Batteries

Hallo I am new to the field, so might questions might sound stupid  I have the following already installed in a mobile coffee unit: 24v 3kw Devel Pure Sine Inverter with a DC charging current of 20-75A. 2x 12v Narada AGM batteries with a charging current limit of 50A. My scenario: I will be using it for about 5-8hrs per day with an estimate usage of 300Wh. The batteries will then be fully charged again at night. I am considering getting a solar panel just to top it up, as I have space for one, but for now I’ll only use the battery system. My questions: 1) Is a battery balancer needed? I am considering the Victron one. 2) I …

Hi all Have a few generic questions for all the boffens on this forum. My Axpert 5kva software displays the battery capacity in percentage value. Does this value represent the total discarge and drain of the batteries. So in other words I must only use up to the 50 % mark. The floating voltage is 54vdc and the cut off voltage is 42vdc so a difference of 12vdc. Does the 42vdc mean the batteries are completely drained. If a 105ah battery with a current draw of 1 amp will take 105 hours to drain completely then how does it work when you have 4 x 105ah in series. I know the inverter software wattage used is not accurate and I know that the Efergy monitor is not acc…

I was just wondering if anyone has has a solar system so long that they have had to replace batteries. If so what type of battery was it, how long did they last and what was the type of use or abuse?

I was looking over the specs for the Australian ZCell battery packs that are based on the ZBM2 tech, and one thing that I noticed was their claim that the Z Cell (and by extension all their ZBM2 batteries) can be switched off and left on the shelf indefinitely. This got me a thinking. Their last price I saw was quote around $8000 for a 10KWh pack that you can draw at 100% DoD. At current exchange rate we're talking about R110k for 1 pack. So why not buy 4 or 5 or 6 of these if you have the money or can finance it? If you *can* finance that amount, were talking about a R1mil odd repayment capital in total for 4 batteries that will last you 40 odd yea…

I see electro mechanica are marketing the MB powerwall alternative in SA. http://www.em.co.za/mercedes-benz

When I bought my batteries, I searched battery balancers that were available at the time and the best I could find was the Victron. I bought 3 of them and installed them. They have been running since day one. To date I am very happy with them, but on the other hand I have new batteries as well. I have been following various threads about battery balancing and mid point problems, etc. The more I look at he HA-02, the more they impress me. They can balance in series and parallel at the same time. To top it all, they are about half the price of the Victron. I am beginning to doubt if I got the right battery balancers?

I have been looking at the Graphs that Emon Produces and one cool graph that you can use is the comparison graph. Basicly it takes two feeds and compare it to each other and then plot it on a line. So I compared State of Charge with the battery Volts from the BMV 702 and this should give you an idea as to how bad it measures. First is the two feeds overlayed on top of each other and as you can see although the Soc changes the voltage stays more or less on the same average Emon plots the comparison on a straight line and there is no similarity between the two - Y axis = State of Charge and X axis = Battery volts on the same time …

Hi, I am considering a battery bank consisting of: 6 * Deltec Lead Crystal FA BC 6-CNFT-170 batteries Do you know if this is a good battery for a stand-alone off-grid home solar system? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards, JJ Clark

I have spent a fair amount of time researching battery charging. The Axpert settings for AGM batteries (56.4V for bulk/absorb and 54.4 V for float - 48 V system) are low compared to some of the recommendations on the web (the observation about opinions and orifices springs to mind). What I like about these settings are that they are below gassing voltage up to about 30oC. Chronic overcharging and undercharging are responsible for shorten battery life - overcharging leads to gassing and loss of electrolyte and under charging leads to _ _ _ _ _ _ ? (sulfation maybe?). My question is this lets for argument sake say that the bulk setting of 56.4V is 1.5 V too low. The…

https://news.utexas.edu/2017/02/28/goodenough-introduces-new-battery-technology

Hi guys id like to know more about lithium ion battery packs Im using about 24kwh /24h About 10 hours on solar 1hour on battery 13 hours eskom I have 12x255w@24v panels 1x expert 5kva and 12x170ah@12v 3 strings @48v During day time running on solar my inverter set to only use 20%from battries (dod) So from about 6/7 o clock switch to grid till about 8 /10 in the morning (depending on weather ) Was thinking of getting 24x2v@ +-1000ah Will be about R100k Heard about lithium ion and thinking maybe the way to go (6.4kw lithium bank) @R70k 1 square meter and 70kg Instead of (24x2v@ +-1…

Who uses Lithium Ion / Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries? Which? And which with inverter? How hard have you pushed them?

