[RE-wrenches] Switching to LiFePO4

[Ray Walters]

Honestly, that advice would seem to  be true, but the reality is: It is 
not valid.  Just look at Blue Planet, that was supposed to be a top tier 
offering.  Solar World?  AEE? Magnum has had serious issues, Outback 
doesn't answer the phone, SImpliphi takes an attorney to honor their 
warranty. Even long standing companies are not sure bets, at all.  They 
do cost much more, so I'm not sure who to turn to anymore.  I'm about to 
install Rubix LiPO4, which comes in a 24 v offering, BTW for Dave.

The biggest issue I've seen with old VFX inverters, is the LVD set point 
can't go high enough for LiPO4.  I use the aux out on a charge 
controller, to switch on and off the remote switch on the VFX.

I like the Fortress with Solark combo, but its not without its troubles 
either.  If the Solark shuts off due to low voltage, so does your PV 
input.  Then the no load draw on the Fortress eventually shuts down the 
battery.  You really need some (at least 1 kW) of DC coupled PV to keep 
that death spiral from happening.

Ray Walters
Remote Solar

On 9/17/2024 12:23 PM, Sindelar Solar via RE-wrenches wrote:
> Jerry,
> Re your advice to never get startups or small manufacturers as so many 
> disappear and now you are stuck, I guess we should stick with the big 
> well-established manufacturers, like Outback, Magnum and Blue Planet, 
> right?
> As you would say, fun times...
> Allan
>
> On 9/17/2024 10:58 AM, Jerry Shafer via RE-wrenches wrote:
>> Dave,
>> I would suggest stepping up to 48 nominal, fortress 18.5, battery 12 
>> or 15 k solark inverter, re-wire the array to single or dual string, 
>> make the wiring in the home capable of 240, this usually requires 
>> main panel re-work and set up the monitoring.
>> Batteries are like replacement heart valves, never get startups or 
>> small manufacturers as so many disappear and now you are stuck.
>> Fun times.
>
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