It seems most folks here worry about cold temp's affects on their batteries but I am in south east Florida so my concern is the affect of heat. I would like to create a space outside of the main house for my power system so I am curious how others in this type of climate have dealt with this issue?
Affects of heat on LiFePO4 batteries
- Thread starter Tuckles
- Start date
During the hot season here in Thailand, temperatures can reach 47°C during the day, the battery cell temperature will usually be 10°C lower due to overnight cooling, which represents the average temperature more or less. When the overnight temperature remains high for over a week the cells become warmer, however this rarely occurs.
Don't use the daily highs as a reference, as long as they are not in an ares subject to direct sunlight and have adequate ventilation use the average mean, because the mass of the cells takes time to absorb the heat. The primary reason I switched to LFP was because of high temperatures, with FLA the charging itself would add to the battery temperature every day, the latent heat could not dissipate due to sheer mass so temperatures could exceed ambient, making life expectancy extremely short, 1000 cycles if you're lucky.
Florida is nothing in comparison to here, sure it may get warm on occasion and higher temperatures do affect overall cycle expectancy but it' is what it is, just protect them the best you can from direct sun exposure and accept that it's unlikely they will match the claimed cycle expectancy.
LFP are very efficient, this almost eliminates self heating especially at low charging rates which makes the better suited to warmer climates.
Don't use the daily highs as a reference, as long as they are not in an ares subject to direct sunlight and have adequate ventilation use the average mean, because the mass of the cells takes time to absorb the heat. The primary reason I switched to LFP was because of high temperatures, with FLA the charging itself would add to the battery temperature every day, the latent heat could not dissipate due to sheer mass so temperatures could exceed ambient, making life expectancy extremely short, 1000 cycles if you're lucky.
Florida is nothing in comparison to here, sure it may get warm on occasion and higher temperatures do affect overall cycle expectancy but it' is what it is, just protect them the best you can from direct sun exposure and accept that it's unlikely they will match the claimed cycle expectancy.
LFP are very efficient, this almost eliminates self heating especially at low charging rates which makes the better suited to warmer climates.
One thing I can recommend (living in Phoenix) is to avoid a deep discharge. The last 40 amp hours gives me a 5 degrees C rise in temperature, the previous 230 amp hours give me a 2 degrees rise (at moderate rates, 50 to 80 amps). Avoid discharging below 3.0 to 3.1v per cell.
It won't help you, but evaporative cooling works well here.
It won't help you, but evaporative cooling works well here.
I lived in the desert for many years, every time I open my electric bill in the summer I really miss my swamp cooler!
Thanks for the reply and the info!
