Best Battery for sustainability and growth

[hagensieker]

I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. I had enough left over parts from my build and upgrade to slap another system together. I'm going the DIY battery route this time and I've run into some non-technical issues.

First and foremost the battery cells all come out of China. That's fine however I've been emailing 3 days with one place and cannot get them send me an invoice. They respond once a day with another question, I answer and then wait another day. Also I'm aware there are shipping delays out of China. I'm not well known for my patience.

I'm considering foregoing the new, small, light 3.2v 200 ah cells at the great price because of this and am considering CALB cells which I know also come from China but there seem to be multiple, in stock, US sources for them. And yeah I know they are cheaper going straight to the source but that isn't necessarily the most important thing to me.

Has anyone else worked past "the latest and greatest and cheapest" for general availability, replacement, and upgrade paths?

I do so want a tiny battery with 200 amp hours however I'm also willing to buy the larger cells with lesser capacity at the same cost if there is good, solid reliability and availability and they can be sourced for years.

What am I missing or overlooking? Any and all advice welcome.

 

[Steve_S]

Well, I have my 16, 280AH cells coming from XUBA Electronics. Amy Wan the rep is pretty good to deal with.

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[hagensieker]

Well, I have my 16, 280AH cells coming from XUBA Electronics. Amy Wan the rep is pretty good to deal with.

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Thanks. I'll look into that. After 3 days and still no invoice I'm getting kind of frustrated with who I'm dealing with.

 

[Steve_S]

I always take a lack of responsiveness and unclear responses as a warning flag myself.
Amy @ Xuba on the other hand is very responsive, even after hours & on weekends, as she also understands the massive time difference too...
Just me experience but seems others have had the same experience with her and a few are even ordering more cells after having received their first batches. BLS is apparently a good company to deal with, as is Deligreen but I haven't bought battery cells from them myself. I can easily say AVOID ShunBin Company at ALL COSTS unless you want to get phookered…

 

[hagensieker]

I always take a lack of responsiveness and unclear responses as a warning flag myself.
Amy @ Xuba on the other hand is very responsive, even after hours & on weekends, as she also understands the massive time difference too...
Just me experience but seems others have had the same experience with her and a few are even ordering more cells after having received their first batches. BLS is apparently a good company to deal with, as is Deligreen but I haven't bought battery cells from them myself. I can easily say AVOID ShunBin Company at ALL COSTS unless you want to get phookered…

Thanks. Followed your link.......I opted for the 3.2v 200 amp hour cells and purchased 4. Took like 10 minutes to get an invoice and to complete payment. The only gotcha is that they probably won't ship until March which is actually okay because I'm not in any hurry. This will be for a separate system that I have ZERO CLUE where I'm going to put it yet and have no panels either.

 

[Steve_S]

Thanks. Followed your link.......I opted for the 3.2v 200 amp hour cells and purchased 4. Took like 10 minutes to get an invoice and to complete payment. The only gotcha is that they probably won't ship until March which is actually okay because I'm not in any hurry. This will be for a separate system that I have ZERO CLUE where I'm going to put it yet and have no panels either.

The link I gave you was for 280AH cells. XUBA just shipped out a bunch to America, Australia and Malaysia today and Canada has to wait until tomorrow, the 21st.
edit: Amy just let me know, they have 800 pieces of 280AH left in stock ready for test/pack & shipping, going FAST. IF Contacting XUBA be sure to say you found them through DIYSolarForum… same with any other vendors, it helps add leverage & potential discounts in some cases.

There are some outstanding deals available for solar panels like https://www.santansolar.com/ who offer used and New Old Stock (NOS) panels are really great pricing, sadly I can't get those in Canada....

You now have plenty of time to figure out more of what you want to do and need... I usually do NOT suggest anyone buy anything without having a Plan up front. The old adage is very true: " If you fail to plan, you plan to fail".

 

[Darkstar]

Just received my pallet of 20 panels from Santansolar. $1331 delivered. .25 cents per watt. Will post pics and a report later after I unpack and test...

 

[Steve_S]

Just received my pallet of 20 panels from Santansolar. $1331 delivered. .25 cents per watt. Will post pics and a report later after I unpack and test...

Curious what the shipping charges were from their warehouse to you and if you could give us a general location for you, it may help people considering it... shipping charges can be all over the place.

 

[Darkstar]

Curious what the shipping charges were from their warehouse to you and if you could give us a general location for you, it may help people considering it... shipping charges can be all over the place.

Subtotal	$877.50
Shipping	$350.00

We are located in the northwest corner of Washington State, USA.

