Newbie question.

I have a friend with a Goodwe MPPT charger/ Inverter and 4x 12V 200Ah gel batteries which have reduced capacity.

He is looking to replace the batteries. What is the current thinking on batteries - stay with the gel or something better? Lithium etc?

And where to get the best deals.

Thank you

Paul

Hi Paul, Lithium is the way to go definitely! But it is still more expensive than gel/agm batteries.

In the current market you will pay about R 20k for 4 x 200ah gel batteries and R29k for lithium batteries. Both giving you approximately 4.8kw/h

More important is who you buy from!

There are lithium and gel/agm's that I personally will never buy and so is there dealers from who I will never buy. Especially now, when everybody is climbing on the band wagon and in a year or two when you have a warranty claim, you find out that they are " No MORE "

Be carefull with your descisions, and do not look at price only !! 

Hi Chris,

Pylontech seem to be quite popular and available. And with a 7 year (+3 if you register) warranty.

I am buying a new inverter from Current Automation for myself. I will have to see what they offer.

 

Other option is to check https://lithiumbatteriessa.co.za They getting new stock now. The brand is growing and the guys are happy with the batteries. 

You can also try SolarMD. They sell a 3.7kW or 7.4kW battery. I have two 7.4kW's an after 11 months still very happy. They have after sales service (24/7 365 days) that is out of this world and they stand by their product. 

Edited July 15, 20206 yr by LouisT
Update on period used

8 hours ago, LouisT said:

You can also try SolarMD. They sell a 3.7kW or 7.4kW battery. I have two 7.4kW's an after 11 months still very happy. They have after sales service (24/7 365 days) that is out of this world and they stand by their product. 

I had the opportunity to visit them. The owner invited me over to come see how they build and test there stuff. Really cool place and really state of the art equipment they use. Had a lekker laugh to at the fun stuff they build on the side line for them self. 

9 hours ago, Gerlach said:

I had the opportunity to visit them. The owner invited me over to come see how they build and test there stuff. Really cool place and really state of the art equipment they use. Had a lekker laugh to at the fun stuff they build on the side line for them self. 

Yes, I know. You brag with every opportunity about the visit😁. If you were on the other forum I could really gave you gas😂

On 2020/07/16 at 9:00 AM, Gerlach said:

The owner invited me over to come see how they build and test there stuff

FWIW, he invited a lot of people (me too actually). Kaloyan is a really cool dude, though I've only really met him once in person, three years ago at SolarAfrica.

Is it important for these batteries to communicate with the inverter or do they function as standalone? It seems as if the Goodwe inverter will talk to Dyness or Pylontech but not Narada or some other makes. How important is this? The inverter can be configured for Lithium batteries - is that good enough? And then the batteries take care of themselves.

1 hour ago, Paulbloggs said:

And then the batteries take care of themselves

If you size things correctly, make sure that the maximum charge and discharge currents are in line with the battery capacities, there is usually little danger in just letting the battery run itself. It may however affect the warranty, for example, someone recently pointed out that when you run certain batteries with the non-hybrid Axpert inverters the warranty is significantly shorter. This would be the same.