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Help With Solar Battery banks (Lithium Ion)

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  • Help With Solar Battery banks (Lithium Ion)

    Hello everybody. I need to know what's the best solar battery banks for home use available on the market. Preferably, I want to install lithium ion batteries to my house. I'm still researching, but with all the clustered information on google, I'd rather hear it from a community who has experience and not just trying to make a buck.
    It doesn't have to be the best, but some sort of happy medium of:
    -Voltage output
    -deep cycle
    -and manufacturer's name

    I already know about:
    SMA
    Magnum/Outback energy

    and I want to know if there are better choices than those two. thanks

  • #2
    Morningstar Solar
    http://www.morningstarcorp.com/

    Midnight Solar
    http://www.midnitesolar.com/

    Xantrex off-grid solutions (Schneider electric)
    http://www.schneider-electric.com/pr...up/?BUSINESS=7
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

    Comment


    • #3
      At this point in time, the type of li-ion battery chemistry for a solar house-bank would be LiFePo4. There are other chemistries that are higher in energy density that are not necessary for the typical bank that is sized appropriately to get you though the night.

      Lifepo4 comes in two basic varieties: High-rate (such as used by rc-modelers, and high-performance EV users), and a low/medium rate, such as would be applicable to a house bank (which doesn't need extremely high current capabilities like more than 1C.

      The major players for a house-bank would usually be made up of large prismatic cells by GBS, CALB, or Winston. Primarily intended for EV users, they can be put to use for a house-bank provided you take some care with other infrastructure that any serious battery bank of any chemistry would use. Generically they are capable of 1C with 3C bursts or more, which is still over the top for us - but the good news is that in a solar house-bank, they would be treated very well with the much lower charge / discharge rates we would normally use. Again, this is for an *appropriately* sized battery.

      The big question is are you SURE you need lifepo4 in the first place?

      Comment


      • #4
        Careful what you ask for.

        While LFP is a decent battery for EV's and models does not make it a great choice for Solar due to cost. Both a high end lead acid battery and LFP have roughly the same cycle life so both last about the same of 5 years befoe needing replaced. Difference is LFP is going to cost you 2 to 3 times more than lead acid. Anything you take off grid is going to cost you 5 to 10 times more than buying it from the electric company if using Lead Acid Batteries. Use LFP and that goes up to 10 to 30 times more. Is that what you had in mind?

        EV's and Solar power are two different animals. EV's need high power density and LFP has roughly 3 times the energy density than lead acid. What that means it take a 3000 pound Lead Acid battery to do what a LFP can do. But weight is not important for stationary applications.
        MSEE, PE

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Sunking View Post
          Both a high end lead acid battery and LFP have roughly the same cycle life so both last about the same of 5 years befoe needing replaced.
          Sunking is quite right about the high upfront cost. But in our application, where we don't hammer the lfp batteries with the high charge / discharge currents that EV'ers do, AND that we typically design our systems to not exceed 50% DOD, the usual rating of 2000 cycles goes up to 5000 or more. Quite a bit different from my beloved high-end agm's.

          That upfront cost issue is about the first thing that is usually discussed. Some may miss the fact that over the long term, with the relatively conservative use that a solar housebank would present to the batteries that are properly sized, the cost in the long run is cheaper.

          So many threads on this issue dating back to 10 years or more .... we still need more time to actually prove that 5K cycles is achievable. For those who don't abuse the batteries, so far so good.

          Comment

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