Solar PV battery options

slave1 · 04-02-2023 9:01pm

Around 35kgs on the bottom cell, eek!

Ballylad · 04-02-2023 10:15pm

Hi Anyone got a Fronius gen 24 inverter and BYD Battery set up?, looking for info on charging battery at night. Thnks

woppers · 06-02-2023 1:20am

Hi, can you provide a link for the Dyness 5.1kWh please? I have one already and so would like to add a second one.

digiman · 10-02-2023 12:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120190960#Comment_120190960

Anyone got any thoughts on this? Is there any problems going with adding a 10kW to my existing 5kW?

ELM327 · 10-02-2023 1:29pm

Is it 15S or 16S? I have 4 5kWh 48v dyness batteries but they are 15S not 16S, meaning I am limited to paralleling with other 15S units.

Adding 10kWh to an existing 5kWh would be fine as long as the batteries are the same - not necessarily the same brand but the same voltage and the same setup.

championc · 10-02-2023 2:17pm

Different battery pack manufacturers can have proprietary BMS's, which really need to talk to one another ant to the Inverter over CANBUS. So while voltages might match, there could be an issue regarding overall communication, if the wanted all packs to act as one pack

ELM327 · 10-02-2023 6:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223971#Comment_120223971

True.

If you go with one brand - say Dyness - 16S 48v nominal and then add in some no name server rack battery that is also 16S 48v, that would work with comms over can, right?

Alternatively you could go a road well traveled on this forum, sell the Dyness and buy calb cells!

championc · 10-02-2023 6:57pm

If you have a Dyness and Server rack, there is nobody anywhere who will tell you if they will communicate together. Banks can be paralleled, but it's almost certain that only the master would communicate with the Inverter, and connecting a CAN between modules could actually shut down the modules

digiman · 10-02-2023 7:51pm

So what I’ve got now is a

Battery Lithium 5.1kWh Dyness BX51100 48V

This website has one for €1800, has anyone bought from here before? Any other places people would recommend buying from?

https://www.wccsolar.net/product-page/bater%C3%ADa-litio-5-1kwh-dyness-bx51100-48v?lang=en

unkel · 10-02-2023 9:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120225630#Comment_120225630

€2000 if you include shipping

johndoe11 · 10-02-2023 10:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120225630#Comment_120225630

I've got the same, was looking at that website as well, not sure about them looking at the reviews, most of the positives seem to be fake. Sent them an email, 178 euro shipping.

Those batteries are very hard to source. Got a quote of 2200 ex vat from irish supplier. I might be selling one in a month or two, no way it is a good investment at those prices. Will probably go down the China route.

Fingleberries · 30-03-2023 2:06pm

Perhaps counter to the spirit of this thread (I wasn't sure if it warranted a new thread, though).

Scenario: The largest roof in my home is 100% North facing, the south-facing roof can fit maybe 3-ish panels. So, a lot of installers are not recommending (or not interested in) installing solar on the house.

Question: As an alternative, are there options to install a battery system that can be used to charge during the night (using cheaper rate, and normally powered by renewables) and power the house as much as possible during the day (to avoid expensive day rate) - without solar installed?

Additional info: I already have a Zappi + Harvi installed for EV charging.

micks_address · 30-03-2023 2:10pm

yep you can totally go with a ac coupled inverter and battery or hybrid inverter with battery if you think you might be able to add some solar at some point.. very good case for filling a battery at night with cheaper electricity and using during the day to cover the house load without importing from the grid

DC999 · 30-03-2023 2:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120419481#Comment_120419481

Have a look at North facing setup that @Manion did a few months back. Is north facing solar a complete waste - Page 6 — boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin'

Fingleberries · 30-03-2023 3:49pm

Thanks so much, I've been following (stalking?) Manion's progress with great interest. I guess, as many installers are not keen I was looking for Plan C, D or E 🙂

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120419502#Comment_120419502

Mick, If I was to look towards such a solution are there recommendations for the same? I reckon that I use about 10-13kWh per day (excluding car charging)

micks_address · 30-03-2023 3:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120419955#Comment_120419955

i have a givenergy setup but other solutions would also work

DC999 · 30-03-2023 6:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120226247#Comment_120226247

Do you have any other S roof, like a flat roof (I've 5 panels on one), or a shed? Then the small S roof isn't some much of an issue

3 panels on a string on it's own will cause issues. Voltage is too low for the string to wake up so output is much lower (wakes later and goes to sleep earlier). I got caught on that. That's all one roof fits

big_red · 21-04-2023 1:36pm

Loving this thread and learning a lot (while hastening to add I am very much at the beginning of my technical learning journey!)

I'll try be as clear as I can and appreciate any advice please.

