So I thought I'd embark on the journey of a first battery build out of pure boredom.
I ended up piecing together the following parts list - all prices are in AUD:
I did a good amount of research and was a little dubious about buying "A grade cells" from AliExpress, what I resolved to was that these cells did not need to be able to output 200+ amps for my use case, around 100-120a absolute peak would be pushing the limits of the inverter in any case. In terms of capacity effectively anything in the high 290ah range was enough for me to have a 15kwh nominal pack and thats about where I wanted to be. So far I haven't had time to capacity test all the cells, however the ones I have tested have returned a result of ~300ah. Yes it's short of the 320ah claim by the AliExpress seller, but for $1638 (delivered) vs $2500+ for EVE LF304 or MB30 cells it makes me question if $900 more is really worth it for getting genuine grade 'A' aka HSEV grade cells that are only being used for energy storage... Yes HSEV cells will probably last a little longer and have a little less voltage droop under load, but even if these cells only last 2/3rd's the life of genuine EVE cells then I'm up financially.
Here's one of the capacity tests - I also validated the capacity testor with a multimeter/CT clamp and it should be <1% deviation.
For those looking at buying cells off AliExpress, my advice is make sure you do your research, a lot of research... Even then there are risks, buy with a credit card and or PayPal so at least you have some protection if what you get is not as advertised. If you want a guarantee you're buying good cells with warranty, consider buying direct from Globelpower.com as most cells there have a 3-5 year warranty and are fairly priced. Also ensure you have a way of capacity testing your batteries once you receive them to ensure you don't get burnt. In my case the cells QR code scans as a 280ah REPT/Battero Tech cell, but capacity wise they seem to come back as ~300ah in reality. My guess is VariCore are buying cell manufacturers grade A rejects and they are in fact B grade cells which Varicore then re-brand as their own - but like I said, they should be fine for energy storage.
But anyway, onwards to the setup. I bought a case named XR-07 (again off AliExpress - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100....order_list.order_list_main.64.7f231802KFV07V ) and the quality seems pretty good. I mainly chose this as it was one of the few cases that supported the new JK inverter BMS which was my weapon of choice after watching heaps of OffGridGarage videos on YouTube (a great resource if you don't know where to start).
On to the inverter! The Deye SUN-8K-SG05LP1-AU - I chose this as it was one of few 48v hybrid inverters capable of connecting to a range of batteries and BMS's allowing me a great deal of flexibility. I tried to source one direct from china to save some money, however there were no resellers that looked legitimate, so I reached out to Deye directly and they were happy to put me in touch with the Australian wholesale distributor for Deye. So retail on the SUN-8K-SG05LP1-AU is about $4000 AUD and I managed to score one for $2650, delivered inc tax. Was relatively easy to setup and to my pleasant surprise since buying the JK Inverter BMS they have since released an update that allows native CAN connection to Deye inverters. So it was as simple as choosing the Deye protocol for CAN in the JK BMS and plugging in an ethernet cable to the inverter. All of the BMS data was able to be read straight away and the Deye was able to set its charge and current draw limits dynamically based on the the JK BMS settings.
So after an initial test charge for 15 minutes or so I'm allowing the BMS to ballance the cells a little over the next couple of days before I do a top balance and then a full capacity test. As per a lot of advice I've seen I'll adjust the balance start voltage after cells have had some time to balance themselves out. Also note the % is incorrect until such time as I hit the 100% SOC voltage which I've set ~3.55v.
I ended up piecing together the following parts list - all prices are in AUD:
| 16 x 320ah VariCore LiFePO4 Cells (AliExpress) | $1638.00 |
| Case | $459.65 |
| JK Inverter BMS 200A | $211.14 |
| BMS Screen | $67.29 |
| Heat Shrink | $6.35 |
| Ring Terminals | $20.42 |
| 32a RCBO AC | $23.49 |
| 200a DC RCBO | $44.62 |
| Junction Box | $18.69 |
| Crimping Tool | $37.97 |
| Deye 8kw 48v Hybrid Inverter | $2650.00 (scored this at wholesale price) |
I did a good amount of research and was a little dubious about buying "A grade cells" from AliExpress, what I resolved to was that these cells did not need to be able to output 200+ amps for my use case, around 100-120a absolute peak would be pushing the limits of the inverter in any case. In terms of capacity effectively anything in the high 290ah range was enough for me to have a 15kwh nominal pack and thats about where I wanted to be. So far I haven't had time to capacity test all the cells, however the ones I have tested have returned a result of ~300ah. Yes it's short of the 320ah claim by the AliExpress seller, but for $1638 (delivered) vs $2500+ for EVE LF304 or MB30 cells it makes me question if $900 more is really worth it for getting genuine grade 'A' aka HSEV grade cells that are only being used for energy storage... Yes HSEV cells will probably last a little longer and have a little less voltage droop under load, but even if these cells only last 2/3rd's the life of genuine EVE cells then I'm up financially.
Here's one of the capacity tests - I also validated the capacity testor with a multimeter/CT clamp and it should be <1% deviation.
For those looking at buying cells off AliExpress, my advice is make sure you do your research, a lot of research... Even then there are risks, buy with a credit card and or PayPal so at least you have some protection if what you get is not as advertised. If you want a guarantee you're buying good cells with warranty, consider buying direct from Globelpower.com as most cells there have a 3-5 year warranty and are fairly priced. Also ensure you have a way of capacity testing your batteries once you receive them to ensure you don't get burnt. In my case the cells QR code scans as a 280ah REPT/Battero Tech cell, but capacity wise they seem to come back as ~300ah in reality. My guess is VariCore are buying cell manufacturers grade A rejects and they are in fact B grade cells which Varicore then re-brand as their own - but like I said, they should be fine for energy storage.
But anyway, onwards to the setup. I bought a case named XR-07 (again off AliExpress - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100....order_list.order_list_main.64.7f231802KFV07V ) and the quality seems pretty good. I mainly chose this as it was one of the few cases that supported the new JK inverter BMS which was my weapon of choice after watching heaps of OffGridGarage videos on YouTube (a great resource if you don't know where to start).
On to the inverter! The Deye SUN-8K-SG05LP1-AU - I chose this as it was one of few 48v hybrid inverters capable of connecting to a range of batteries and BMS's allowing me a great deal of flexibility. I tried to source one direct from china to save some money, however there were no resellers that looked legitimate, so I reached out to Deye directly and they were happy to put me in touch with the Australian wholesale distributor for Deye. So retail on the SUN-8K-SG05LP1-AU is about $4000 AUD and I managed to score one for $2650, delivered inc tax. Was relatively easy to setup and to my pleasant surprise since buying the JK Inverter BMS they have since released an update that allows native CAN connection to Deye inverters. So it was as simple as choosing the Deye protocol for CAN in the JK BMS and plugging in an ethernet cable to the inverter. All of the BMS data was able to be read straight away and the Deye was able to set its charge and current draw limits dynamically based on the the JK BMS settings.
So after an initial test charge for 15 minutes or so I'm allowing the BMS to ballance the cells a little over the next couple of days before I do a top balance and then a full capacity test. As per a lot of advice I've seen I'll adjust the balance start voltage after cells have had some time to balance themselves out. Also note the % is incorrect until such time as I hit the 100% SOC voltage which I've set ~3.55v.
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