LiFePO4 Batteries: Discussion Thread for Those Using Them as House Banks

[CharlieJ]

Maine-
Every time I see your LFP bank I make two comments to myself:
1. Damn, he does good work!
2. Damn, the winters in Maine must be absolutely horrible!

[Wraith_Mac]

Originally Posted by CharlieJ

Maine-
Every time I see your LFP bank I make two comments to myself:
1. Damn, he does good work!
2. Damn, the winters in Maine must be absolutely horrible!

I'll second that motion. #1.
[Not really sure about the Maine Winter but it sounds convincing].
Mac

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

I used 1/4" Al end plates and 1/2" square Al tube. The square tube fits the grooves on the Winston cells perfectly. The draw rods are 5/16". I fabricated the plates then sent the parts out for annodizing.

Nice work.

Battery porn

[darylat8750]

It appears that there may be some question about availability from Balqon lately. Is that the case? Any other sources of 400 to 700 amp cells? My net type searches have not been very encouraging.

[deckofficer]

I know of one member that waited 2 months for the 400 a-hr cells and when pressed, Balqon upgraded his order to the 700 a-hr cells and got those out to him.

[ColdEH]

I got my cells from Randy at Canadian Electric Vehicles Ltd. Excellent guy to deal with if getting them in Canada is an option for you .

Regards

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

I know of one member that waited 2 months for the 400 a-hr cells and when pressed, Balqon upgraded his order to the 700 a-hr cells and got those out to him.

That was me, except it took from late May to early October.
The CEO found out about it and made things happen in a little over a week.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

That was me, except it took from late May to early October.
The CEO found out about it and made things happen in a little over a week.

The email address I passed to you was an individual that has the ear of Balwinder Samra, the CEO. Also Balqon is understanding how connected we in the marine side are and communicate with each other. He has witnessed this in the past and I'm encouraged he wants to keep positive press in the marine sector.

[senormechanico]

His name is the other way around. It's Samra Balwinder.

He's got a facebook page.

[deckofficer]

From his site.
Balqon Electric Vehicle Manufacturer

[senormechanico]

From his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/balwindersamra/about

WTF??

[steelwrk1]

Hello all,

Haul out in the next month or so....winter is coming.

Turned 55 in the last 30 days and am selling my house and will cut the lines next summer, enough of this white crap we call snow. Winters for me will be southern US east coast and who knows how much farther south ? Boat is not made for big water ,neither am I, but schedule is wide open so who knows....

I previously posted in this thread all existing equipment with details of my, installed this year ,1260 amps of used 60 amp LiFePO4 Batteries and now I am looking for what you would do solar wise if you were me.

I really do not like to run the generator. I love my LiFePO4 batteries but at a max generator charge rate of 150 amps per hour they take a long time to recharge if I let them run down .

I have the real estate, and will have the budget to put up max 7 only 39'' X 59'' solar panels.

I can get Kyocera here in Montreal,Canada for 300.00 each Can $ plus tax but no shipping, they are local. Model # KD215GX LFBS .

I bought one solar panel as a sample , have designed , and am building the mounting aluminum brackets for the 3 aft solar panels for my boat. The solar panels will serve as a sun and rain bimini as well.

The min 3 solar panels aft are 40 feet from my batteries, taking into account the path the wires must travel.

The possible two sets forward are 30 feet from the batteries.

I can install them easily in a set of 3 far aft at the upper deck level ( I am building the mounting hardware now ), and will do this as a minimum.

Then 2 more with a little more dificultlt aft of my radar arch .

Then 2 more with more difficultly forward of the radar arch.

My questions are;

A )- what would you do if you had this possible set up ?

B )- How would you wire it?
- What gauge wires would you run...how would you run them ....series or paralelle

C )- What Mppt controler or controllers would you use?

Midnight...Outback..Victron ??

D ) - What extra fuses, connection boxes, breakers, or electrical items should I be thinking about other than the Solar panels, the wiring and the MPPT controlers.

Thank you for your comments,
Regards,
Pete

[Wraith_Mac]

[QUOTE=steelwrk1;1366857]Hello all,

I have the real estate, and will have the budget to put up max 7 only 39'' X 59'' solar panels.

You have the real estate and the budget, I'd do the same.
to mitigate shading I'd use MPPT [as it's over a 600W instal] and run in parallel.
Use at least i size wire than recommended for your run and keep all controllers as close as possible to the batteries. The run length from the panels is less important than the run length to the batteries and then bus bars.
That's a great price for the panels, my search showed more elsewhere.
They should pump out plenty of power IMO. {Model # KD215GX LFBS}
There are bigger panels but at that price and convenience??
I would add Morningstar Tristar controller in for consideration and I will leave it to the sparkies here to advise on wiring etc.
Cheers,
Mac

[ebaugh]

I've never installed solar, but I have talked to many users and researched the options for my boat. It's on the funds permitting project list. I came to the same conclusions as Mac, Morningstar MPPT, run max possible voltage to the controller, and in my case all the panels that would reasonably fit.

I have little chance of having too much power....but a well thought out boat with only 1 fridge might. At some point, say on back to back sunny days you are 100% charged by noon, and can last 3-4 cloudy days in a row on a combination of lower solar output and stored energy in the batteries, more panels won't add much.

The other side of the equation I've considered is maximizing usage during maximum output hours and minimizing night time. For example installing refrigeration technology using holding plates so little energy is consumed overnight. Running the water maker 10-2 etc.

[careka]

Li-Ion BMS - Li-Ion battery cells

List of ho makes Lifepo batts.