We have a large rural house and use a lot of electricity (c.15,000kwh p.a.).. house is A2 a runs off GSHP. In winter months we average 1000kwh day and 750kwh night per month. This drops by around 50% during the summer months.

We are on day / night EV (albeit don't have one yet!) rate with Engergia - 48.7c day and 14.2c night.

I want to work toward getting as close to off-grid as possible and also future proof for 1 -2 EVs. In my mind I am thinking of approaching it in phases and have outlined some questions below

Yr 1 - Put in a large DIY battery e.g. 40kwh to charge overnight and run the house during the day to bank the price spread - this alone would save me about €3-4k p.a.

Consensus seems to be to go for LifePro 200Ah 3.2v from PWOD? Am I right to think I'd think need 4 x 16pcs of these?
1 x 6kw hybrid invertor? 7 hours to charge battery pack from zero? Any recommendations on model?
1 x BMS? Again any recommendations on model?
Anything else I need? I would like a good app based user interface.

In terms of hooking it up. Do I (read as my electrician!) need to put a new cable from the invertor to the customer unit - this could be tricky as oddly my CU is in a store room in the middle of the house and I don't want to have to open up walls or ceilings if at all avoidable. Or could I connect back to the CU on the back of some existing wiring?

Yr 2 - add lots of solar (e.g. 16kwh made up of 25 x ground mounted QCell 585) to power house and charge batteries / EV's. At this point I'd stop / minimise charging the batteries from grid. I'd add another 6 kwh hybrid invertor (12kwh total) at this time - 8kwh solar going to each one. I'd also like to avail of a FIT - I think this is 6kwh max so 1 of the invertors could just be set not to export?

Yr 3 - add a small e.g. 2kwh wind turbine into the mix for the winter months when solar output is low. We have great wind where we are!

Please pull this apart!.. am I crazy or half on the right path?

bullit_dodger · 21-04-2023 2:21pm

Hey Big_red - howdy and welcome.

So, no.....not crazy at all. I would however reverse the order of Yr1 and Yr2 and the reason being is that you'll get a lot of stuff done "for free" in the solar installation which you can then use for the battery installation.

280aH batteries seem to be the weapon of choice. I'm looking at this playing field myself. There's 304aH out now too. Ballpark (ballpark!) €2000 for 16x cells here. Some have seen them as cheap as €1400-1500, via china and some (which I'm likely to go for myself) via Netherlands for €2400 ... again for 16x.

So if you are looking at 16x4 you'd be talking €8000 for the cells, then there's the BMS, active balancer , wiring, inverter (ME3000) etc and you'll be the guts of €10K. But at that you'd have a kick ass system of 50-60Kwh storage - which is great, but it only allows you to get some cheap power from night during day. Bear in mind there are some "gotchas" in this space now and forthcoming. For example some of the tariffs out there only allow 3 hrs "cheap night" rate tariff, so it's hard to squash 30-40Kwhr into a battery at night. D/N makes it easier, but we don't know where we'll be in 2-3 years yet with DN and the introduction of smart meters.

I think I'd rather spend the €10K and get "free" power from sun rather than cheap night rate. Get the solar in and they'll (the sparks) kit out your inverter to CU which means when you come along for the DIY battery, you have the correct guage and path in place.....assuming you have space for 4x big ass batteries.

Turbine - theres a few here doing that. one whos' got a very good results, but I'd park that, it's great - but you want to see where your at with the solar/battery first.

interesting project though.

I would however, really (no REALLY!) look at your consumption. 15,000 Kwh doesn't seem right, I'd say there's a LOT you can do there to get that down by looking at what/what/when is the consumer.

big_red · 21-04-2023 3:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120503796#Comment_120503796

thanks so much for the reply bullet_dodger. Would you have link to those battery options pls? Did I see others managing to source from China / Aliexpress without getting hit with the VAT and duty?

I do see the logic in going with solar first.. I think I just felt the battery would be a more immediate win but will keep thinking it over.

House is 500sqm and heated to 23degrees 24/7.. so not too inefficient in context I think?

DC999 · 21-04-2023 4:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120503991#Comment_120503991

I'd agree with bullit and look to see if there are ways to reduce the energy usage, certainly in the non heating months. Our house, as a comparision, uses ~225 a month (ex cooking, heating, EV). You're saying you use about 875 a month in summer. That's still close to 4 months of our usage. Granted it's a small house we we use a low amount. Don't mean to sound like I'm gloating, more giving a comparison. So more you cut back, the more you save.

championc · 21-04-2023 4:53pm

Maybe @big_red drop the temperature by one degree ? That's huge consumption. Not quite what you might expect from an A2 house.

