Growatt SPH 10000TL3 BH-UP and HV batteries

[640Poststreet]

I have a solar setup with a Growatt SPH 10000TL3 BH-UP Hybrid Inverter and 3 x 2,56 = 7,68 kWh ARK HV batteries, and I am planning to expand the battery capacity, initially to around 25 kWh. I am looking for a DIY solution, as these ARK HV batteries are fairly pricy.

In that connection I have some questions that I hope that some of you can help with answering:

1) It is said by Growatt and the vendor that only Growatt HV batteries do work with this inverter, due to the Growatt proprietary CAN protocol. To your knowledge, is it possible to buy BMS PCBs which have that protocol built in (so that I can build these packs of 16s 50ah blocks myself)? Or is it possible to code a BMS with that protocol?

2) Can someone explain what kind of communication that flows from the single 2,56 kWh battery packs to "upper controlling pack" in the stack, and further to the inverter? It is just to get a sense of the overall functionality and communication flow/directions.

3) Is it possible to make your own Growatt compatible 2,56 kWh HV block, alternatively somehow trigger the system to accept additional 2,56 kWh no name battery blocks?

4) Would it be possible to add a no name 3x16S LiFePO4 in parallel, either directly on the inverter or on the "upper controlling pack", ensuring that the two stacks have identical SOC? Would that work, apart from that the charging time will be extended?

Regards,
Jens

 

[Shalom Bloch]

Hello Jens, I have the same question. If something works out, please write to me, it is very important.

 

[VanDersie]

Hello Jens,

According to your statement, you were using 3pcs ARK HV batteries, and they might still have an HV controller (RCU), the combination was 3 parallels and 153.6VDC, if you wanna expand the battery capacity, I suggest you have better buy 7 more ARK HV batteries and up to 10 parallels.

There is a primary problem for your ESS control: the protocols and communication standards between battery modules and HV controller (BMU--RCU), not battery modules and inverter.

Or you can build another ESS, other HV controllers and BMU

BR

Dersie

 

[RogerH]

Hi Jens,
Sorry for the late reply, I just joined this forum a couple of days ago.
I have the same Growatt SPH10000TL3 BH-UP and a homebuilt battery consisting of 100 LiFePO4 cells 105 Ah. in series. As the manufactured HV batteries such as ARK..etc.. were beyond my budget, I decided to build my own.
The 100 battery cells I imported directly from China, the BMS I purchased from a company in Lithuania called EMUS and other bits and pieces were purchased locally. This setup provides about 30 kWh useable power. Voltage ranges from 288V ~ 358V
In the Growatt, the battery is configured as "Lead-Acid" so no need fighting the proprietary CAN protocols. The battery is not what they nowadays call "Smart" but it performs very well and is doing what it needs to do. The BMS for the battery is mainly used in Electric vehicles and is very flexible in setup, has excellent protection and warning settings.
The battery setup at the Growatt is pretty easy ( once you understand the Chinese-English after reading it for the 10th time). It requires the number of 12V lead-acid batteries ( in my case 24 pcs) , the low voltage of 1 battery ( in my case 12V) , the fully charged voltage of 1 battery (in my case (14,9V) and the max charge/discharge current ( in my case, the batteries can handle 50A (0,5C) but I limited to the MAX current of the Growatt which is 25A). These settings give following battery pack voltages:
24 X 12V = 288 V . The lowest voltage of one LiFePO4 cell is then 288/100 = 2.88V (absolute min is 2,5V)
24 X 14,9V = 357V. The highest voltage of one LiFePO4 cell is then 357/100 = 3,57V (absolute max is 3,65V)
The max charge/discharge current of the battery is only 0,25C and limited by the Growatt SPH to 25A.
As you can see, there are sufficient safety margins included.

As for your questions regarding CAN/RS432 communications I cannot answer but I'm wondering if you still have a decent return of investment if you go with several more purchased expensive batteries. In my opinion you should base your decision to purchase more batteries on your daily power consumption. In my case we consume about 15 kWh per day (24 hours). Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending how extensive the wife is cooking
If you need more information just email me as I'm watching this forum only occasionally. My email is rhoeven@pobox.com.
Best regards, Roger

 

[Slcharger]

Hi Jens,
Sorry for the late reply, I just joined this forum a couple of days ago.
I have the same Growatt SPH10000TL3 BH-UP and a homebuilt battery consisting of 100 LiFePO4 cells 105 Ah. in series. As the manufactured HV batteries such as ARK..etc.. were beyond my budget, I decided to build my own.
The 100 battery cells I imported directly from China, the BMS I purchased from a company in Lithuania called EMUS and other bits and pieces were purchased locally. This setup provides about 30 kWh useable power. Voltage ranges from 288V ~ 358V
In the Growatt, the battery is configured as "Lead-Acid" so no need fighting the proprietary CAN protocols. The battery is not what they nowadays call "Smart" but it performs very well and is doing what it needs to do. The BMS for the battery is mainly used in Electric vehicles and is very flexible in setup, has excellent protection and warning settings.
The battery setup at the Growatt is pretty easy ( once you understand the Chinese-English after reading it for the 10th time). It requires the number of 12V lead-acid batteries ( in my case 24 pcs) , the low voltage of 1 battery ( in my case 12V) , the fully charged voltage of 1 battery (in my case (14,9V) and the max charge/discharge current ( in my case, the batteries can handle 50A (0,5C) but I limited to the MAX current of the Growatt which is 25A). These settings give following battery pack voltages:
24 X 12V = 288 V . The lowest voltage of one LiFePO4 cell is then 288/100 = 2.88V (absolute min is 2,5V)
24 X 14,9V = 357V. The highest voltage of one LiFePO4 cell is then 357/100 = 3,57V (absolute max is 3,65V)
The max charge/discharge current of the battery is only 0,25C and limited by the Growatt SPH to 25A.
As you can see, there are sufficient safety margins included.

As for your questions regarding CAN/RS432 communications I cannot answer but I'm wondering if you still have a decent return of investment if you go with several more purchased expensive batteries. In my opinion you should base your decision to purchase more batteries on your daily power consumption. In my case we consume about 15 kWh per day (24 hours). Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending how extensive the wife is cooking
If you need more information just email me as I'm watching this forum only occasionally. My email is rhoeven@pobox.com.
Best regards, Roger

Hi Roger
You should by now have gained some long term experience with your setup. If you don't mind I have a few questions.
1. How did you configure your hardware setup from EMUS ? I have studied their website and apparently there are several options.
2. Besides equalizing the batteries ( is the EMUS sufficient, can it keep up ) has it ever triggered, because the Growatt failed to keep things within limits ( Charging / Discharging ) ?
3. Do you have any further experience with your setup that you want to add ?
Thanks in advance
Regards
Kim