 

[ghostwriter66]

Subtotal	$877.50
Shipping	$350.00

We are located in the northwest corner of Washington State, USA.

and if i remember correctly that its a flat rate of 350 for shipping for 1-10 ...

 

[JoeHam]

and if i remember correctly that its a flat rate of 350 for shipping for 1-10 ...

Must be 1-20 now?

 

[Darkstar]

I bought them off ebay. They state in the ebay listing that one is supposed to add the item to the cart then send them location for a shipping quote. That is what I did and the quote was very reasonable so I pulled the trigger. The pallet weighs a bit over 1200 LBS... Arrived with no obvious damage but I have not unpacked them yet.

 

[hagensieker]

The link I gave you was for 280AH cells. XUBA just shipped out a bunch to America, Australia and Malaysia today and Canada has to wait until tomorrow, the 21st.
edit: Amy just let me know, they have 800 pieces of 280AH left in stock ready for test/pack & shipping, going FAST. IF Contacting XUBA be sure to say you found them through DIYSolarForum… same with any other vendors, it helps add leverage & potential discounts in some cases.

There are some outstanding deals available for solar panels like https://www.santansolar.com/ who offer used and New Old Stock (NOS) panels are really great pricing, sadly I can't get those in Canada....

You now have plenty of time to figure out more of what you want to do and need... I usually do NOT suggest anyone buy anything without having a Plan up front. The old adage is very true: " If you fail to plan, you plan to fail".

Worst case I'll put this battery in my camper. Currently have a Deep Cycle AGM 100 ah battery in it now. I also have another "Minimalist" system built up. I pair that battery with it, and it's all good. Where it gets deployed is another story. Might end up at the gf's house. Put it in her garage, pop an outlet into the shared wall in her entryway and with an extension cord and power strip she can have some sun power as well for emergencies.

 

[Steve_S]

Worst case I'll put this battery in my camper. Currently have a Deep Cycle AGM 100 ah battery in it now. I also have another "Minimalist" system built up. I pair that battery with it, and it's all good. Where it gets deployed is another story. Might end up at the gf's house. Put it in her garage, pop an outlet into the shared wall in her entryway and with an extension cord and power strip she can have some sun power as well for emergencies.

So, which did you order ? The Xuba 280's ? The Deligreen 200's ? the thread took a wee twist with the panels.

@Darkstar you got a pretty sweet deal there.

 

[hagensieker]

So, which did you order ? The Xuba 280's ? The Deligreen 200's ? the thread took a wee twist with the panels.

@Darkstar you got a pretty sweet deal there.

I got 4 of these. If it works out I'll grab 4 or 8 more.

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[Steve_S]

Ahhh the Deligreen Deal, a good deal, I had pondered upon that one till I got convinced with the Xuba deal. I figured that
$73.40 per 200AH cell or $84.79 for 280AH that the 280's were best bang or buck but then I am putting together 2 24V/280AH packs to go next to the existing 350AH of LFP I have now made more sense in the bigger picture for me. two packs = 160AH more using the 280's and for $11 per cell difference it couldn't be beat.

 

[hagensieker]

Ahhh the Deligreen Deal, a good deal, I had pondered upon that one till I got convinced with the Xuba deal. I figured that
$73.40 per 200AH cell or $84.79 for 280AH that the 280's were best bang or buck but then I am putting together 2 24V/280AH packs to go next to the existing 350AH of LFP I have now made more sense in the bigger picture for me. two packs = 160AH more using the 280's and for $11 per cell difference it couldn't be beat.

With busbars it was $505 shipped to North Carolina. The first promised shipping date is in early March.

 

[Steve_S]

Yes, right now everyone can expect at least 15-20 days lead time from order to shipping.
IF possible (pends on vendor) do NOT use DHL, go with UPS if you can and avoid FedEx like the plague.
DHL has gotten miserable lately and they are playing a game with trying to tack on extra fees and such....

 

[Darkstar]

and if i remember correctly that its a flat rate of 350 for shipping for 1-10 ...

First one tests ok. Need to find a spot for them until I get a rack built...
Happy with Santan Solar so far!

 

[emeraldcoastcamper]

Ahhh the Deligreen Deal, a good deal, I had pondered upon that one till I got convinced with the Xuba deal. I figured that
$73.40 per 200AH cell or $84.79 for 280AH that the 280's were best bang or buck but then I am putting together 2 24V/280AH packs to go next to the existing 350AH of LFP I have now made more sense in the bigger picture for me. two packs = 160AH more using the 280's and for $11 per cell difference it couldn't be beat.

Have you received your cells. My CATL 3.2 cells arrived at 2.83 volts per cell.