[RE-wrenches] New Lithium Batteries on Sunny Island System

[William Miller]

Jim:

I haven’t tried lithium batteries with a traditional charge controller
yet.  All of the equipment you list was designed for lead acid.  The
narrower voltage range of the lithium may confuse the charge controller.
Same with the AGS triggering.

I know if you call SMA for tech support they may hang up on you when you
tell them there are lithium batteries.

It may work right away or you may spend a lot of time making it kind of
work. I hope you can make the client understand this is an experiment. Tech
support from the battery manufacturer may not be great being a Chinese
company.

These days I pair lithium only with inverters designed for them.

Good luck.

William Miller
Miller Solar.com
805-438-5600
www.millersolar.com


On Tue, Nov 25, 2025 at 7:33 AM Jim Gowdy via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Hello All,
>      I have a client that just got some lithium batteries and they have a
> sunny island inverter with a Midnight Charge controller.  I've heard and
> experienced integrating Lithium batteries into a Sunny Island inverter is
> challenging and could create problems.  Has anyone had experience with
> these batteries or installing lithium batteries with these components?
> Below are some details about the system so far.....
>
> System:
> 48v
>
> NEW BATTERY:
> China Aviation Lithium Battery CO.
> model: CA180F
> nominal voltage: 3.2v
> rated capacity: 180Ah
> rated energy: 576Wh
>
> Inverter:
> Sunny Island
> model: SI 4548-US-10
>
> CHARGE CONTROLLER:
> Midnight Solar Classic 150
>
> SOLAR ARRAY:
> N/A....it was dark when I was at the site so I couldn't take any notes
>
>
>
> --
> Jim with Gowdy Electric
> Cambria, Ca 93428
> business  805 927 2630
> cell  805 975 5279
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