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CloseHOW RIMAC ENERGY AND ANALOG DEVICES COLLABORATE TO REDEFINE BATTERY STORAGE
KEY TAKEAWAYS
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The transition to clean, renewable energy faces a challenge. The Sun does not always shine, and the wind does not always blow, yet our need for energy is constant and increasing annually, fueled by rising consumer demand, industrial growth, and AI’s reliance on hyperscale data centers.
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are the bridge that makes renewable energy practical, storing excess power when generation is high and releasing it when demand peaks. While the industry has made significant progress, traditional battery architectures face hurdles in scaling, efficiency, and controllability as renewable penetration increases.
As grid operators and utilities race to integrate more solar and wind, BESS performance is increasingly shaped by system architecture. While conventional and string-based designs offer proven solutions, they often lack granular controls that can compound at scale impacting efficiency, usable energy, lifetime, and, ultimately, lifecycle economics.
WHEN INNOVATION DEMANDS A NON INCREMENTAL APPROACH
For Rimac Energy, these limitations represented engineering challenges that demanded a new approach—a next-gen battery energy storage architecture that fundamentally reimagines how grid-scale storage is built, scaled, and operated.
To bring that vision to life, Rimac Energy chose Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) as its technology and system-level partner, selected for its expertise in battery management, precision sensing, power and signal chains, software, and collaborative problem-solving.
AT A GLANCE
COMPANY
Rimac Energy is pioneering the transition to high-efficiency, resilient battery energy storage systems through its breakthrough power conversion and battery management solutions.
GOAL
Transform how the world powers itself while reducing emissions. Accelerate renewable adoption and strengthen grid resilience with an innovative battery architecture.
CHALLENGE
Address the gap between installed energy storage capacity and actual usable energy by tackling the inaccessible potential seen in current deployments.
ADI SOLUTION
Battery management, precision sensing, power and signal chains, software, and functional safety.
A PARTNERSHIP ROOTED IN PERFORMANCE
Rimac Energy’s roots trace back to Rimac Technology, when its engineers, collaborating with Analog Devices, pushed the boundaries of electric vehicle performance, creating the world’s fastest EV production car. Building on that success, Rimac’s team set its sights on revolutionizing stationary battery storage, leading to the creation of Rimac Energy.
“We sought a technical innovator with a complementary value proposition that could support our future expansion into grid-scale energy storage. We wanted a partner capable of executing a large-scale market launch and simultaneously co-creating exciting new product generations.”
“Rimac Energy was looking for more than a component supplier—they needed a technology partner that could help optimize system level performance. A partner capable of thinking at the architecture level to reshape next-gen storage.”
COLLABORATION AS A CATALYST
The result was a hands-on collaboration in which ADI and Rimac team members worked side by side at ADI Catalyst in Limerick, Ireland, to integrate software and hardware. ADI Catalyst is a ~100,000 sq. ft. facility where cross industry experts are brought together to accelerate innovation and strengthen strategic collaboration.
ADI showcased advanced system demonstrations enabled by next-generation battery management technologies, giving Rimac Energy early access to cutting-edge innovations and the opportunity to co-optimize the solution.
“Normally, suppliers or partners say I’ve done my job, and now you do yours,” said Saud Khan, Head of Software and Controls, Rimac Energy. “In contrast, our teams, working together, got the software up and running on Rimac’s hardware within record time. That’s exactly the sort of actions and outcomes that we are looking for in a partner.”
“The Catalyst approach allows us to work iteratively,” noted Pavan Buddha, Senior Account Manager, ADI. “We aren’t waiting months between reviews. We are sharing challenges in real-time, validating assumptions together, and optimizing designs as we go. The Catalyst serves as a key engagement tool, enabling accelerated development, reducing risk for both companies, and strengthening the partnership.”
THE CHALLENGE: RETHINKING ARCHITECTURE FROM THE GROUND UP
To understand Rimac Energy’s breakthrough, it helps to compare how three different battery architecture approaches manage power conversion and control.
(PCS)
Key Benefits
- Superior Efficiency
- Exceptional Response Time
- 16x More Granular Control
- Adaptive Health Control
- No Standalone Inverter
1: Conventional central inverter system architectures feature battery containers/blocks connected to a single inverter. The system processes batteries collectively rather than individually, resulting in a loss of granular control and reduced precision in energy management.
2: String inverter systems integrate an inverter per battery pack, providing improved granularity and control, representing the current state-of-the-Art.
3: Distributed embedded inverters represent a fundamental departure from conventional designs. Power conversion is integrated directly into each battery module, increasing efficiency, usable energy, and scalability while extending operational life, without requiring any additional space. This architecture unlocks capabilities and control granularity that are not possible with traditional central or string-based systems.
THE NUMBERS TELL THE STORY
Rimac Energy’s power conversion system delivers industry-leading efficiency and increased usable energy:
Enhanced AC round-trip efficiency minimizes heat losses, reduces cooling requirements, and extends the operational lifespan of components. The distributed architecture also facilitates system redundancy reducing downtime and maintenance while enabling a smaller physical footprint for space-constrained environments.
Advanced state-of-health monitoring and prediction algorithms, combined with a distributed inverter architecture, enable Rimac Energy’s system to extract more energy per cycle and increase cycle life from any given set of cells through advanced SoC balancing and novel SoH management.
THE PATH AHEAD
By addressing fundamental BESS limitations, the Rimac Energy and ADI collaboration accelerates renewable adoption and strengthens grid resilience. Reduced system losses, greater efficiency, and enhanced reliability lead to systems that last longer, consume fewer resources over their lifecycle, and represent a significant return on investment for BESS owners. For grid operators balancing renewables with reliability, utilities deferring infrastructure upgrades, and communities seeking cleaner air, this technology signifies meaningful progress.
As energy storage is critical to grid infrastructure and climate goals, the Rimac Energy and Analog Devices partnership demonstrates how strategic collaboration and ADI technology can enable more efficient, resilient, and scalable grid-scale energy storage, powering the clean energy transition for generations to come.
