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Posted

My installation started yesterday.

All equipment is from Power-Forum-Store, Installer is Leshan and his partner Phillip

1 x 8kW SunSynk

2 x AM2 100 Ah (5.5 kW) Hubble Batteries

12 x 450W JA Panals 2 strings of 6 each

Day one was relocation of 9 AC circuits from old DB in kitchen to garage (my essential DB)

New AC DB

171029304_InsideACDB.thumb.jpeg.ec4f7c1191db16c8bc3a50f6f45e02c3.jpeg

Day two installation of SunSynk and Batteries

954895795_battreymounts.thumb.jpeg.3b58859c507f87343db6118d9de60607.jpeg

The Hubble Looks really good against the wall and mounts flush with 4 bolts.

Wiring up the terminals right near the floor, not so much fun.

The Massive 200A disconnect fuse looks rather ominous

1267658443_BatConn.thumb.jpeg.b976cd8b270db4bfc66aa6f39fe604c4.jpeg

 

Battery wiring

613428342_battery2bottom.thumb.jpeg.8eae9f13fed6a75efad0ae4b290ca220.jpeg

 

End of day two.

573176861_wholeinstall.thumb.jpeg.28247dc5d4ba5d9f9143f3daeb80d976.jpeg

Posted
3 minutes ago, Speedster said:

Leshan's Hubble-love

Cant really say that I paid for these about 4 weeks ago, so I knew they were coming before "the Thread"

Since there is a quite a lot of interest I will also be sharing the experiences with the batteries once its running.

The batteries were pretty well packed, came with a "quick guide" a QC date, and a set of 25mm^2 cables1347026135_bat1.JPG.90cee01e24c5ab640a9c25f190e32116.JPG

First three pages of quick guide

1147222169_bat2.thumb.JPG.0f6361db803583505daba515bac06d90.JPG

Posted
56 minutes ago, Kill_switch said:

Cant really say that I paid for these about 4 weeks ago, so I knew they were coming before "the Thread"

Since there is a quite a lot of interest I will also be sharing the experiences with the batteries once its running.

The batteries were pretty well packed, came with a "quick guide" a QC date, and a set of 25mm^2 cables1347026135_bat1.JPG.90cee01e24c5ab640a9c25f190e32116.JPG

First three pages of quick guide

1147222169_bat2.thumb.JPG.0f6361db803583505daba515bac06d90.JPG

Good to hear. Interesting that they came with 25mm2 cable - I thought those were the devil. Anyway, keep us updated - will be great to have first hand reports of a potentially fantastic local product. 

Posted

Left to be done:

  1. Need to confirm if the BMS is working correctly, and the hubble's are talking to each other (discharge limit should be 200A with 2 batteries)
  2. Need to figure out best times/percentages for battery use.
  3. Get CoC done.

Produced 34kWh today.

Production/usage for the day

63711827_21Feb.thumb.jpeg.8c32e5216bd08f207cd8c5ea4768ebd9.jpeg

Posted

CoC is done,

It appears the Hubble's need a firmware update for the BMS to show correctly in the LiBMS page.

I need advice on what to set the system mode on, I have read that the Lithium's don't like a constant 100% top up charge, but I also would prefer not to cycle my batteries more than once a day. What DoD is everyone using, at what C rating?

I have 11kWh of battery, but I have set the power to 6000 to limit current (this is my understanding)

This is my current settings24219619_Battreysetup.thumb.jpeg.958851f542e3193d10adcffa95d7daef.jpeg

SoC graph, you can see the top up 100% bounce around 12h00- 15h00, and the discharge and charge after 15h00- 18h00

SoC.thumb.JPG.6b5d47e41bfa4e14196129d0b7fed479.JPG

What I would like to achieve, Make sure they are full before night (95%), discharge at a limited rate up to max 30%, then start to charge again until full.

Posted

Really nice install, very neat, congats,

Also had mine installed by Leshen and team, really fantastic job and they are also a great bunch of guys. Highly recommended...

Question, how do u update the firmware on the Hubble's, as i will be adding a second AM2 to my install in the next couple of weeks, so want to be prepared?

 

Posted
1 hour ago, Iiceman said:

how do u update the firmware on the Hubble's

It will depend on when you get/got the battery,  it might already be implemented.

For me , It seems you need a windows laptop with RS232 port and a specific cable that plugs into the Hubble RS232 port (it not a standard serial port looks like a old telephone port). Once mine gets done I will update here.

26590370_RS232port.thumb.JPG.1f9dea7b3d13d5cc4ec5699e6aba3a4d.JPG

Posted (edited)

So you bought a 1C battery and now you are limiting current, why? You're killing Lishens 1C argument.

