PhatJoe

Hey guys, I have an existing installation and I'm wanting to get it fully registered and approved as a SSEG Site with the City of Cape Town. I'm also wanting to get it approved for export to the grid and have the city replace my prepaid meter for a AMI Prepaid Meter. I see the application progress requires that a registered ECSA professional certify the installation. Also requires that I specify the SSEG Installer and Electrical Contractor. Does anyone have recommendations for someone who might tick all three of these boxes and be happy to review my existing installation and certify it for my SSEG application for a reasonable price?

Is there any reason why it would be a bad idea to use a 24v BMS based battery such as the Hubble AM4 in the SPS-1000? Asked in a different way - is the label of ‘lead acid replacement’ nothing other than marketing or does it mean there is a level of BMS control that ensures the battery will work well in a system that doesn’t support lithium iron batteries and only officially supports lead acid? The SPS-1000 for example has no lithium iron profile and is rather configured for lead-acid as a profile when installing lead acid replacement batteries.

Thanks for sharing that. I like that they clearly state that new cells are used in the batteries construction! Do you know what the warranty / guarantee is on it?

Those are both (Freedom & BlueNova) around R10k each when compared with Hubble selling for around R7k each for comparable battery. Would you say they are worth the extra R3k per battery?

The intension is for these batteries to be used in a Smart Power Systems SPS-1000 (https://www.smartpowersystems.co.za/). It's a power trolley style inverter. It's being used by our domestics elderly mother in Zimbabwe in an entirely off grid scenario with a single 400w solar panel feeding it during the day. She has been struggling continuously with batteries dying prematurely for obvious reasons in this environment and I suggested lithium is (as I can see it) their best option and their current use case isnt suitable for other battery types (no grid present - entirely off grid and cycling batteries daily). I'm going to be assisting to finance the purchase and just want to make sure we got with the right batteries considering the use case and the distance we will need to transport them once purchased.

That makes sense! Did think of that but then it occurred to me that the good lead replacements do still have a BMS which provide a decent level of protection in terms of over voltage, under voltage etc etc. I guess they still don’t enforce perfect conditions though. Maybe it’s because using a lead acid charge and discharge profile against these lithium lead acid replacements is ok but not perfect. I’m trying to source a 12v lead acid replacement lifepo4 battery for someone who is really going to be stretching themselves financially in purchasing it. As such, really wanting to make sure they get one which is most likely to provide max cycles. Any suggestions as to which brand to choose? I imagine FreedomWon would be 1st prize but at R11k per battery for 100ah it’s a little steep. Especially as they needing two (24v inverter).

Something that’s been bugging me recently and I can’t seem to find the answer for it anywhere. Hoping someone here has the answer. Why do lead acid replacement 12v lithium iron batteries seem to always be advertised as having much less cycles than larger 24v and 48v batteries? initially thought it was just that batteries advertised as such just used cheaper, B Grade cells but I can’t seem to find any 12v lead acid replacement batteries that are 6k cycles. All the manufacturers can’t be using B Grade cells?

Bump

I'm hoping someone might have some used Pylontech US2000 batteries for sale.

Option I would suggest would be to get an inverter (presumably your current one doesn’t support it) that can feed any excess solar it has to your non-essential loads. This is possible with Victron / Sunsynk / Deye for example. This would enable savings not only on geyser power draw (when you have surplus solar) but also other items on your non-essential side such as stove / microwave / Aircon’s / heathers etc

Just thought mentioning on this thread that I have just this morning installed a UP5000 as the master battery in my Pylontech battery bank together with 2 x US2000 B Plus units. There was no requirement to upgrade firmware on any of the units and they working a dream with my Victron Multiplus II GX setup. Further, the BMS has automatically determined 200A as being the max current draw (Not 150A as was suggested in an earlier comment). So all in all, they are defs compatible in a single bank, and no downside adding larger battery existing bank of smaller ones in terms of capping potential current draw.