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160 kWh, what voltage to go with?

aquicklook

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Sep 27, 2021
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So, a few years ago FedEx was auctioning off a bunch of their 2011 Estar fleet vans, and I bought several. I sold a few nice ones, but two were too far gone, so I ended up with two 80kWh battery packs.
Here are the specs: A123 Systems, LiFePO4. Each pack has 16 modules. Each module is a 6s13p, for a nominal voltage of around 20V and capacity of 260 Ah or 5 kWh. Each module weighs about 100 lbs.

So I have a total of 160 kWh available in (thirty two) 5 kWh 20V configurable chunks.

I also have 75 kW of solar panels ready to be deployed ground mount.
I live on 100 acres in rural AZ, no shade or trees.
The idea is to eliminate the $400 electric bill and $250 monthly propane consumption, and convert the house to fully electric and shut the utility main breaker off forever. And go off-grid.
We own 2 EVs.
The size of the system is intentionally larger than needed today, with plans on going even larger in the future. Any excess production could be utilized on Bitcoin mining, while also heat the house in the winter.

My questions are:
What voltage should I build my battery? I can go 60V, or 600V, or anything in between. Batteries and components will probably be housed in a dedicated shed away from the house, due to high voltage danger. I am still debating on that.

What off-grid inverter would be the most value for the money? For the start, I'd want a 20kW inverter, but need to be able to grow that number to 50kW or more.

What MPPT charger can even take this many kW in?

For BMS, I am familiar with JK BMS. Although it's only going up to 24 cells, I can use several in series, and cell data can be output to the screens.
 

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Couple of things. JDBMS has 6-21s and 7-22s bms, that can handle voltages for the lifep04 ranges.
I have 9 of the same batteries and just haven't gotten around to testing the batteries or the BMS on the unit just yet, although I have the BMS on hand.
If you put 3 of the battery modules in Series you would get a battery module with max voltage of approx. 64.5v.

To maximize the battery capacity:
Top tier equipment: 1. Schneider XWpro inverter can handle up to 64V and their 600v charge controller can has a range of 16 -67vdc.
Lower tier equipment 120/240v split phase:
2. LVX6048 can use battery voltage ranges from 40 - 64v
3. EG4-6000ex same unit as the lvx above 40-64v
Lower tier equipment 120v single phase:
4. PIP-3048-lv-mk can use battery voltage up to 64v as well. But it is only 120v although you can put 2 in parallel for 240v split phase

I thought about buying a High Voltage inverter and putting all 9 in series, but I honestly any voltage above 80v dc is dangerous, so I don't want to deal with it.
 
You can use as many mppts as required for your panels. With two EVS I would consider using EG4 inviters so you can parallel them together and allow for dual charging plus the house loads.
 
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