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Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Design, Controls and Safety
How grid and commercial battery storage is designed, controlled and kept safe: cells to containers, LFP versus NMC, the power conversion system, EMS controls and grid services, sizing with solar, UL 9540A and NFPA 855, and the lessons of real BESS fires.
Inside the course
From the lessons
What a battery energy storage system is
Circuit Masterclass
Every component, explained
Gaurav J - TheElectricalGuy
Battery chemistry: LFP versus NMC
Ford Motor Company
Power conversion systems
Infineon Technologies
EMS, controls and grid services
Initial Learn With Me
![Unlocking Solar Plus Storage Potential: How to Size a Grid Battery Tied to a PV Plant [ PART I ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wopbefY_3x8/mqdefault.jpg)
Sizing, and solar plus storage
Storlytics Energy Storage
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Explain the parts of a BESS from cell to grid connection; tell MW from MWh and calculate duration, C-rate and round-trip losses; compare LFP and NMC for stationary use; explain what a PCS does and calculate its P and Q limits; describe the EMS, BMS and PCS control stack and the grid services a battery can provide; size a battery for a solar time-shift duty with degradation allowed for; explain thermal runaway, UL 9540, UL 9540A and NFPA 855; and draw design lessons from real BESS fires.
- Tell MW from MWh and calculate duration, C-rate and round-trip losses
- Name every part of a BESS from cell to 11 kV switchgear
- Compare LFP and NMC chemistry for stationary storage
- Explain what a PCS does and calculate its reactive power headroom
- Describe the EMS, PCS and BMS stack and the grid services a battery provides
- Size a battery for a solar time-shift duty, allowing for fade
- Explain thermal runaway, UL 9540A and NFPA 855
- Apply the lessons of real BESS fires to a design
For you
Taking Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Design, Controls and Safety from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$28.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project 路 about 10 hours
Designing a 2 MW / 4 MWh battery for a textile mill with solar: sizing, single line diagram, fire risk register and commissioning
Design a battery energy storage system for a textile mill with rooftop and ground-mounted solar as the owner's engineer: size it for peak shaving and solar time-shift, draw the single line diagram from the cells to the 11 kV connection, build the fire and electrical risk register using the incident lessons, and write the commissioning checklist. The sample pack shows each document for a spinning mill near Nairobi, Kenya.
Sample document pack, 5 documents, filled in for the scenario
- ReportSizing report: 2 MW / 4 MWh BESS, Athi River mill
- Single lineSingle line diagram description: BESS connection at the 11 kV incomer
- Risk registerRisk register: Athi River BESS
- Commissioning procedureCommissioning checklist: Athi River BESS
- ProcedureEmergency response plan: Athi River BESS
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
9 modules 路 26 lessons 路 4h 32m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01What a battery energy storage system is3 lessons17m
- 02Every component, explained2 lessons35m
- 03Battery chemistry: LFP versus NMC3 lessons28m
- 04Power conversion systems2 lessons27m
- 05EMS, controls and grid services5 lessons17m
- 06Sizing, and solar plus storage3 lessons53m
- 07Fire safety: UL 9540A and NFPA 8554 lessons1h 6m
- 08Learning from BESS fires3 lessons26m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Intermediate. You should know basic electrical theory: AC and DC, three-phase power, active and reactive power, and what an inverter does. No battery chemistry background is needed.
- Software
- None required. A spreadsheet for the sizing calculations. What to download, and how
- Hardware
- None.
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Nothing to install
Any spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice Calc) is enough for the calculations.
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 01Free
LibreOffice
The Document Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer (Intel or Apple silicon), Linux
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- up to 1.5 GB of disk space on Windows
LibreOffice is free, open-source software under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, for any use including business. Calc is its spreadsheet.
Steps
- 1.Open the LibreOffice download page.
- 2.Check the page has picked your operating system, then select Download.
- 3.Run the installer (administrator rights are needed on Windows).
- 4.Start LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work.
- 5.Save as .xlsx if you need to share files with Excel users.
- Choose the latest main version unless your organisation asks for the older, more conservative release.
