Did It!! I ordered my Trophy Batteries :)

[AHTrimble]

As promised I am posting about my experience with Trophy Battery.
As I mentioned before, I researched a lot of battery options...watched Will's videos and other also. I looked at everything I could find about the company and their batteries. I like what I saw, more than any other battery or battery provider.
I talked with a neighbor/friend who is also a DIY solar guy to get his opinion and he thought the batteries were awesome. He wanted to order as well after we had talked. And a close friend and his wife are kinda stuck in their DIY solar journey. They wanted batteries as well to keep them moving forward.
At Trophy I spoke with Dan the owner multiple times before placing the order. He was great and easy to work with and answered all my questions.
I collected the money from the other two folks and placed the order. We did it together to save on shipping.
Placing the order with Trophy was not without a minor issue. Their website locked my account and the cart would not function. Turned out to be a blessing...placed the order directly with Dan and was pleased.
The batteries shipped the next day and are due for delivery in less than a week...1 week after the order was placed. They are coming FedEx freight to a friend's business to help save money. It saves money to have them delivered to a business vs a residence.
I received multiple emails from Trophy keeping me advised of the order/shipping process.
So far I am thrilled!
I will keep you advised.

 

[629658]

Our Trophy batteries have functioned perfectly. We are very pleased with everything. Shipping was super fast.

 

[NEpowerandlight]

I agree Dan was a pleasure to deal with. When I compared them to EG4 batteries using watt hours and cost they came out around the same price. The higher quality cells in the Trophy batteries was the determining factor.

The fact that I can stack them vertically against the wall and have them only occupy a 10" x 19" piece of floor is huge for me since space is limited.

The new 300AH batteries look like a great value. 2 batteries = 30k watt hours for $9,390 vs. $1k (sale price) - $2k (regular price) more for the EG4 equivalent. Stacked vertically they take up less space than the EG4 battery server rack.

 

[AHTrimble]

I agree Dan was a pleasure to deal with. When I compared them to EG4 batteries using watt hours and cost they came out around the same price. The higher quality cells in the Trophy batteries was the determining factor.

The fact that I can stack them vertically against the wall and have them only occupy a 10" x 19" piece of floor is huge for me since space is limited.

The new 300AH batteries look like a great value. 2 batteries = 30k watt hours for $9,390 vs. $1k (sale price) - $2k (regular price) more for the EG4 equivalent. Stacked vertically they take up less space than the EG4 battery server rack.

The quality of the cells is great, the overall build seems to be better than most batteries. The HD DC circuit breaker in the 220 & 330 models is a huge plus!
I looked at the 330Ah batteries but the 220Ah matched more closely with the 2 x 205Ah Elite batteries I already had.
And the 330's are mad heavy but a great value as well in my opinion.
And the 220Ah rating doesn't include the last 5% of SOC.

And of course there are the built-in heaters. I should never need them unless...
Oh, and the automatic pre-charge of inverter capacitors to prevent damage...like Will is always talking about. This will become my #1 (out of 3) batteries in the start-up sequence.

FWIW...the FedEx Tracking has been fantastic. It has kept me in the loop for planning, especially with my neighbor-friends and when to get them to pick up theirs.

 

[NEpowerandlight]

FWIW...the FedEx Tracking has been fantastic. It has kept me in the loop for planning, especially with my neighbor-friends and when to get them to pick up theirs.

Fed Ex managed to deliver them on time an unscathed. The local dispatcher called me the day before delivery and gave me a 3 hour delivery window which was helpful.

The crates are very strong and the batteries have thick foam on all sides. Seems like they are made to take a few forklift dings without damaging the battery.

 

[AHTrimble]

FedEx delivered them a day ahead of time, and during a snow storm.
Crates appear to be undamaged, I will open them tomorrow.

 

[AHTrimble]

Here is a pretty cool update...A good friend of mine owns a large solar sales and installation company here in Arizona. He had never heard of Trophy Batteries before and was interested in them based on our conversation the other day. Tomorrow I take one of the 220's over to his shop and will go through it with him. And yes, I will post the outcome of that inspection.

 

[629658]

Here is a pretty cool update...A good friend of mine owns a large solar sales and installation company here in Arizona. He had never heard of Trophy Batteries before and was interested in them based on our conversation the other day. Tomorrow I take one of the 220's over to his shop and will go through it with him. And yes, I will post the outcome of that inspection.

Eat your Wheaties!! Those babies are heavy.

 

[AHTrimble]

Eat your Wheaties!! Those babies are heavy.

Batteries came in and look good so far.
DagGum!!! 3x110Ah + 2x220Ah...sore all over today. I took pictures and will do an update in the next day or two.

 

[NEpowerandlight]

Batteries came in and look good so far.
DagGum!!! 3x110Ah + 2x220Ah...sore all over today. I took pictures and will do an update in the next day or two.

I used a hand truck to get mine from the crate in to the house.

They will end up stacked vertically, so one of them has to be lifted about 3' off the floor to get it on the rack.

 

[Tony S]

Watching Will's battery comparison video; I like what I heard about the Trophy Batteries and them having a builtin heater is a big plus for me.
I'm planning to use a shipping container, in our Ontario Canada cold winters, to house all my equipment, including the batteries.

 

[mvonw]

I finally got solar assistant working with my Trophys, so now I can do proper remote monitoring. The thing to rememberer about the heaters is that in winter, if it’s really cold, it can take awhile to get them to charging temp, at which point the sun has sunken away. i have my 6 batteries in an insulated closet hooked up to InkBird and a 200 watt heater to keep them at a nice 50F.

 

[Tony S]

I finally got solar assistant working with my Trophys, so now I can do proper remote monitoring. The thing to rememberer about the heaters is that in winter, if it’s really cold, it can take awhile to get them to charging temp, at which point the sun has sunken away. i have my 6 batteries in an insulated closet hooked up to InkBird and a 200 watt heater to keep them at a nice 50F.

Thanks. I plan on having a heating system and a heater exchanger in my shipping container.

 

[Johneb]

How are they working? I have seen in other threads problems with balancing.

 

[mvonw]

How are they working? I have seen in other threads problems with balancing.

Mine work perfectly except for comms, but that's more of a convince, rather than a critical feature. I just got more capacity than I need, so I never get below 30%

 

[629658]

My Trophies came balanced and remain balanced for 3 mos now

 

[629658]

Mine work perfectly except for comms, but that's more of a convince, rather than a critical feature. I just got more capacity than I need, so I never get below 30%

My advice on the comms use the cord that came with your batteries and the Trophy battery software. Get your comms worked out using their software. Once you have them communicating then use Solar Assistant or your inverter. I would probably start off getting one single battery communicating and repeat.

 

[robby]

The video Will did was pretty impressive. The price point it really good considering the Heaters and LCD display.

 

[AHTrimble]

The video Will did was pretty impressive. The price point it really good considering the Heaters and LCD display.

More pics and video to come...once I get a bit more time. I have 3 systems I am working on, 2 are major fixes from terrible first installers, plus my own major upgrade!!!
So stay tuned

 

[Koldsimer]

The video Will did was pretty impressive. The price point it really good considering the Heaters and LCD display.

The packaging in a wooden crate is also really cool.

I was also really happy to see the owner step up and seem to take care of those that were having issues. BIG plus!

I just can't get over the design. I hate to admit i care about the aesthetics of something that will rarely be seen, but the basic, no frills look has a generic import blandness i can't get over. Like Will said, get some decent stickers and slap 'em on there or something! Maybe a rattle can of bright yellow paint and stencil a damn lightning bolt on the side.... something!