I wonder why Hubble chose to put the cable input ports, button etc on the bottom of the battery...Now one has to crawl around on the floor to plug in cables, turn on/off?

I must admit, I'm envious, Sunsync has a lot of very nice config functionality/options.

 

Edited by FixAMess
Posted
24 minutes ago, FixAMess said:

limiting current, why

Quite simple, I want to aim for the 12000 (50%DoD 0.5C) cycle lifetime not the 3000( 100%DoD 1C),

Leshan's argument is however valid as I don't void any warranty (of the battery) if I were to use the full capability (1C) and it can deliver the required current without forcing a inverter error or going into battery protection mode.

27 minutes ago, ThatGuy said:

firmware updates on the batteries

I also have ordered the RIOT for remote monitoring previously, got confirmation that Hubble is sending me the required cable to the upgrade the battery firmware with my RIOT shipment.

Posted (edited)
38 minutes ago, FixAMess said:

I wonder why Hubble chose to put the cable input ports, button etc on the bottom of the battery

I had the exact same thoughts, its not fun getting down there however I don't foresee that I will do it often enough once its running.

Their response is in the commercial section of the forum.

Quote

When we looked at the design with holes on top it created a problem for dust and particle, especially water incursion if there is a leak from a water pipe above the battery etc.

I do still think the top would make more sense, as I foresee most people will install similarly with batteries at the bottom

Edited by Kill_switch
spelling
Posted
3 minutes ago, Brani said:

That 200A disconnect/fuse in this case is just disconnect. You could as well put a piece of busbar in place of fuse, it will serve the same purpose

Not sure we on the same page or talking past each other but a 8.8Kw inverter with battery at 50VDC gives a max current draw of 176A, inverter specification for charge and discharge is 190A (thus 200A fuse  seems pretty reasonable ), from the Batteries perspective each can supply 100A, so if something went wrong and we start sending more than 1C the fuse would blow too.

I also think @ThatGuy comment was more in reference to the fact that I'm only planning on using around 0.5C instead of the rated 1C (or 100A per battery)

Posted
1 minute ago, Brani said:

@Kill_switch your specs are correct, but if you are limiting the charge current to 125A AND (i will be hanged for this) using 25mm2 cable, i would use just a size higher than 125A. Fuses are cheap, equipment is not. 

 

 

The 25mm2 cable is the interlinking cable between batteries. We installed a 50mm2 cable from the batteries to the inverter. 

Posted

Look, I will agree based on how I intend to use, it is over-speced, just ask @leshen about my instance on 6mm for my PV strings.

The point I am making is that given that the inverter and battery can under normal operating conditions handle close to 200A it should be a 200A fuse with suitable cable.  Putting a smaller fuse in is liable to blow it regularly ( the BMS of 1 batt is enough to blow a 125A fuse according to the LiBMS)

Posted

Took delivery of the RIOT last week, The packaging looks pretty nice.

Packaging.thumb.jpeg.bfa7fc66a6a7ac4da45043b63bf2e591.jpeg

9346732_packaging2.thumb.jpeg.b2659b4ba04b7f8b6a1f0f4fee5ecf42.jpeg

Contents of the Box

1x RIOT device

1 x Standard LAN cable (Red)

1 x RJ11 standard cable (Black)

1 x Custom RJ45 to RJ11 (Black with blue RJ45 boot)

Contents.thumb.jpeg.0b8822faf8cbfc397a3ef08589abc1cc.jpeg

I was a little disappointed there is zero instructions in the box. So I has no idea where to even start. The RIOT itself is housed in a 3d printed box, nice colour red filament used , the custom cable (RJ45-RJ11) only uses 3 wires.

cable.thumb.jpeg.4e5f79ef539487e80f238874688623d3.jpeg

 

I found some details on the website and decided to try get it setup. (https://www.hubblelithium.co.za/riot.html) https://www.hubblelithium.co.za/uploads/1/3/5/0/135079623/riot_cl_v1r2_provision_draft.pdf

Power is via a self clamping Molex type connector (there is 3 ports you only use the outside ones) there is space for a supplied 2A fuse on the side as well. (no power cables are provided)

I gave it power directly from the batteries and connected the black RJ11 to my master battery , the provided cable is extremely short and made mounting options rather limited.  The setup of the device did not go according to the online instruction, and after about 1h30 I eventually got it right, only to find out I can't monitor anything until the RIOT is linked to my profile. (This is done by submitting a ticket to [email protected]). For now I have the Riot connected and running, with the RS11 cable connected but I cant actually see any info😭.

