One of the questions that we get frequently is "Where can I get AA, AAA, C or D lithium rechargeable batteries?" Problem is there is no such thing...

Lithium ion rechargeable batteries are not available in standard consumer battery sizes like AA, AAA, C, D cells. Why not? Well, the lithium ion type rechargeable batteries definitely have the highest energy density of the different types of batteries available today, but the industry is still trying to overcome some safety issues.

Safety issues that mainly are a concern if a consumer were to use the wrong charger because the battery type is sensitive to overcharging and has internal safety circuitry to function, in effect, as an internal fuse. This built-in circuitry is what prevents the lithium ion rechargeable battery from experiencing what is known as runaway self discharge. You and I would call it an explosion. :-) I understand that it is pretty dramatic when it happens. Not usually a problem with lithium ion rechargeable batteries though because as I mentioned there are not typically standard battery sizes available in the lithium ion rechargeable battery type. This type of battery is typically made in special size configurations so that they will only be charged by a battery charger made specifically for lithium ion batteries.

Here is an example:

There are lithium AA and AAA batteries that are non-rechargeable (primary batteries) generally called Photo Lithium and lithium ion rechargeable batteries (secondary batteries) that come in special size configurations - one of these configurations is designed to be used in lieu of two AA batteries and some cameras - like several Kodak models - and many other electronic devices, use these CRV3 lithium ion rechargeable batteries, along with several different battery types and chemistries, and this article is designed to help to clarify the strengths and weaknesses of each type.

AA NiMH batteries are certainly one of the most popular rechargeable batteries available today and they come in all the standard sizes above and they have arguably the best capacity of all the rechargeable types, but they do have a significant self discharge issue (they lose their charge just by sitting there) and it is not common knowledge that there is a readily available alternative for devices that can use them - CRV3 lithium ion rechargeable batteries. Click here for more information They look kind of like two AA batteries connected lengthwise.

	Rechargeable	Self discharge rate	High drain use	Usage cost
Alkaline AA	no	low	no	high
Photo Lithium AA	no	very low	yes	very high
NiMH AA	yes	high	yes	very low
CRV3 lithium ion	yes	very low	yes	very low

The usage cost for the non-rechargeable types are simply whatever the cost per battery is when you purchase it, and the usage cost for the rechargeable types is a combination of the battery cost, the charger cost, divided by the number of times that you use the battery - probably many hundreds of charge/discharge cycles so obviously the rechargeable batteries are the most cost effective overall.

Responsible Energy Corporation
Curtis Randolph - CEO
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phone 775-852-3883fax 815-301-3958
cell 775-722-9901
curtis@greenbatteries.com
www.greenbatteries.com