With the large-scale deployment of service robots in offline stores such as retail outlets, supermarkets and catering establishments, the daily indoor charging of robot lithium batteries has emerged as a highly overlooked safety risk in store operations. Featuring open spaces, dense pedestrian flow, abundant surrounding combustibles and a general lack of professional lithium battery safety operation and maintenance capabilities, traditional open charging modes are fraught with hidden dangers.

To address this issue, a Shanghai-based intelligent technology company has introduced customized lithium battery charging protection cabinets from DeSUN ECOTECH. Tailored to the actual scenarios of stores, the solution targeted resolves multiple charging pain points. The following elaborates on the pain points and corresponding solutions respectively.

Five Core Pain Points and Hidden Risks of Indoor Battery Charging in Stores

1. Limited space with heavily overlapping charging and operational areas

Constrained by floor space, charging areas in stores usually intermingle with product displays and pedestrian routes, lacking independent safety isolation spaces. Once thermal runaway occurs in lithium batteries due to overcharging or internal short circuits, open flames and high temperatures will quickly spread to surrounding goods and personnel, easily causing property losses and safety accidents.

2. Concentrated battery placement triggers chain reactions from thermal runaway

Under the traditional charging mode, multiple batteries are charged in a concentrated area. When thermal runaway occurs in a single battery, it will rapidly ignite adjacent batteries and trigger a catastrophic chain reaction, exponentially increasing the difficulty of fire extinguishment.

3. Insufficient professional competence of frontline staff with limited emergency response experience

Frontline store staff generally lack professional knowledge of lithium battery safety, with inadequate ability to identify early warning signs such as battery swelling and abnormal heating, as well as scarce emergency response experience, which often leads to missed optimal intervention opportunities.

4. Unattended overnight charging allows minor hazards to escalate into major accidents

Many stores choose to charge batteries after closing at night, with the entire process left completely unattended. Fires cannot be detected and extinguished at the earliest moment, and even minor hidden dangers may escalate into severe accidents without intervention.

5. Tightening safety supervision exposes non-compliant charging to regulatory risks

Currently, safety supervision over lithium battery charging in business premises is becoming increasingly strict across regions. Non-compliant charging practices face practical pressures such as rectification requirements and penalties, adding to the operational burden of stores.

DeSUN ECOTECH Charging Protection Cabinets: Five-Layer Protection with Targeted Solutions

First Layer: Double-layer fireproof sealed cabinet structure blocks external fire spread

Targeting the pain points of compact charging spaces and abundant surrounding combustibles in stores, the charging cabinet adopts a fully sealed structure of double-layer steel plates with fire insulation layers, paired with flame-retardant sealing strips to achieve complete airtightness of the compartment. The entire cabinet has passed national explosion-proof certification and authoritative fire performance testing. Even in the event of extreme thermal runaway of batteries inside the compartment, flames and high temperatures can be firmly contained within the cabinet, providing reliable protection for surrounding personnel and goods.

Meanwhile, the cabinet is optimized specifically for indoor scenarios. It does not require extra large floor space and can be flexibly placed in store storage rooms, back offices and other areas. Without disrupting normal operational flow, it creates an independent safety protection space for battery charging.

Second Layer: Independent physically isolated compartments prevent thermal runaway chain reactions

To address the chain reaction risk of concentrated charging of multiple batteries, the charging cabinet features a design with multiple independent compartments, with strict physical isolation between each compartment. Each battery is charged separately in an independent compartment, structurally blocking the spread path of thermal runaway from a single battery to others, and greatly reducing the probability of chain combustion and explosion.

Each independent compartment is equipped with dedicated temperature and smoke detection devices as well as fire suppression components, which can accurately identify abnormal conditions in a single compartment and activate targeted protection. Protection triggered in one compartment will not affect the normal charging of others, ensuring safety while minimizing the impact of abnormal conditions on overall charging scheduling.

Third Layer: Full-chain electrical protection and simplified operation for most O&M scenarios

To eliminate electrical safety risks during charging, the cabinets are equipped with a full set of professional power distribution systems, integrating multiple electrical protection mechanisms such as leakage protection, overload protection and short circuit protection. It avoids safety problems caused by circuit faults from the charging source, and fully complies with power consumption specifications for indoor commercial scenarios.

Easy-to-understand emergency stop buttons and status indicators are installed on the front of the cabinet, with an external high-decibel audible and visual alarm. When abnormalities occur, it automatically triggers audible and visual warnings. With simple and intuitive operation logic, ordinary store staff can quickly complete emergency power-off operations. An emergency fire blanket is also provided inside the cabinet to handle initial emergencies, significantly reducing reliance on professional operation and maintenance capabilities.

Fourth Layer: Intelligent IoT remote management fills unattended supervision gaps

To address the supervision gap of unattended overnight charging in stores, the equipment is equipped with a self-developed IoT management and control system from DeSUN ECOTECH, with a touch display interface. Data such as compartment temperature, charging status and alarm information can be visualized in real time, making the equipment operation status clear at a glance.

The system supports remote monitoring and abnormal warning functions. Management personnel can check the charging progress and equipment status at any time via mobile terminals, and receive warning notifications immediately once abnormalities occur. Each compartment is also equipped with an independent ventilation system, which can automatically adjust the internal environment, discharge heat and trace gases generated during charging, and maintain a stable charging environment.

Fifth Layer: Multi-dimensional compliance design helps stores ease regulatory pressure

The entire set of equipment is designed in strict compliance with multiple national and industrial safety standards, covering multi-dimensional compliance requirements such as fire protection, electrical safety and safety signs. All performances have passed testing and certification by authoritative institutions, effectively helping stores meet daily safety inspection and regulatory requirements, and avoiding rectification and penalty risks caused by non-compliant charging.

Proven Technical System with Fully Verified Quality

As a national high-tech enterprise and a unit whose technology has been selected into the Catalogue of Advanced and Applicable Technologies for Zero-Waste City Construction by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, DeSUN ECOTECH’s lithium battery safety protection solutions have been deployed in multiple high-standard scenarios such as new energy R&D, scientific research institutes and university laboratories. Its technical system is mature, and its quality has been fully verified by the market.

For offline stores, professional lithium battery charging protection solutions are not only a necessary configuration to uphold the bottom line of work safety, but also an effective means to reduce operational risks and improve management efficiency. DeSUN ECOTECH’s customized intelligent explosion-proof lithium battery charging cabinets accurately match the scenario characteristics and pain point demands of indoor charging in stores, and build a solid safety barrier for the regular operation of service robots with mature protection technology and lightweight operation and maintenance experience.