitoring, control, and communication. Advancing sensing technologies are being developed to not only enhance existing sensors, but to create new means of sensing and to expand on the number of variables that can be monitored. IDTechEx provides extensive benchmarking for the comparison of advanced sensing technologies, including gas sensing, pressure sensing, and moisture and humidity detection, comparing accuracy, consistency, power draw, longevity, cost, and ease of miniaturization.

 

Gas sensors are an especially interesting sector for advanced sensors, detecting the presence of different gases within a battery pack. IDTechEx discusses a variety of detection approaches, including chemi-resistor, thermal conductivity, photoionization, non-dispersive infrared spectrometry, tunable laser diode spectroscopy, and electrochemical sensors. Gas sensors are expected to have the largest market share of advanced battery pack sensors by 2036 in both value and number of units, according to IDTechEx, due to their early detection of cell venting within battery packs. Visit IDTechEx's portfolio of Sensors, Haptics & Displays Research Reports for more extensive sensor technology research.

 

 

For pressure, piezoelectric, piezoresistive, and capacitive sensors can be deployed. These all consume very low to moderate power and are already commercialized and widespread within a number of industries. Pressure sensors are predicted to hold the second largest proportions of value and unit numbers by 2036, though as IDTechEx states, they can be limited by accuracy and sensitivity, which means they may not be a competitive option in the long run. Despite being a low-cost short-term option alongside other sensors, pressure sensors have a reduced capacity for early warnings, meaning they are unlikely to remain consistently favorable.

 

For stress and strain detection within a battery pack, options include a strain gauge, Bragg grating, and a distributed fibre optic system. Optical fibre sensors are currently less widespread than strain gauges, coming at slightly higher costs, though have equally good response times. However, they provide increased sensitivity, which for some applications may be worth the additional cost.

 

As it stands, pressure, moisture, humidity, and aerosol are all sensor targets for which sensing technologies are commercialized and widespread, with good to moderate accuracy, according to IDTechEx's report. Hydrogen, VOC, and CO₂ detection on the other hand, despite being currently available, are still reportedly being actively improved for use within the battery pack. However, the sensor sensitivity for hydrogen and CO₂ specifically, are already benchmarked as high, with equally good accuracy, and have lifetime expectancies of over ten years. This would make them highly suitable, though CO₂ sensors are difficult and expensive to miniaturize, limiting their market potential. Thermal conductivity sensors for hydrogen sensing, a market sector expecting to see a volume of sales of 4.58 million in 2036, are the most competitive technology in the current market. This is due to their high accuracy and low cost, and their subsequent suitability across a variety of battery chemistries and applications.

 

For more information, visit IDTechEx's report, "Advanced Battery Pack Sensors and Remote Monitoring 2026-2036: Technologies, Markets and Forecasts", and the wider portfolios of Batteries & Energy Storage and Sensors, Haptics & Displays Research Reports.