Hi all, has anyone used, or have any opinions about this cell? It has a weird form factor, but at that price I can see myself building a battery that can sit on my shelf.

 

https://altergrid.co.za/product/svolt-184ah-3-2v-lifepo4-blade-battery-cell/

 

 

Hi, bought 16 for a 48v build....all the cells measure between 3,291 and 3.294 v.

Very impressed with the build quality of the cells and the service from altergrid.

I've not capacity rested yet but Bertus from altergrid tested them to 187ah at .2c... he'll send you the full test graph if u want.

I think the form factor is ideal for wall mounting. Can be used similar to these BYD blade batteries.

Would have been nice if the clips and buss-bars were available.

 

I'd be very interested to see how you build this. I was thinking of buying 30 for a 2P15S battery, seeing I need to match my existing 15S batteries

I have bought 32 cells from Altergrid and have started testing with a Zketech battery capacity tester and a YR1035+ Internal resistance tester. IR are all between 0.48 and 0.52 mohm. Capacity for these cells is rated at 0.33 C from 3.65V to 2.0V I measured from 3.65V at 0.2C down to 2.8V and extrapolated from a single cell that was tested to 2.5V . ( This provided an additional 2.0 AH )  So I measured from 182 -184 AH to an effective 2.5V ( 7 cells tested so far ) .  There are very nicely built with a high build quality

They are nice cells - 16 of them will give you a little over 9kwh's. BYD were the first with the Blade battery and now SVOLT are giving them a run. The IR is a little high but expected for a cell of this form factor, hence the slightly lower charge and discharge C-Rating. Although the documentation (tech spec sheet) does say you can discharge at a 1C rate. What's interesting is they say these cells can be discharged to 2.0V... I never discharge a LiFePo4 cell below 2.8V as this directly influences cycle life. Besides you'll only get maybe an extra 5 or 6 ah's from 2.8V down to 2.0V. Would love to be able to get those brackets and busbars as seen in the video above. Would make assembling and connectivity a pleasure. If put in a nicely designed cabinet, you could hang/mount them on the wall next to your inverter. Total dimensions would be approx, 620mm wide x 400mm high x 140mm deep - taking in to account the BMS, DC Breaker, a screen and power switch. Any way. update us once assembled, running and have cycled a few times.

I have heard that Altergrid is in the process of ordering a set of brackets and busbars. You can print them your self if you want , STP file provided here http://www.cleverbms.com/list_11/89.html

 

The IR is rated at .45 mOhm for 184 AH cell or .81 per 100 AH , The EVE 280AH is 0.25mOhm so 0.7mOhm per 100AH , not far different

12 minutes ago, Clynton said:

They are nice cells - 16 of them will give you a little over 9kwh's. BYD were the first with the Blade battery and now SVOLT are giving them a run. The IR is a little high but expected for a cell of this form factor, hence the slightly lower charge and discharge C-Rating. Although the documentation (tech spec sheet) does say you can discharge at a 1C rate. What's interesting is they say these cells can be discharged to 2.0V... I never discharge a LiFePo4 cell below 2.8V as this directly influences cycle life. Besides you'll only get maybe an extra 5 or 6 ah's from 2.8V down to 2.0V. Would love to be able to get those brackets and busbars as seen in the video above. Would make assembling and connectivity a pleasure. If put in a nicely designed cabinet, you could hang/mount them on the wall next to your inverter. Total dimensions would be approx, 620mm wide x 400mm high x 140mm deep - taking in to account the BMS, DC Breaker, a screen and power switch. Any way. update us once assembled, running and have cycled a few times.

 

Very nice price indeed, although specs only state 2500 cycles?

Am I missing something?

Cycle life cannot really be tested as the test will take years , I doubt its actually tested probably thats the design life.  When used for   home energy storage calender aging will be the dominant lifetime ending factor and this is strongly dependant on temperature. 

19 hours ago, Clynton said:

They are nice cells - 16 of them will give you a little over 9kwh's. BYD were the first with the Blade battery and now SVOLT are giving them a run. The IR is a little high but expected for a cell of this form factor, hence the slightly lower charge and discharge C-Rating. Although the documentation (tech spec sheet) does say you can discharge at a 1C rate. What's interesting is they say these cells can be discharged to 2.0V... I never discharge a LiFePo4 cell below 2.8V as this directly influences cycle life. Besides you'll only get maybe an extra 5 or 6 ah's from 2.8V down to 2.0V. Would love to be able to get those brackets and busbars as seen in the video above. Would make assembling and connectivity a pleasure. If put in a nicely designed cabinet, you could hang/mount them on the wall next to your inverter. Total dimensions would be approx, 620mm wide x 400mm high x 140mm deep - taking in to account the BMS, DC Breaker, a screen and power switch. Any way. update us once assembled, running and have cycled a few times.

HAve you come across a decently priced DC breaker with a 10 -20 KA+ fault current rating ? 

9 minutes ago, NoordSolar said:

HAve you come across a decently priced DC breaker with a 10 -20 KA+ fault current rating ? 

