Stationary Battery Institiute, pioneering education for battery technicians.

Although AC and DC electricity follow the same physical laws, there are differences. Training of electricians in the world is fairly standardized through the apprenticeship program and various classroom and self-study courses. Although electricians are trained on DC, they spend most of their time working on AC systems.

People become best at the things they do the most. What this means in practical terms is that hiring an electrician to work on DC systems (especially battery systems) does not guarantee that they know how to install or work on batteries.

In 2007, the IEEE PES Stationary Battery Standards subcommittee recognized that specific training on battery system installation and maintenance was very necessary. They also recognized that the existing training of battery maintenance and installation technicians is generally non-existent, or at the least, non-standard. With those thoughts in mind, the Stationary Battery Standards committee wrote (IEEE P1657) for training to specify the types of knowledge a battery installation or maintenance technician must possess in order to safely and competently work on lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries.

With this, the Stationary Battery Institute (SBI) is now offering courses as described by the IEEE 1657 standard, ratified in 2009.

SBI was formed with the assistance of API, Inc. and Tier IV Consulting Group.

Since 2000, API, Inc. has offered battery services such as battery installation, maintenance and testing. They are also battery monitoring system experts.

Tier IV Consulting specializes in the design of mechanical and electrical building systems. Along with design, services provided include construction management, system evaluation, engineering studies, system commissioning, field testing, control integration, engineering and consulting. Naturally, these two companies were a perfect fit to formalize the SBI ciriculum in accordance with IEEE 1657.

 

1270 NE Delta School Road Lee's Summit, Missouri 64064
877-4-SBI-BATT (877-472-4228) sbi@stationarybatteryinstitute.com