Why do battery energy storage systems need grounding and bonding?

For grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), grounding and bonding is essential for safety and performance. The goal of grounding and bonding is to achieve customer-targeted resistance levels. These low resistance levels allow fault currents to easily discharge into the ground, protecting people, equipment and the BESS itself.

Do I need a ground for a substation battery rack?

For a standard substation DC battery rack, I am having trouble determining whether a ground is required to be installed along with the wires between the battery disconnect switch and the battery rack. It's 125VDC. My usual approach is to include a ground until I can prove that a ground is not useful or is detrimental to the system.

Why should a DC battery system be grounded?

The ancillary equipment (charging units, etc) would be grounded. Grounding of DC battery system enhances safety really because, if ungrounded, any short of power conductor to battery system would not be cleared by OCPD and personnel doing routine maintenance on the batteries are liable to be shocked or to suffer worse than that.

Which grounding products are needed for a turnkey system?

A reliable suite of grounding products is essential to a turnkey grounding system, including ground rods, grounding connections (compression, mechanical, exothermic), theft-deterrent grounding conductors, ground enhancement material, and cutting and crimping tools.

Do I need a ground for a 125VDC battery?

It's 125VDC. My usual approach is to include a ground until I can prove that a ground is not useful or is detrimental to the system. I have seen installations done both ways. 2/C with a ground and also 2 wires without a ground. When the ground is included, it is usually bonded right to the battery rack.

How do I connect a cabinet ground bus?

The cabinet grounds are inherently connected to the UPS ground bus via the metal chassis. You must connect the supporting racks of a wet-cell installation to the battery disconnect and to the UPS module ground bus. You should connect the racks directly to the local UPS room ground bus only if required by local electrical codes.