Series Parallel

Creating a new habit is not easy, sorry for the break in posting.

Below are four battery packs to demonstrate how battery packs are made up of cells and also the nomenclature for naming series and parallel numbers.

Top left is a 2S battery made of two cells in series, pretty simple. This battery has a total of 7.2V and 1Ah capacity. To the right is another two cell pack, this time the cells are parallel, 2P. This pack is a total of 3.6V 2Ah.

Bottom left we have a battery made up of two separate 3S strings in parallel. Each series string is 10.8V 1Ah. Because they are two series packs put in parallel we call them 3S and then 2P, 3S2P. As a 3S2P pack its final capacity is 10.8V 2Ah.

Our final battery, bottom right, is made up of two cells in parallel placed in a series string. As these are parallel arrangements put in series, the pack is said to be 2P3S. Just to confuse you this is often called 3S2P, I think this often happens because when a battery pack is made there may be multiple connections in the series string, as in the pack here. The arrangement makes it difficult to tell if it is in fact a parallel arrangement in series or a series arrangement in parallel.

In that bottom right pack, each 2P segment is 3.6V 2Ah. In a series arrangement this is 10.8V 2Ah just like the battery to its left.