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Off-Grid LFP(LiFePO4) system since April 2013 -
Hi, guy. Nope I am still trucking along with them. It's been a good summer. I checked the balance on them yesterday and they are still within .001 of each other. I am always in a dither on whats the best for them and me. I have never had a reason to drop them below 50% during the summer, but now I will have more cloudy days so I expect some 80% dod's in the future.
Options to me is having parallel systems with easy switchability of the loads and lots workarounds. I don't like sitting in the dark rubbing two sticks together, off grid ain't beanbag.Comment
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So, what's the deal? Did you sign a non-disclosure agreement, or don't want to lose a competitive advantage that you can't or won't reveal the names of these manufacturers, the detail of their performance in your setup and the reasons for your selection?
Here is something that won't reveal your sources: Can we assume you have selected one manufacturer of cell that you always use in your installations?
But also, I should add, that this forum is for the purpose of sharing real information, not making claims or boasts about technologies or acomplishments. It is in the spirit of sharing and helping others that people donate their time to this forum. What is your purpose?Comment
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I guess he knows the Chinese have no loyalty to anyone. The only proprietary thing you can count on is that they will take it and sell it to anyone. In a past life they took a couple of my products and knocked them off and tried to sell them to me. I get a call and the guy tells me my prototype samples would be delivered soon and get back to them if I liked them, I hate to admit it, they were perfect and as good as we manufactured. My son in law still buys from them, larger quantities, but cheaper in the long run. I was stuck buying domestic made sub assembly's here and they were the ones they really hurt and not having a assembly line these days is a blessing.Comment
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Guys - you are talking to a person who has a vested interest in hawking his own small batteries of unknown origin and won't reveal them even if asked by potential future customers.
Would you buy your lead-acid's this way?
Unless disclosed, for all we know these "military" grade batteries are laptop-pulls from RAAF computers that are upgrading from Windows 8.
(well, not the same chemistry I know, but the point is made.)
One of the tenets of DIY LFP battery construction is the KISS principle. That is, like lead acid, you want to keep cell-count down, and buy the largest capacity you can to keep wiring and infrastructure issues under control. If your application is critical, you can get an extra cell for safekeeping. You'll need to with unknown, used, or poor /unknown quality.
Despite the diversionary topics, ask yourself if you'd feel right expecting Trojan / Rolls / Enersys or any other battery manufacturer to not disclose exactly what it is you are buying? If you are expecting a T105, but get a "hybrid" dual-purpose deep cycle, is that ok? Worse yet, expecting a Rolls, and getting a Costco?
Dax - I don't doubt you are doing some good things with LFP. But keeping your details so close to your chest is not helping anyone here - unless this forum only serves to create a "buzz" about your product and free search-links later on. And in this game, we know that any-PR-is-good-PR.
That is why I'm asking you to take off the salesman hat, and treat us like fellow makers, and not customers. Lkruper hit it right on the money.Comment
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There is always something good in everything if you look hard enough.
Just noted that CALB has an updated site, and most importantly easy access to the operations manual with full disclosure: See the "additional information" to get to the docs and specs.
Thing is, I don't use CALB, but a different brand - GBS.
But brand isn't everything as long as it is quality and from a known resource. For our relatively low-current application, one doesn't *need* the higher end models in any particular lineup (unless you specifically know why - and if so you wouldn't be here), so don't be tempted by slick ads. Go by the info and fit the battery to the application. No salesmanship here, just info.Comment
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I am not sure that military anything is necessarily an endorsement for any product. Remember the expensive hardware (toilet seats!) the Pentagon bought? -> http://articles.latimes.com/1986-07-...vw-18804_1_nutComment
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Heh, or yeah the guy under me who thought he was doing the right thing by re-capping our audio boards with "computer grade" capacitors, not knowing that is really a negative selling point.
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G'day Simon, have read your PM, but can't reply until after 10 posts and the same goes for others who pm me.
May not make 10 posts as it seems those from the USA have only one intent, they are right and their USA products are the only ones that work. So they resort to infantile abuse of any who don't agree with their amateur and very knowledge less approaches to this technology, nor do they have any idea of what the state of the art is in the real world outside the USA. It's clear they have no experience or knowledge of the industry and expect companies to reveal the advantages they have over other installer and manufacturers.
Not revealing our company, not here to promote it or sell anything, just to put forward what we do and have achieved, so others can see the real situation and not the deluded one put forward by day dreamers. But, once our new distribution site is up an running by the end of this month, happy to reveal it for those in Aus who are interested to learn more.
Their ridiculous claims of there being no dedicated lifepo4 controllers is hilarious, I know of two other major lifepo4 installers in Aus who make their own lifpeo4 control systems like us and use pretty close to the same quality cells we do, all from Asia. Why pay the yanks a fortune for plastic encased cells, completely unsuited for our climate and conditions, our cell configuration and density are constructed for most Aus conditions and are economically and operationally superior to branded plastic. The only problem we've found with our cells is very cold conditions, but that's the same with all lithium chemistries to the best of my knowledge and we figure we will have that solved by the end of this year.
Our aim, is to get as many Aus households and business off grid as possible and using lfepo4, we can only do that with economically priced components and systems. We are builders initially, but realise the rapidly changing situation in the industry. When it costs Aus$40000+ to get your new home connected to the grid and that doesn't include house wiring and much more in rural area's, or you have to run a generator 12- 18 hours of the day, it's a very expensive exercise and then, you have on going and rising costs and grid power failures.
It's no rocket science to realise where the benefits are in spending $20-$30000 on a lifepo4 system which ensures your energy needs for the next 10 years at least and that's the warranty we provide with our installed lifepo4 systems. When we did FLA installs, 3 years warranties for batteries was all manufactures would provide and it then becomes an expensive on going exercise. Even though 2v 500-100amp FLA batteries normally last about 10 years used properly, but you only get one third of the usable capacity out of FLA, compared to 80% from lifepo4. That's why we are seeing such a huge increase in demand and setting up a new website for our company, install in lifepo4 pack and within a months you have 3-4 new inquires to upgrade their systems or a new install. We are now installing for other builders, they built the place as normal and we set it up with a lifepo4 system. Nothing has changed for them, just we connect the energy and not the grid.
Along with the two other builders in Aus who are heading in the same directions us, we estimate between us, by the end of this financial year we will have install close to 10000 lifepo4 off grid cell packs around Aus.
Doesn't matter what is said here, after 5 years, we are still to have no dissatisfied customers and that's the bottom line in the real world.Comment
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As Ronald Reagan once (or many times?) said: "Trust but verify."
I hope to read glowing reports of your AU installations someday, then maybe we in the US will jump on the bandwagon as it goes by.
SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.Comment
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Alleged dangers of charging LFP below freezing
Have read that LFP will degrade if charged at temperatures below freezing. Is this true only for the high C charging rates of EVs or is it also true for the very low C charging rates of solar in winter time. A vendor of LRP for LFPs said that the particular fabrication of CALB cells greatly mitigates problems at very low temperature charging/
We left our fifth wheel at son's place the last two winters where the temperatures got down to -20° F (-29°C). The parasitic losses were perhaps 400 W per day or about 0.04C per day. We have noted no degradation in capacity. Have planned to put in Halogen lamp (30 W) or a heating pad (30 to 50 W) in the front bay where the batteries are installed in the future. This is quite simple to do since we have 9.6 kW-hr of LFP.
Reed and ElaineComment
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