I use these. Pretty large though

https://e-glow.co.za/products/mccb-2p-600v-circuit-breaker?_pos=8&_sid=eae55b092&_ss=r

31 minutes ago, NoordSolar said:

Cycle life cannot really be tested as the test will take years , I doubt its actually tested probably thats the design life.  When used for   home energy storage calender aging will be the dominant lifetime ending factor and this is strongly dependant on temperature. 

Fair enough, I guess even a full cycle per day would mean a lifespan is over 7 years.

51 minutes ago, Chris_S said:

I use these. Pretty large though

https://e-glow.co.za/products/mccb-2p-600v-circuit-breaker?_pos=8&_sid=eae55b092&_ss=r

Well priced , somehow I cannot bring myself to buying Chinese breakers. CBI do a range now . Struggling to find supplier online

3 hours ago, NoordSolar said:

Well priced , somehow I cannot bring myself to buying Chinese breakers. CBI do a range now . Struggling to find supplier online

Call CBI direct

4 hours ago, NoordSolar said:

CBI do a range now . Struggling to find supplier online

Just take note of this when looking at DC breakers as not all can be used for both charging and discharging:

Edited June 8, 20233 yr by DeonBez

20 minutes ago, DeonBez said:

Just take note of this when looking at DC breakers as not all can be used for both charging and discharging:

Thanks well spotted !

9 hours ago, NoordSolar said:

HAve you come across a decently priced DC breaker with a 10 -20 KA+ fault current rating ? 

I have used the TOMZN breakers quite a bit and haven't had any failures to date. I use the 125A smaller breaker (https://e-glow.co.za/collections/mcb-dc-circuit-breakers/products/125a-dc-1p-circuit-breaker-250v) on the 100AH cells on the positive with a 150A JKBMS for the 5KW batteries and the 200A bigger breaker (https://e-glow.co.za/collections/mcb-dc-circuit-breakers/products/mccb-1p-250v-circuit-breaker) on the 280AH cells with a 200A JKBMS for the 14KW batteries. JKBMS is on the negative side of the pack and I set the current protection accordingly within the software as added protection. I then use the 200A 2pole DC Breaker as extra safety and as an isolator on a Sunsynk 8Kw inverter, which is capable of pushing (or pulling) 160A from the lithium Batteries. I might pull 160A in a peak now and then but certainly have limited the charge current to only 60AH, which is about 0.1C per bank. Oh and I ordered my TOMZN breakers from the official TOMZN store on AliExpress, waaaay cheaper. Also got my PV Breakers and SPD's for the AC and DC side from them at the same time.

14 hours ago, PsyCLown said:

Very nice price indeed, although specs only state 2500 cycles?

Am I missing something?

I see they qualify that it is >2500 cycles when cycled at 1C between 3% and 100%, with 80% capacity remaining after 2500 cycles.  I doubt you will cycle a battery that hard in a solar application. The battery should last well over 10 years in my opinion.

On 2023/06/07 at 10:08 AM, NoordSolar said:

I have bought 32 cells from Altergrid and have started testing with a Zketech battery capacity tester and a YR1035+ Internal resistance tester. IR are all between 0.48 and 0.52 mohm. Capacity for these cells is rated at 0.33 C from 3.65V to 2.0V I measured from 3.65V at 0.2C down to 2.8V and extrapolated from a single cell that was tested to 2.5V . ( This provided an additional 2.0 AH )  So I measured from 182 -184 AH to an effective 2.5V ( 7 cells tested so far ) .  There are very nicely built with a high build quality

Nice, how are you planning to put them together? Post us your ideas and pics.

I'm be using the clips and possibly busbars from Altergrid who will be importing  them ( expected next month ) . Will stack two packs of 16 on top of each other on a 70cm deep shelf 

Regarding busbars , one could use 3 two hole busbars to link two adjacent cells  for a 2P battery but am looking to make a busbar like this ( Busy getting a quote from China.  for this ) 

Has anyone had busbars made using laser cutting copper?

 

On 2023/06/07 at 10:08 AM, NoordSolar said:

I have bought 32 cells from Altergrid and have started testing with a Zketech battery capacity tester and a YR1035+ Internal resistance tester. IR are all between 0.48 and 0.52 mohm. Capacity for these cells is rated at 0.33 C from 3.65V to 2.0V I measured from 3.65V at 0.2C down to 2.8V and extrapolated from a single cell that was tested to 2.5V . ( This provided an additional 2.0 AH )  So I measured from 182 -184 AH to an effective 2.5V ( 7 cells tested so far ) .  There are very nicely built with a high build quality

Been continuing testing these cells and one day after the cold spell it got down to 11 deg in my testroom and capacity therefore measureed 3 AH lower than the previous. HAve now rigged a heater to keep the cells at around 25 deg and the change is remarkable - capacity are all now about spec at around 186-188AH ( to 2.5 V ) rated spec is actually down to 2.0V

Bought some of these cells new yesterday from Telenetix in Centurion (0861887847) for R1140 each (incl. VAT).

Pity the busbars and clips aren't available here yet but I'm having some busbars CNC cut from aluminium. Will try 3D print some clips after modifying the STP file (*thanks NoordSolar for the link).

Top balancing large capacity cells like these is going to be a challenge though as my biggest charger only does 15A. Anyone in JHB have a high amp LFP charger?

Edited June 10, 20233 yr by Graham