SAMSUNG SDI was honored with the ministerial-level Grand Prize from the Ministry of Trade, Industries, and Resources at Korea Technology Awards held on the 3rd for “Development of a domestic-exclusive model of SBB which enhances fire safety and reduces total cost.” The award recognizes high performance of domestic SBB technology, which enhances safety while securing price competitiveness. 

SBB is SAMSUNG SDI’s utility-scale ESS solution, integrating battery cell, module, rack, safety device, HVAC into a single unit in a 20-foot container box. The solution offers convenience, high performance, and safety by allowing immediate use once connected to the grid.

It has achieved even greater safety by applying SAMSUNG SDI’s proprietary Enhanced Direct Injection(EDI) technology.

Let’s hear from SAMSUNG SDI’s Pro Jae-soon Kim who has led the SBB project since its initial development about the story of SBB development and its main features. 

[Pro Jae-soon Kim, a recipient of MOTIR’s Award at Korea Technology Awards representing SAMSUNG SDI]

Q. Could you explain the background behind SAMSAUNG SDI’s SBB development?

As ESS usage expanded, demand from customers seeking to reduce installation costs increased accordingly. Before the development of the SBB, customers had to purchase individual battery modules, automotive components and assemble them on their won, making it difficult to reduce the installation costs efficiently. 

In response to this, SAMSUNG SDI has developed the SBB, which integrates battery modules, automotive components, safety devices and other elements into a single container to enable convenient installation and proactively meet the market demand.

Q. You’ve received the Grand Prize at Korea Technology Awards for “developing a domestic-exclusive SBB model that enhances fire safety and reduces total cost.” What was the key differentiating factor?

Customers consider safety as important as cost savings. To ensure safety from the battery cell and module level to the container level, SAMSAUNG SDI applied our independently developed fire-extinguishment system, EDI and No-TP Technology.

EDI rapidly detects issues in battery cells and directly sprays extinguishing agents into battery module to prevent fire. No-TP technology is a program that predicts thermal propagation, which enables optimal structural design to prevent fire from spreading.

Moreover, SBBs for utility-scale applications have different output power requirements by region. For the domestic SBB, SAMSUNG SDI optimized the cooling system and automotive components to meet domestic output requirements, securing price competitiveness.

[Pro Jae-soon Kim, a recipient of MOTIR’s Award at Korea Technology Awards representing SAMSUNG SDI]

Q. What does this award mean to SBB developers?

In the early stages of SBB development, SAMSUNG SDI had abundant experience in developing battery cells and modules, but relatively little in designing entire systems. Therefore, we went out into the field with colleagues, built infrastructure and facilities, and laid the groundwork step by step from scratch.

This award is extremely rewarding as the efforts of the SBB developers have been recognized with tangible results. I expect it will also provide strong motivation for the team members.

Q. Please explain what are the global ESS technology trends and SAMSUNG SDI’s development direction going forward.

We expect that the demands for ensuring safety and reducing costs will grow in the ESS market. Recently, fire safety regulations and evaluation standards in the Americas have been strengthened. SAMSUNG SDI will continue to advance its integrated safety technologies to proactively respond to the changes. 

Also, demands for overall performance, including capacity and lifespan, are also growing. SAMSUNG SDI has independently developed dedicated battery cells to realize SBB with high capacity and long-life properties and is mass-producing them at Ulsan Factory. We will further improve SBB performance through continuous research and development.