3X10kW lifepo4 Greensun Solar batteries & Hybrid Inverter - NEED UPGRADE

[RB5Jonny]

Hi All

First time using this forum, Over in Belfast, N.Ireland

2 years ago i purchased a kit from Alibaba and took my Garage off-grid (lights, Dryer & Washing machine)

• 48v 5kW Hybrid Inverter
• 3 X 10kW LifePO4 Batteries
• 48v 450w Solar panels (3kW on West roof)

I installed it with a 3kW solar string on my West garage roof (I know this is not ideal but all i had available at the time) and all worked fine until Winter and the short nights.

Recently I have been experiencing erratic battery SOC i think being caused by the lack of full charging due to lack of daylight hours.

I have been plugging the mains into my AC input connection and charging the batteries. I need to install another string or 2 of PV panels this summer to increase my production over the dark winter months

I need advice on the below points

• I would like to upgrade to a system that can be programmed to charge my batteries at night from the Inverter / Mains. (Cheap tarif)
• I would also like to upgrade to a system to power my house, i think i will need to loose the 5kw inverter and change for 6-10kw
• I would like a system with good minoring app available

 

[SeaGal]

My questions are

• I would like to upgrade to a system that can be programmed to charge my batteries at night from the Inverter / Mains. (Cheap tarif)
• I would also like to upgrade to a system to power my house, i think i will need to loose the 5kw inverter and change for 6-10kw
• I would like a system with good minoring app available

Welcome.

Sorry if I'm having a blonde moment, but I see 3 requirements but no questions.

Are you looking for suggestions for new inverter and monitoring system? If so, I'm very happy with my Solis grid-tied inverters and use emonPi for monitoring. Others on here seem to highly rate Synsunk/Deye inverters and use HA for monitoring.

Nice / neat looking install, btw

 

[SeaGal]

Further thought - what temp are the batteries at? That could be a reason they are not fully charging - i.e. if they are restricting themselves due to being less than 10C or so.

 

[SeaGal]

Another thought... do you drive a scooby? If so... ... we had one years ago, not an RB5 though, sadly

 

[RB5Jonny]

Hi SeaGal

Yes i had a RB5 back in the day, should have never sold it. Still have a 08 STI to drive.

Yes i need some suggestions for new inverter / mppt kit to upgrade to and give me more control on what is happening along with remote AC charging to capture the cheap night rate.

You could be correct with the temps as my garage is rarely above 10c in winter. Any suggestions ? Diesel heater ?

 

[SeaGal]

Yes i had a RB5 back in the day

Wonderful!

along with remote AC charging to capture the cheap night rate.

I do that with my Solis, but does require custom software development ?‍?

You could be correct with the temps as my garage is rarely above 10c in winter. Any suggestions ? Diesel heater ?

Many of us on here, me included, have added some insulation around the battery (mine are DIY, so around cells in my case), e.g. 50mm of PIR or similar and some temp-controlled heating system. My garage was -2 this am, but cells were around 22C. That's with 21W heater on about 30%-50% of the time.

Numerous threads on that on here, like these...

Solis RHI 6K 48ES 5G Inverter Fox ESS LV5200 Battery - Charging limit ? and export to grid ...

Hi All, just had my Solis 6kw inverter and two Fox LV5200s installed too and noticed exactly the same problem others were having. Charge rate was maxing out at 1300w or 24A, BMS error stating low temp on inverter. Only way of knowing via app appears to be looking at what the charge current limit...

diysolarforum.com

Solis RHI 6K 48ES 5G Inverter Fox ESS LV5200 Battery - Charging limit ? and export to grid ...

That looks more suitable. Just using resistive heaters - there's a good thread on heaters here... https://diysolarforum.com/threads/lifepo4-heating-pad-for-cold-temperatures.5/post-356814 It will all depend on the thickness of your pir, volume of enclosure and temperature differentials, as to...

diysolarforum.com

New Install - Erratic Overnight Charging

Evening all. First time contributor, long time lurker :) I had a new solar system installed at the beginning of September (details below). Thus far, really happy. I'm already seeing savings in excess of my expectations. However, over the last few nights I've noticed a very erratic charge rate...

diysolarforum.com

Solis RAI not charging Fox-ESS LV5200 correctly

Hi all, hoping someone can shed some light on this. My Solis RAI charger is programmed to charge the battery from the grid for 4 hours every night on cheap-rate electricity, but it is not getting much of a charge. Software I have on the computer shows 640W going out to the workshop, where the...

diysolarforum.com

 

[RB5Jonny]

Cheers, i will need to look at protecting the battery a bit better.

I was mainly looking at Growatt or Victron stuff to replace my current inverter, i have read they both offer night time charging.

Writing scripts is beyond me.

 

[SeaGal]

Solis has night time charging, but only with access to the screen.

Guide here...

Solis Hybrid Inverter: charging from the grid

How to configure your Solis Hybrid Inverter to charge from the grid on schedule.

blog.jonsdocs.org.uk