Official download pagelibreoffice.org
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Design, Controls and Safety at a glance
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Design, Controls and Safety is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for electrical, solar and power engineers working on battery storage. It has 9 modules and 4h 32m of video lessons by TheElectricalGuy (Gaurav J), StacheD Training, Infineon Technologies and others, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Electrical, solar and power engineers working on battery storage
- Format
- 9 self-paced modules, 4h 32m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Intermediate. Intermediate. You should know basic electrical theory: AC and DC, three-phase power, active and reactive power, and what an inverter does. No battery chemistry background is needed.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- None required. A spreadsheet for the sizing calculations.
- Hardware
- None.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- TheElectricalGuy (Gaurav J), StacheD Training, Infineon Technologies, UL Solutions, Gaurav J - TheElectricalGuy, BESS Engineer | Sergey Syrvachev (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
PLC programming 路 FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.
Instrumentation 路 FreeInstrumentation for PLC EngineersThe half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.More free courses: Free solar and renewable energy courses 路 Free power system and ETAP courses
Learner reviews
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Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Design, Controls and Safety, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
Who is the Battery Energy Storage Systems course for?
Electrical engineers, solar engineers and project engineers moving into battery storage, and anyone specifying or reviewing a BESS. Basic electrical theory, including active and reactive power, is assumed.
Do I need to know battery chemistry?
No. The course explains what you need about lithium-ion cells, LFP and NMC, and ageing from the start.
Does it cover fire safety standards?
Yes. It covers UL 9540, the UL 9540A test method including large-scale fire testing, NFPA 855, and explosion control, and works through what real BESS fires have taught the industry.
Is it about grid-scale or commercial batteries?
Both. The principles are the same from a factory battery to a utility plant; the worked examples use both.
Is the Battery Energy Storage Systems course really free?
Yes. Every module, the notes, the project and the final assessment. The only paid item is the certificate, if you want it.
What certificate does the Battery Energy Storage Systems course give?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a number anyone can verify on our site.
How long does the Battery Energy Storage Systems course take?
About 7.5 hours of video lessons, plus time for the notes, worked problems and practice questions. Allow about 10 more hours if you do the optional project.
Is this a UL or NFPA certification?
No. EDWartens is not affiliated with UL Solutions or NFPA, and this course does not replace formal training on their standards. It teaches you to read a UL 9540A report and apply the ideas behind NFPA 855, which is a sound grounding before any paid standards course.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Design, Controls and Safety
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$28.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- TheElectricalGuy (Gaurav J)the lessons on BESS components and how a battery energy storage system is put together and works
- StacheD Trainingthe incident reviews of the Moss Landing fire, two BESS fires with different outcomes, and bunker-style BESS construction
- Infineon Technologiesthe introduction to and deep dive into power conversion systems (PCS) for battery storage
- UL Solutionsthe lessons on large-scale fire testing and the UL 9540A test method
- All About Solarthe comparison of LFP and NMC batteries
- Sergey Syrvachev (BESS Engineer)the lesson on why a battery fire cannot simply be extinguished
- Circuit Masterclassthe overview of BESS layout, PCS, EMS, BMS and working principle
- Enjoypowersthe worked example of communication between the PCS and the EMS
- Ford Motor Companythe explainer on LFP and NCM battery chemistries
- Fortress Powerthe explainer on what an energy management system does
- Greenectrathe comparison of LFP and NMC lithium-ion chemistries
- Initial Learn With Methe overview of an energy management system
- Moxathe introduction to what a battery energy storage system is and how its parts communicate
- Owl WiSthe review lesson on how a BESS works
- SolarReviewsthe explainer on how hybrid solar plus battery systems work
- Storlytics Energy Storagethe lesson on sizing a grid battery tied to a PV plant
- TaiyangNews - All About Solarthe talk on a solar-plus-storage plant design
- Vortex Firethe introductory webinar on NFPA 855
- Your Utilities Hubthe lesson on how energy storage supports grid stability
- arshyan azamthe lesson on controlling reactive power with battery storage
- Gaurav J - TheElectricalGuy3 lessons in "What a battery energy storage system is" and "Every component, explained"
- BESS Engineer | Sergey Syrvacheva lesson in "Fire safety: UL 9540A and NFPA 855"
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.