its now definite my 4 x 100 ah NXT AGM batteries gave up after 2 years :-( max discharge 40% ) what is the best choice at the moment ? Thinking about the, in the forum offered trojan batteries 6 v 225 AH...... 24 volt or 48 volt better ? Can I maybe revive my old batteries ? so many questions ....... and hoping for some help. TIA Chris ( System : 12 x 235 Watt Jingling & 5000KVA Mecer Inverter )

As per request I will share my view on running batteries on a Solar system. Now just a little background on my setup. I am running a Axpert inverter that is a "offgrid" system and it is from that view point that I write this. If your need is much higher then there could be a difference but I doubt it. Also I have not looked into grid tie as the legalities and the cost of it always scared me abit.. The basic design that most people will have with the Axpert inverter is a 1 , 3 , 4 combination. 1 Inverter , 3kw Panels and 400ah batteries and as a rule this works fairly well considering the amount of sunshine we have and all. Now you would want to run your batter…

I see they are very well priced. Anyone have some experience with them? Looks like I will be able to replace my 48v 600ah bank with one of those for less than 100k, which is awesome for Lithium. 51V bank as well, so it will just slip in where the old one come out. http://www.freedomwon.co.za/home-battery/price-list Looks like its locally manufactured. Thoughts / ideas?

Hi. I desperately need to get some expert advice on this problem as I cannot get a solution from my supplier or the manufacture. I have the following set-up: 2 x Axpert 5Kva, 48V system 24 x 250 W Yuraku panels 24 x Enersys 12 OPzV 1500 ah BMV 702 monitor Victron CCGX Dedicated W7 vm on home server running AICC. The problem is with a serious midpoint deviation on the Enersys batteries. These were a very serious investment and I want to take care of them to protect this investment but cannot get any sound advice on how to address the problem of different voltages on the top and bottom 12 of the whole 24-battery bank. This is what h…

Over the weekend I had the power from the genny trip in the evening and we had the rotisserie on. We use it during the day or on the genny but we had an accidental fairly rapid discharge of the batteries to a SOC of 55%. I was sitting outside with guests and did not notice a problem until the BMV started moaning. On Sunday and today for the first time in more than a year I have had midpoint deviation alarms during late absorb. I treat my batteries relatively benignly, in an off grid situation, with an average DOD of 30%. My battery bank is 600 days old so this may be an indication that the battery bank is starting to show its age. I will monitor and report my findi…

Check this out: http://www.pylontech.com.cn/pro_detail.aspx?id=107&cid=23 Cost about R19K for a 48V/50Ah battery. They're stackable for larger capacities, deliver 6000 cycles @ 80% DOD and fit into a 19" rack Works well with Victron inverters: https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2016/10/27/pylontech-batteries-multiplus-and-quattro-compatibility/

Hi All, Ok, let me start with directing the question to SuperDIY and Viper as you guys have the same equipment. 1. At what voltage do you charge your T105RE's and at what voltage do you float? 2. What setting are you using on your BMV 702 for charge detection and tail current? My SOC goes to 100% way to quick. I just have the one bank of (8 X 6V) T105RE's Thank you, Regards. Valken

http://reneweconomy.com.au/standards-australia-delays-storage-guidelines-after-protests-35946/ Interesting for the Aus market!!

I am testing a Omni Powe 12V 260Ah battery. C100 = 260AH and C10=200AH On a inverter using avg 375W for an hour an 25 minutes before the inverter cut of on 11V. What is the condition of the battery and how long should it last?

I am testing a Omni Powe 12V 260Ah battery. C100 = 260AH and C10=200AH On a inverter using avg 375W for an hour an 25 minutes before the inverter cut of on 11V. What is the condition of the battery and how long should it last?

It's old news but they will be releasing in 2017! http://www.lightsail.com/

Hi all, I´m a "newbie" when in comes to Solar & Batteries and here I am with my "whole set of questions": ( Apex 5KVA inverter, 12 x 235W Solarmodule, CEIL NXT Batteries 4 x 105AH running on 48V) Output Ource priority : @the moment: Solar first max charging : 10 A Battery Type : AGN Max Utility Charging Current : 10AH point back to utility : 47V back to battery mode : 49V charger source priority : Solar only bulk charging volt…

I have been looking at the amount of Amps moving in and out of my batts for that last few weeks and one thing I noticed is that on Charge the peak I got was 50a (I assume that was on a cloudy day) and on the draw side 30a max . The question is , if you peak charge is 50 a then should your fuse not be about 60a (+20%) ? and if you use 60a fuse will that put a resistance on the line? I currently have a 150a fuse and it seems a bit big for my consumption. Any thoughts? Regards Paul