Be very careful about a Hybrid inverter. Some need PV connected to work, I believe. A good option is a 5.5kW Sunsynk (which might get in under the new 25A limit ?) which can run with batteries only, and which can also run it's full rating if the grid is down.

Even get the most basic of PV and have high self use, and a size where you can DIY add to it.

munsterfan2 · 21-04-2023 5:07pm

Hi big_red,

I went for these https://eu.nkon.nl/rechargeable/lifepo4/prismatisch/catl-prismatic-302ah-lifepo4-3-2v-b-grade.html from Netherlands, delivery within a week or 2. 140eur per cell ( 16 gives a 15kwh battery so 16sp3 would give 45kwh for 48 cells ( 6720 eur approx ( small 2% discount if paying by DD rather than cc )

Ruairi

oaklands · 21-04-2023 5:12pm

@munsterfan2 did you measure actual capacity vs quoted number on any or all cells?

bullit_dodger · 21-04-2023 6:28pm

Heating (as I understand it) isn't linear though. as in if you double the floor space, you wouldn't necessarily double the cost. The real answer is .... complicated. A lot to do with heat loss coefficients, type of heating (underfloor, radiators), etc. I understand some of the theory, but really you'd need an expert to have a look.

15K in electricity seems high though. Some really small changes there could reap very (very) significant reductions. Even simple things like checking when you are heating water. No sense in heating water at 1am, and leaving it sit there all night losing energy in the tank. Have the timer come on and heat it at 6am - those sort of things. You'd really be surprised at what you can save. Same deal with lights. If you have any of those Halogen 50w spots, you can bin those for starters and replace with 5W LEDs for the same brightness.

The reason why this is important is that you want to solve the right problem. If your house is 100% energy efficient today, then you can proceed with spec'ing a suitable solar / battery combo. But if it's not, then you'll be overspec'ing the solution.

Best €50 or you'll spend is on an energy meter to have a look at what your using and get a handle on each thing. Then you'll know (roughly) where/what is using that 15K/year

graememk · 21-04-2023 6:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120504710#Comment_120504710

🙈🙈🙈

yankinlk · 21-04-2023 8:39pm

15k = 40 units a day on average. Is it lumpy in winter and a little lower in summer?

I agree with above best move get a handle on what is consuming that 40 units. Is there a pump running constantly for example? Why?

Drop a degree or even 2 and see what happens. Can you live with that temp? If you are walking around in shorts in winter and thats what you like... Dont complain about the costs to achieve it!

munsterfan2 · 21-04-2023 10:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120504434#Comment_120504434

Yes, tested one and got 306ah on the test. Have them installed and running perfectly with 300ah as capacity in Seplos. ( Had a very different experience with the CALB cells from PWOD / OYE - were supposed to be 200ah, ranged from 117 to 150 )

unkel · 21-04-2023 10:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120505915#Comment_120505915

Don't be a drama queen. 129 to 151 😂

unkel · 21-04-2023 10:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120504317#Comment_120504317

You have to put things into perspective. A typical household in Ireland uses 3000kWh of electricity per year. But that's with fossil fuel heating and with a fossil fuel car. That same house would use about 1500m3 of gas, which is 16000kWh of electricity equivalent! Add a single EV doing 25k km per year and there you have another 4500kWh per year. So that 3MWh is now 24MWh 😮

graememk · 21-04-2023 11:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120505968#Comment_120505968

If that heat load, of 16000kwh, was all heatpump (not accounting for cooking here)

With a high temp heatpump cop of 3, that's still 5.3MWh,

Or look at it another way, that's 3-4 500L fills of oil, for us out in the boomsticks

bullit_dodger · 22-04-2023 1:25am

True unkel - you have to put things in perspective.

That said if I was consuming 15,000 kwhr and let's slap a figure of €0.30 on it as an average price, that's some €4,500/year. I'd be keen to know where that is going. What percentage is lights, heat, little Jonnies xBox - LOL. Becomes easier to fix if you know where/what is the actual problem.

slave1 · 22-04-2023 8:36am

Gotta ask, before looking to generating electricity at your entire house 23degrees 24/7, why? Why all night when only bedrooms occupied, this is way too high for bedrooms, I’d be like 14-16, same with hallways, unused rooms etc, then 23 itself, that’s very high, why not 18 ?

big_red · 24-04-2023 9:16am

Thanks all for the great comments and feedback. I'll certainly do some more analysis on our consumption patterns- there's undoubtedly some low hanging savings. My [lazy] attitude has been to just over-spec the solution buts it a fair point, I should be more disciplined around our actual usage. I didn't mention earlier but we also have 2 x MVHR units running full time.

