My 24 Aquion AHI batteries

[OffgridMTR]

Forum illiterate

Ok thanks. I know next to nothing about communicating in forums. I've read them for years but rarely interact.

[inetdog]

Posting my first post so I can see attachments.

A word of advice, OffgridMTR: You can make your first post in the introductions topic and actually have it serve a purpose.
Do not try the same tactic to get to 10 posts for PM access.

[OffgridMTR]

First Post

Posting my first post so I can see attachments.

[Pad E]

Solar starter

Hi Must have one post to open attachments, this is it

[Living Large]

I have 2- VFX3648's which claim 90 amps DC charging but the most I've seen is around 72A, and that was with the Rolls Fla's, and even that made my lights flicker.

I have 2- SW5548 that I am going to use for charging and again I have not seen rated output into the old Fla's. The most I could get out of these was around 30A AC charging.

There was some discussion back a ways about the Aquions not taking a charge in a timely fashion. My reason for mentioning charge rate was that I can only charge at the rate my inverters will put out. Maybe Li batts will take more amps but they won't make my inverters do new tricks so charge rate in my case is a mute point.

Wade

I assume you have looked at the AQ charts for capacity vs charge current, and thought about your charge time based on the current you can generate when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing (which appear to coincide to some extent, based on what you said). You can guesstimate your charge time on a cloudy calm day, if you don't already have some data points.

[toothy]

I have 2- VFX3648's which claim 90 amps DC charging but the most I've seen is around 72A, and that was with the Rolls Fla's, and even that made my lights flicker.

I have 2- SW5548 that I am going to use for charging and again I have not seen rated output into the old Fla's. The most I could get out of these was around 30A AC charging.

There was some discussion back a ways about the Aquions not taking a charge in a timely fashion. My reason for mentioning charge rate was that I can only charge at the rate my inverters will put out. Maybe Li batts will take more amps but they won't make my inverters do new tricks so charge rate in my case is a mute point.

Wade

[Living Large]

Reliable is a bad way to describe the wind around here. I have a 1Kw Kestrel and it does what it's supposed to do. I have never logged the resource, but I would say our avg wind speed is OK.

However it seems that the wind blows the most when we don't need it, sunny, consistently windy days we have, but cloudy or rainy days with wind seem to be more elusive. Don't get me wrong we get some real kickers but the wind part of these events is short lived.

There are times in the winter when it does some considerable good, but the ROI is a bit long for my taste. I think panels would be a better investment, if the space is available. We don't have enough accessible shade free spots so the turbine is a good compromise but it's going to break, where the panels just keep humping away.

Wade

You mentioned your inverters are "maxed out charge wise" when talking about the batteries. Are you saying that the inverter/charger will be a limiting factor when charging from the gen? How much charge current into the batteries from the gen can you currently support?

[toothy]

Reliable is a bad way to describe the wind around here. I have a 1Kw Kestrel and it does what it's supposed to do. I have never logged the resource, but I would say our avg wind speed is OK.

However it seems that the wind blows the most when we don't need it, sunny, consistently windy days we have, but cloudy or rainy days with wind seem to be more elusive. Don't get me wrong we get some real kickers but the wind part of these events is short lived.

There are times in the winter when it does some considerable good, but the ROI is a bit long for my taste. I think panels would be a better investment, if the space is available. We don't have enough accessible shade free spots so the turbine is a good compromise but it's going to break, where the panels just keep humping away.

Wade

[Living Large]

As far as charging with the gen I want to try a volt start and a 2-3 hr run and then hope for some sun or wind.
Some here have said stuff about how fast they will charge but with 16 stacks my inverters are tapped out charge wise.

Are you in a location where you get fairly reliable wind? How much power does the turbine generate with the average wind that you get? Just curious.

[toothy]

The sun angle stuff up here is a pain, north of e/w summer and 11 degrees off the horizon in winter, with mountains in the way morning and afternoon. We also get long periods of clouds, think weeks+ with no real sun. Yearly gen fuel around 60 gal at best 120 at worst but sometimes I get carried away with the welder and compressor. Most years I spend more fuel keeping the driveway clear than making power.

I have 3700+/- watts on the porch that I tilt from 75 deg to around 40 deg, the garden bank is fixed at 77 deg. I have a few pine trees, not mine or they would be ashes, that get in the way a bit from late Nov to Jan.

As far as charging with the gen I want to try a volt start and a 2-3 hr run and then hope for some sun or wind.
Some here have said stuff about how fast they will charge but with 16 stacks my inverters are tapped out charge wise.

I posted some pictures on the Midnite board.

So far the things I like are laying tools where I want, no acid, and no thought about float. The remembering when I last made float got easier when Mymidnite went on line and I could just look it up, but I'm not sure I have been on there since installing the Aquions.

Wade

[Living Large]

I have installed 16 stacks of the S20's I believe that is what you all are referring to as gen 2.
I switched over from 1350Ah of Rolls fla's about 3 weeks ago and so far they work just fine. I'm in Seward, AK so the real test is a few months away.
{snip}
So far I have been treating them as a curiosity and they haven't caused me any stress at all. Actually this is not our best solar period because the sun rises and sets well north of east and west now, pretty goofy I know.
I haven't fully partaken of the Aquion cool aid, but knew I didn't enjoy the flavor of the fla's! My distributor here in Seward, Alaska efficient energy solutions, visited the factory a couple of months ago and thought they looked OK. Time will tell.