Hubble also sent me a RS232 to USB cable which was initially supposed to be for the firmware update I need to get the BMS working correctly. It seems there was some comms gaps and Hubble prefers to come to site to do it themselves. This is still much better than sending them back to the factory for the update, but felt odd given the cable was supplied and the supplier gave me indication I would/could do it myself.

I must commend Hubble that they are willing to give this type of after sales service, but there is a few things that need improvement in the product side of the RIOT especially in my view, even if it is only better instructions of what to/not do.

I was probably a little impatient and could have just waited for Wednesday when Hubble will be on site.

 

 

Posted

Its prob still early days, but appears like I need to add an additional battery to make optimal use of my system.

On a good sunshine day I am hitting 100% SOC before noon and then the inverter is clipping my production as I cant export.

For now I will try managed our habits and maximise the usage, but we will need another battery both from a production and usage case.

SOC set to discharge to 30% in stages for evening use and its all used up so far every day. ( I have a ±600W constant load overnight)

27th had a lot of cloud cover

284830517_27FebSOC.thumb.JPG.0fba7451b5ce67770f58ff3c7524d926.JPG

655492121_28FebSOC.thumb.JPG.5634f923997030f59a83a302674a8459.JPG

1969272931_1MarchSOC.thumb.JPG.1c3081c7eceb4807910b68436ddc15a1.JPG

 

 

Posted
19 minutes ago, Brani said:

You are keeping your charge from around 20:00 - 01:00 at 60% and using grid during that period of time. What is your total consumption for 24 hours, and more importantly what is is between 17:00-6:00? 

Having said that, if you completely cover for that period, technically you are off the gird. Nice to have if you can afford it :)

As it is, you are probably cutting down your Eskom bill by around 80-90% AND you have backup for load shedding. That's a pretty sweet deal.

Just keep in mind not to over capitalize the system. In other words, produce more than you can use.

I'm sitting at an estimated 60% reduction currently, but we have had pretty crap sun for the last week.image.thumb.png.3dec6e8dd1866a07548e9eb48eafbb00.png

My initial thoughts is that I might have over capitalised as am not able to use the excess power at this point after 12h00 (could have got a few less panels, or get more batteries)

System is setup is like this, but I have now changed it to priority load and grid charge (for bad days) at 16h00, will prob change the two blue values to 30%, there doesn't appear to be a benefit of the stepped approach. (I didn't want the batteries to try deliver over our peak use (stove and geyser 17h30-19h30)

image.png.c4638ac6cca02d507c3ec6daa2713b97.png

 

 

Posted

I have two Pylontech 2000’s and a 4.3 kWp array, generate/ use about 20 kWh on a bright sunny day, my Eskom usage is about 20 kWh for the summer months, obviously will get to be more as we get the shorter winter days and Cape Town cloudy/rainy weather, thought about another battery, but cannot justify the costs, as per my calculations, Eskom is cheaper than batteries for quite some time to come

Posted
2 hours ago, Kill_switch said:

My initial thoughts is that I might have over capitalised as am not able to use the excess power at this point after 12h00 (could have got a few less panels, or get more batteries)

Sure, I went through that stage initially myself, but after 2-3 consecutively bad solar days, I decided to put in 4 additional panels for headroom. Will see in June if I need another 2 or so... 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
On 2021/02/18 at 4:58 PM, Kill_switch said:

My installation started yesterday.

All equipment is from Power-Forum-Store, Installer is Leshan and his partner Phillip

1 x 8kW SunSynk

2 x AM2 100 Ah (5.5 kW) Hubble Batteries

12 x 450W JA Panals 2 strings of 6 each

Day one was relocation of 9 AC circuits from old DB in kitchen to garage (my essential DB)

New AC DB

171029304_InsideACDB.thumb.jpeg.ec4f7c1191db16c8bc3a50f6f45e02c3.jpeg

Day two installation of SunSynk and Batteries

954895795_battreymounts.thumb.jpeg.3b58859c507f87343db6118d9de60607.jpeg

The Hubble Looks really good against the wall and mounts flush with 4 bolts.

Wiring up the terminals right near the floor, not so much fun.

The Massive 200A disconnect fuse looks rather ominous

1267658443_BatConn.thumb.jpeg.b976cd8b270db4bfc66aa6f39fe604c4.jpeg

 

Battery wiring

613428342_battery2bottom.thumb.jpeg.8eae9f13fed6a75efad0ae4b290ca220.jpeg

 

End of day two.

573176861_wholeinstall.thumb.jpeg.28247dc5d4ba5d9f9143f3daeb80d976.jpeg

Nice and neat 

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