Newbie Planning on Battery Storage Projects

Good day to one and all!

Yet, another newbie here, long time reader - first time poster.

So, I'm planning to start working on two battery storage projects and will ask a lot of dumb questions, so please, excuse me in advance.

Will describe the projects briefly in this first post:

Project 1. Home battery storage - no solar

I live in apartment and i want to have back-up energy storage, plus make use of cheap tariffs.
Plan to install 2*15 kWh DIY batteries for starters and probably in future add one or two more (its never enough, right)
My facade is south-west facing (more to the west) and sun comes around after 2:30-3 p.m., so dont think there is any point to even entertain the idea of putting up PV panels for 2-3 hours of afternoon sun... plus there is extra difficulties and complications of mounting solar panels.
So, batteries will be charged from grid exclusively (when cheap electricity is available, you know the game)

From Inverters popular in Europe, I'm considering either: Growatt SPF 5000 ES (probably 2 units in parallel as 5 kW wont be enough to keep up with household consumption) which I can get on very good price or Deye (5-8 kW model, not sure yet). From my research, SunSynk would be the best possible choice (with software specially designed for my needs), but it is rather expensive compared to others mentioned. Is there any cheaper "rival" with sunsynk functionalities?

The other thing to consider is where to put this setup. My apartment is rather small, so no much storage room available (plus I hear, the Growatts are rather irritatingly loud i f i go with them). I have a little terrace (enclosed), which i'm using for office, but in summer, becomes very, very hot in there which is not good for lifepo4 batteries, right. Have a little corridor, where i was planning to put it originally, but there is not a good ventilation in there, plus is next to my bedroom...
The idea, i'm entertaining recently: have a little storage room in the building's basement, which would be rather perfect, but the cabling route up to my apartment is rather long (25-30 meters) and requires a lot of work to put it in. Plus, i doubt there will be a good wi-fi connection (if any), so will have to think of ways to communicate with that inverter in basement. (some wi-fi repeaters maybe?)

What do you guys think?
Which would be best Inverter for the job (on a budget)?
What is best place to put the installation (corridor or basement)?


Project 2. Home battery storage - EV charging - Solar on later stage

Here is a bit more challenging project, as requires more power.
Have a remote village property with grid connection where i go at least twice a week... I have EV (stupid little 22 kW Zoe) and my main charging is at that property (the other charges i use are public and expensive). The thing is, despite the contract with electricity supplier saying 10 kW power, i can not get more than 5 to 6 out of that grid. So, charging of 22 kWh battery takes a long time, that i dont always have...
So, i am planning as in "Project 1", Inverter+Battery, the difference is, here i'll require more power. I want to be able to charge very fast when i need to.
Thinking of installing something like 22 kW AC EV charger at this stage, and later, when replace the Zoe with bigger EV (with DC charging capabilities), will upgrade to some 20-30 kW DC charger.
As for the system, i'm thinking of Three-phase installation, like 3 x SPF 5000 ES in 3-phase configuration for 15 kW power, upgraded later to 6 (3*2) for up to 30 kW.
Battery bank would be 2*15 kW, doubled on later stage (when budget allows it).

now, the caveat: dont really want to put up PV array on the property as of now, because: 1.) budget doesn't allow it; 2.) i'm expecting/hoping prices to go even lower; 3.) as property is in remote location, i prefer a "discreet", not very visible installation for now

so, considering the above, what is best way to charge up the battery bank (30 kWh, expandable to 60 later) from 5-6 kW one-phase grid available? I mean, i can not quite figure out if I have the Growatts in 3 phase configuration on the output side (and 3*2 later), will they be able to use single-phase grid to charge the battery? do i need another inverter/charger on the input side to actually charge the battery? what the connection diagram would look like?


lot more questions, will continue in another post, "stay tuned"

Can't answer the questions re siting your installation but as for the charging issues, get the cheapest rate you can for the longest period (hours) that you can! BUT before you do all that, make sure it makes financial sense, unless you're purely wanting to be environmentally friendly.....

MisterB1959 said:

Can't answer the questions re siting your installation but as for the charging issues, get the cheapest rate you can for the longest period (hours) that you can! BUT before you do all that, make sure it makes financial sense, unless you're purely wanting to be environmentally friendly.....

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cheapest rates are night for now, but this is about to change in few months, so i'm getting ready
..as for financial sense... ROI looks better and better every month... rates are going up, lifepo4 cell prices are coming down...

i'll have almost free electricity and grid independence if i'm able to figure out how to "hot swap" batteries: charging them in the remote property by solar, then transporting and discharging them at my apartment and so on... but with this weight...uhh

as I will be building fair bit of batteries in next months, and i'm kind of "tool maniac", like to have the tool for "every job that might arise", thinking of buying full set of equipment for DIY battery builds.
so far, have lugs crimpers and some basic insulated hand tools (have done some electrical work before)
what else do i need?
battery tester?
battery charger?
is there combination of the two?
any other "apparatus"?
other hand tools?

every recommendation and suggestion is welcomed

thanks for reading

kubio said:

cheapest rates are night for now, but this is about to change in few months, so i'm getting ready
..as for financial sense... ROI looks better and better every month... rates are going up, lifepo4 cell prices are coming down...

i'll have almost free electricity and grid independence if i'm able to figure out how to "hot swap" batteries: charging them in the remote property by solar, then transporting and discharging them at my apartment and so on... but with this weight...uhh

Click to expand...

Is there potential to sell your energy from the remote property to offset the cost at your home? Spending more money on solar at your remote property and getting a good price for it might be worth considering?

MisterB1959 said:

Is there potential to sell your energy from the remote property to offset the cost at your home? Spending more money on solar at your remote property and getting a good price for it might be worth considering?

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nope... way too complicated to consider (and costly), can not feed back to grid

kubio said:

...
The idea, i'm entertaining recently: have a little storage room in the building's basement, which would be rather perfect, but the cabling route up to my apartment is rather long (25-30 meters) and requires a lot of work to put it in. Plus, i doubt there will be a good wi-fi connection (if any), so will have to think of ways to communicate with that inverter in basement. (some wi-fi repeaters maybe?)
...

Click to expand...

earlier today, I actually went to check the possible routes and the main distribution board, it is not that complicated than i originally thought...
from that main fuse board (which is powered from the electricity meters cabinet outside the building), there is route to up to my apartment starting with 50A breaker and adequately sized wiring (seams like 10 mm2) and there is another route, down to basement, with the pathetic 6A breaker and 1.5 mm2 wire, but whole route is under 10 m long and is easy enough to replace breaker and cable (with 50A and 3*10 mm2 cable)

so, I definitely would go with the basement option, I think...
would I need an ventilation in that room, once put batteries and invertors in, you think?.. its about 5 sq. m. (12 cub. m volume), no windows or anything for air to circulate... I could possibly put some ventilation grills on the door, maybe?

..the more i think, the more i come to the conclusion, that the mentioned growatt wont be able to do the job, as it is not able to mix grid with battery (right?), so Deye/Sunsynk is the way... any other budget suggestions?
its a bummer, because i have a very good deal for that SPF 5000 ES, around $500 delivered... oh well

p.s.: will it be too much of strain/waste if all consumption goes trough the batteries (no topping up from grid, even if price is very favorable)? what do you guys say?,,,