Wade

It will be interesting to see what the results are in winter. Do you have fully unshaded PV? I don't know the variation in sun angle you experience - do you have adjustable racking? I don't have a system, but was planning one (looks like I may be able to get POCO, but not sure yet). For me, FLA wasn't an option I wanted to deal with, which is why I was considering AQ. 16 stacks was about what I thought I would need, and your use of 5-10kWh was roughly what I have. I was afraid that I would have lengthy charge periods often in winter with AQ. Please keep us updated. Inquiring minds want to know... Good luck.

[SunEagle]

I have installed 16 stacks of the S20's I believe that is what you all are referring to as gen 2.
I switched over from 1350Ah of Rolls fla's about 3 weeks ago and so far they work just fine. I'm in Seward, AK so the real test is a few months away.

So far I have been treating them as a curiosity and they haven't caused me any stress at all. Actually this is not our best solar period because the sun rises and sets well north of east and west now, pretty goofy I know.

I had them made without the fuses, as how do you check them when they are stacked together and just going into a combiner? And how do you get to the fuse on the back stack? I instead left out the fuses and went to breakers and a pdb block so each stack can be switched off checked and switched back on. I just couldn't figure out how to test individual stacks with the fuse/combiner set up. I haven't tried charging them with the inverters yet, only solar. I have turned off the turbine because I am not worried about making it to float but usually do this time of year.

I run a 48" fridge/freezer a 20+ year old side by side for the beverage cooler and a big chest freezer, a 15gpm Grundfosss 220v water pump and instantaneous propane hot water, along with descent sized flat screens and a few computers and fish tanks. I was going to try welding on them the other day but the need went away.

The hook ups were nice with the MC4 connectors and there is really no way to short them across the posts since there are none, you'd have to get real creative. I made one of those big blue crackly sparks once with the Rolls set, that was some real excitement.

I haven't fully partaken of the Aquion cool aid, but knew I didn't enjoy the flavor of the fla's! My distributor here in Seward, Alaska efficient energy solutions, visited the factory a couple of months ago and thought they looked OK. Time will tell.

Wade

Sounds interesting. Keep us informed on how they work out.

[toothy]

Real life tester AKA guinea pig

I have installed 16 stacks of the S20's I believe that is what you all are referring to as gen 2.
I switched over from 1350Ah of Rolls fla's about 3 weeks ago and so far they work just fine. I'm in Seward, AK so the real test is a few months away.

So far I have been treating them as a curiosity and they haven't caused me any stress at all. Actually this is not our best solar period because the sun rises and sets well north of east and west now, pretty goofy I know.

I had them made without the fuses, as how do you check them when they are stacked together and just going into a combiner? And how do you get to the fuse on the back stack? I instead left out the fuses and went to breakers and a pdb block so each stack can be switched off checked and switched back on. I just couldn't figure out how to test individual stacks with the fuse/combiner set up. I haven't tried charging them with the inverters yet, only solar. I have turned off the turbine because I am not worried about making it to float but usually do this time of year.

I run a 48" fridge/freezer a 20+ year old side by side for the beverage cooler and a big chest freezer, a 15gpm Grundfosss 220v water pump and instantaneous propane hot water, along with descent sized flat screens and a few computers and fish tanks. I was going to try welding on them the other day but the need went away.

The hook ups were nice with the MC4 connectors and there is really no way to short them across the posts since there are none, you'd have to get real creative. I made one of those big blue crackly sparks once with the Rolls set, that was some real excitement.

I haven't fully partaken of the Aquion cool aid, but knew I didn't enjoy the flavor of the fla's! My distributor here in Seward, Alaska efficient energy solutions, visited the factory a couple of months ago and thought they looked OK. Time will tell.

Wade

[Living Large]

That is the problem 3 now 4 revisions in a year. That is a huge Red Flag something is wrong.

Playing devil's advocate, they have made some key changes, apparently. Voltage window. Warranty.

Remembering the horrible sting of being stuck with worthless mortgage backed securities, and later a Ponzi scheme, and the attractive advertisements that came out just before the hammers fell, I'd understand anyone casting a leery eye. I would, if I were considering them.

[Sunking]

Just a quick clarification. Aquion is now shipping the S20P, which is kind of a Gen 2.5, not Gen 3. The Gen 3 (S30) will be available end of the year. The S20P will NOT be backwards compatible with their S10 and S20, but will be forward compatible with the S30 when they come out. The S20P has a higher peak power rating (includes a 20A fuse instead of the old 15A), higher voltage window of 40-60V to line up with standard equipment, and a 4 year standard warranty.

altE Store is getting the S20P stacks this week, and the big modules in 2 weeks. Aquion has said the backorder was due to some big orders they had for some large projects, but we don't have details of them, as they weren't through us. We did sell a number of the S20 earlier in the year before they sold out, but I don't have access to any feedback at this time. I will try to get some.

That is the problem 3 now 4 revisions in a year. That is a huge Red Flag something is wrong.