Question

State three differences between the primary and secondary cells.

Answer 1

Primary Cell	Secondary Cell
Lower initial cost.	Higher Initial Cost
Higher life-cycle cost ($/kWh).	Lower life-cycle cost ($/kWh) if charging in convenient and inexpensive
Disposable.	Regular maintenance required.
Disposable.	Periodic recharging required.
Replacement readily available.	Replacements while available, are not produced in the same sheer numbers as primary batteries. May need to be pre-ordered.
Typically lighter and smaller thus traditionally more suited for portable applications.	Traditionally less suited for portable applications, although recent advances in Lithium battery technology have lead to the development of smaller/lighter secondary batteries.
Longer service per charge and good	Relative to primary battery systems, traditional secondary batteries (particularly aqueous secondary batteries) exhibit inferior charge retention.
Not ideally suited for heavy load/high rate discharge high performance.	Superior high discharge rate performance at heavy loads
Not ideally suited for , emergency backup, hybrid battery, and high cost military applications.	Ideally suited for load-leveling, emergency backup, hybrid battery and high cost military applications
Traditionally limited to specific applications.	The overall inherent versatility of secondary battery systems allows its use and continuing research for a large spectrum of applications.