I have a sparks coming later this week to look at options to wire back to our CU, I'll also talk to him about getting some monitoring on our usage.

@munsterfan2 - thanks for the link to the batteries, I'll check those out. Can I ask what kit you have them paired with in terms or active balancer, BMS, inverter etc?

munsterfan2 · 24-04-2023 11:28am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513933#Comment_120513933

Sure,

Seplos BMS and Neey active balancer. My inverter is a solis which is working well. I have a raspberry pi hooked up to the BMS using ~~Solarman~~ https://github.com/byte4geek/SEPLOS_MQTT to monitor cells and report back to home assistant. Charging between 2 & 5 on 9c rate @ 50a, discharging at 0a until 8am ( as leaf tends to be charging ) and then as needed from 8:00am until 02:00am.

munsterfan2 · 24-04-2023 1:10pm

Editing my last post - it's not solarman, but the seplos mqtt script which I use to get the BMS data https://github.com/byte4geek/SEPLOS_MQTT

randombar · 25-04-2023 2:07pm

Hi all, ordering the neey for my 16s2p set up

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003125644284.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.d39238daXpASd2&mp=1

Just wondering if I need anything else with it?

Mr Q · 25-04-2023 2:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120519157#Comment_120519157

No, they come with everything needed. Just add ring terminals to suit your batteries.

Make sure you click shipping from Poland and not China.

DrPhilG · 25-04-2023 3:11pm

I just installed mine the other day.

jasgrif11 · 26-04-2023 12:39pm

I managed to get a loan of a HMP4040 power supply. Basically, it has 4 inputs/outputs. I have 48 cells arriving early next month. I'm thinking of setting them up as 4 X 12 in parallel and top balancing them at 3.65V 10A at the same time. Alternatively, the power supply can work in parallel and do 40A. As anyone done something similar?

munsterfan2 · 26-04-2023 1:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120519157#Comment_120519157

If you are monitoring with HomeAssistant an ESP32 board can monitor the neey https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VJ34N2Q?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 Cheap bit of kit and fun to play with.

jasgrif11 · 26-04-2023 4:40pm

Does anyone have a wiring diagram and manual for the Neey Active Balancer?

unkel · 26-04-2023 6:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120524380#Comment_120524380

IIRC it's on the AliExpress website if you bought from one of the main suppliers. Pretty straight forward anyway, if you through up a picture here, we'll tell you what cells the balance wires should connect to

jasgrif11 · 26-04-2023 8:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120179545#Comment_120179545

Here is my setup. Do i need to wire B01 to B24 and plus/minus?

graememk · 26-04-2023 11:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120524979#Comment_120524979

Ignore b17-24 you only have 16 cells.

B- to most negative(black)

B1-b16 to positive of each cell

And b+ (red) to the most positive, which will be the positive of cell 16.

DrPhilG · 01-05-2023 10:09pm

A successful day spent balancing batteries.

unkel · 01-05-2023 10:57pm

That's as close to perfection as it gets, @DrPhilG. Well done.

Care to share what you did balancing and what hardware you have, what size battery, what inverter, what BMS and I guess a 4A NEEEEYYYYYYY?

DrPhilG · 02-05-2023 7:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120544682#Comment_120544682

6kW Solis

20kWh LiFePo4 from OYE on AliExpress

ZEVA BMS

Neey balancer

Only got around to fitting the balancer the other week, it's been sat in the attic for about 3 months.

I was home yesterday due to the bank holiday so decided to bit the bullet and balance up. Charged fully overnight with the pack voltage set at 56v. Got to around this point.

Balanced to within 0.003v but I couldn't get it to increase as the charge kept getting throttled even when I increased the voltage in the bms to 57 and then 58v.

Eventually figured out that the inverter still had a limit set.

Battery overvoltage was set to 56.5v and the inverter will throttle the charge down once you're getting close to that. Increased that to 59v and it allowed me to push the charge up to the level I needed.

Once it tipped 58v the bms reset the SOC to 100% and that was the job done.

Currently down at about 33% as I'm squeezing a few units into the car before I go to work.

CramCycle · 02-05-2023 8:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120503991#Comment_120503991

Your house sounds similar to mine, I would say if you dropped the temp to 20 or 21 (lower if you can take it) and you will save enough money to pay for all the upgrades you plan within 5 years. The difference in cost for heating as you increase the temp is substantial IMO. We took 1/3 of our bills just by dropping 2 degrees in what was a B1 (now A2).

footfall789 · 02-05-2023 6:19pm

Hi,

Have a PureDrive SOL-R16-5kw for my Solar Panels.

Could anybody tell me if it is a Lead Acid Battery or a Lithium Battery

Regards, Footfall789

Solar PV battery options

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