[RE-wrenches] Best Battery

Mon Aug 10 10:03:56 EDT 2020

Hey Ray, 

Your comment on Schneider LBCO relates to which brand?
Sympliyfi? Curious because I will send this in again. I did last time and
they said to make sure the config person knows that you can also set the
default LBCO hysteresis from 2V to 10V and the LBCO time from 60 seconds up
to 600 seconds. 

Zero probes here for me with Discover AES and Fortress
with Schneider electronics.   
Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
"we go where
powerlines don't"
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ [1]
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text 209 813 0060

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 18:47:50
-0600, Ray  wrote:    

My favorite right now is Simpliphi: company has
been around since 2002, and as the name implies, they are simple to
install. There is no external monitoring or comm, just an output breaker on
each battery that can be reset if the internal BMS ever shuts down for any
reason. We've done several sets in new systems, and as battery replacements
with older Outback equipment. Simpliphi provides a nice programming cheat
sheet for all the brands of inverters and charge controllers. 

For smaller
systems, the LiFe Blue batteries are great. They have the best monitoring
(simple blue tooth to a free phone app) and they are the only Li+ battery
that has a solution for cold weather charging that I'm aware of. Other
battery companies have just given us the shoulder shrug and tell us to
install the battery in a conditioned space. Not a good answer for many off
grid systems in the mountains.  

I'm not a huge fan of Blue Planet; if
their battery is over discharged, it requires a 48 v dark start. I also did
not find their enclosure to be NEC code compliant to connect conduit to. We
had to modify it to allow a 2" KO. Cable routing and connections internally
are also awkward. Its just a computer rack cabinet repurposed for
batteries, but it does have pretty blue Lights (which we disconnected at
the customer's request) Finally the comm system is based on the E-gage,
which was never designed for off grid and depends on a constant router and
internet connection to monitor. That is another deal killer for some remote
projects. Internet connectivity is great when available, just the
monitoring can't be dependent on that connection. Their tech support was
good though. 

Beware that Schneider inverters LBCO can't be programmed
over 48v, which is a deal killer for most Li+ batteries. We currently have
a system that we are adding a relay to shut off AC output, that will be
triggered by the charge controller. That is just an amazingly kludgy
solution for a really dumb problem: not allowing higher settings of the
LBCO. Until Schneider releases a firmware update, they are not even being
considered for future projects.  
Ray Walters
Remote Solar
303 505-8760
 On
8/9/20 5:30 PM, Jerry Shafer wrote:  I have outback FX systems operating
for years now, the lab l had used FX's and midnite systems, it does need to
be 48 volts nominal. Jerry  
  On Sun, Aug 9, 2020, 4:13 PM Kirk Herander 
wrote:  For some reason (that I never got an answer to from Outback or Blue
Planet) older FX inverters are not compatible with Blue Ion LFP batteries.
The newer FXR series are. Considering one only needs to change slightly
charge voltages, duration, etc. to meet BI recommendations, it's a mystery
why Outback states that older FX inverters are not compatible.  Outback
states this in a tech note about using LI batteries.

On 8/9/2020 5:40:39
PM, drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org [4]  wrote: P.S. The system
consists of an old Outback FX inverter and an MX60, with 
 a 2600 W array.

 --- 

 On 2020-08-09 13:12, drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org [6]
wrote: 
 > Hello Wrenches, 
 > 
 > What is the best Li-Ion battery to use
with an off grid system? 
 > 
 > Thanks, 
 > 
 > Drake 
 > Athens Electric

 > 
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