Texas Instruments introduces chip-level diagnostics to improve grid-scale battery cell safety

Texas Instruments has built a new computer chip meant to make large batteries used for grid-scale energy storage safer to monitor. These are the big battery systems, not the kind in a single home, but the technology could eventually filter into home battery products too, since it targets the same lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry many home batteries use.

The problem the chip addresses: standard battery monitoring systems track voltage and make a rough guess about a battery's health. But LFP batteries have a voltage curve that stays flat through much of their charge range, making it hard to tell whether a slightly low reading means normal charge level or real, permanent damage inside the cell. TI's new chip, called the BQ79826Z-Q1, uses a technique called Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), which sends a small electrical signal into the battery cell to build a more precise picture of its internal condition. This can separate ordinary charge-level changes from real chemical aging or damage, which matters for both battery lifespan and fire safety.

The chip can also monitor 26 battery cells at once, more than existing chips, which lets manufacturers build large battery packs with fewer components. TI says this could also make large storage projects more attractive to investors, since better health and fire-risk data makes a project easier to insure and finance. TI is currently testing early versions of the chip, expects full production by the end of 2026, and says the first storage systems using it could ship as early as 2027. There is no word yet on whether or when this diagnostic approach will reach home battery systems specifically.