🔋 Battery Types

Different batteries have different strengths. Choosing the right one depends on your system's voltage, current, runtime, weight, and budget.

📰 Case Study: Mars Perseverance Rover — Nuclear Battery

The Perseverance rover on Mars does not use solar panels or lithium batteries. It uses a MMRTG (Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) — essentially a nuclear battery. It contains 4.8 kg of plutonium-238 which generates heat as it decays. Thermocouples convert this heat into ~110 watts of electrical power, 24 hours a day, for over 14 years. Why? Mars has dust storms that block sunlight for months. Solar panels would fail. The power requirement was calculated as: rover computer (20W) + heaters (45W) + instruments (25W) + communications (20W) = ~110W. NASA chose the power source to match the load — exactly what you do in your projects, just at a different scale!