Empowering Smart Manhole Sensors with PKNERGY 3.2V 8600mAh LiFePO4 Battery for Long-Term Urban Monitoring |

Stable, safe, and long-lasting power for underground monitoring — lid displacement, water ingress, and unauthorized access.

As smart cities scale up, municipal infrastructure monitoring must be safe, reliable, and maintenance-light. Smart manhole sensors operate underground in humid, hard-to-access locations — their power systems need multi-year endurance, wide temperature tolerance, and safe pulse discharge for wireless communications. PKNERGY’s 3.2V 8600mAh LiFePO₄ solution meets these demands for long-term urban IoT.

Market Trend & Technical Requirements

Service life: multi-year runtime, >2000 cycles design target
Temperature: −20 °C ~ +70 °C underground environments
Pulse discharge: up to ~5A peak for NB-IoT / LTE-M / LoRa bursts
Low self-discharge: <2%/month to support long standby
Safety: LiFePO₄ chemistry with excellent thermal stability

Typical Battery Configuration

Key Specifications

Nominal Voltage: 3.2 V
Rated Capacity: 8600 mAh
Continuous Discharge: ~2 A
Peak Discharge: ~5 A (communication burst)
Cycle Life: >2000 cycles
Operating Temp: −20 °C ~ +70 °C
Self-discharge: <2% per month

Pairs well with low-power NB-IoT to achieve ~3–5 years operation depending on transmission duty cycle.

Integration Notes

Low-power BMS/PCM with deep-sleep & timed wake
IP67/IP68 enclosure, conformal coating, anti-corrosion terminals
Optional comms: CAN / RS485 / UART to host firmware
State-of-charge model tuned for long standby windows

Explore PKNERGY engineering: pknergy.com · See LiFePO₄ series on pknergybattery.com

Performance Comparison

Parameter	PKNERGY LiFePO₄ (3.2V 8600mAh)	Li-SOCl₂ (Primary)	NMC Li-ion
Rechargeable	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes
Cycle Life	>2000 cycles	Single-use	~500–800 cycles
Temperature Range	−20 °C ~ +70 °C	−40 °C ~ +85 °C	−10 °C ~ +60 °C
Safety	Excellent (no thermal runaway)	Good	Moderate
Maintenance	Rechargeable; field-friendly	Replace-only	Rechargeable
Environmental Impact	Low (recyclable)	Moderate	Moderate

Engineering Insights

Duty-cycle modelling to align SoC window with reporting intervals
Peak-current provisioning for radio TX bursts with IR margin
Thermal & humidity mitigation (potting, gasketed enclosure)
Sleep-mode current at μA-level where feasible; brown-out protection

PKNERGY Custom Battery Solutions

Precision cell matching & pack balancing
Low-power BMS with sleep/wake, tamper detection
Comms: CAN / RS485 / UART
IP67/IP68 mechanical design for harsh environments
Compliance: UN38.3, IEC62133, CE, UL

Explore:
PKNERGY OEM/ODM ·
LiFePO₄ Batteries ·
Custom Packs

FAQ

How long can one cell last in the field?

With NB-IoT at low reporting frequency, designs typically target 3–5 years per deployment; actual runtime depends on payload, signal quality, and temperature.

Why LiFePO₄ instead of primary Li-SOCl₂?

LiFePO₄ is rechargeable, safer (no thermal runaway), and lowers total ownership cost with easier maintenance across large fleets.

Can you provide IP68 battery enclosures?

Yes. We design gasketed, potted assemblies with corrosion-resistant terminals and pressure-equalization options.

What certifications are available?

UN38.3 for transport, IEC62133/CE/UL per project needs. We supply test plans and documentation.

Next Step

Share sensor duty cycle (tx interval), radio type, ambient temperature, allowable volume, and target lifetime. We’ll propose a battery configuration within one working day.