The electrochemical performance of Li-S cells used in large-scale battery systems was investigated with various conditions. Li/S cells were fabricated with different loading thicknesses and electrolyte ratios and used in coin cells and single-sided and double-sided pouch cells. The optimal conditions for the Li/S cell were as follows: a loading thickness of 28 mu m and an electrolyte ratio of 20ul/mg_(S). The coin and single-sided and doubled-pouch cells had discharge capacities of 1009, 973, and 939mAh/g, respectively. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.