Hi all from Lombardy, IT

[AlainDp]

Hello everyone, guys,
I just joined this wonderful forum as I'm a solar enthusiast too and I'd like to keep learning from your experience and maybe to share my little own.

I'm from Italy and I apologize in advance if my english will not be perfect.

Actually I have a 5.25kWp (21x 250W polycristalline panels) self-built photovoltaic system with a cheap PIP-5048MS inverter and an 8 years old 48V 500Ah Forklift lead acid battery to which I recently added a DIY EVE 280 LiFePo4 bank with JK BMS and balancer.

I choose to monitor PV system and my still pretty sketchy home automation through a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with solpiplog, emoncms and home assistant.

See you ;-)

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Welcome!
Your English is so much better than our ability to speak Italian.

 

[rodrick]

His English is better than mine and I’m a 60+ year old native

my question is how are you running a fla battery and Lifepo4 parallel or separate systems given the charging profiles being different and other possible safety issues

 

[AlainDp]

Many thanks for welcome!

my question is how are you running a fla battery and Lifepo4 parallel or separate systems given the charging profiles being different and other possible safety issues

That is one of the main reasons that make me going around reading forums like this, looking for further solutions. ?

At the moment the two banks are barely put in parallel under the MPP PIP inverter/charger through a rotary switch with 1 , 2 and "both" positions.
Charging settings are modified to best suit LiFePo.
As my inverter is not a batteryless version, its built-in solar regulator could blow up if for any reasons (typically the LiFePo4 BMS that switch off for overvoltage) the battery is disconnected while charging, so in daytime the switch is turned to parallel while after sunset I let go the LiFePo alone to prevent FLA drawing too much energy from them.

However, having to manually switch every time, could become very annoying and even if this will be a temporary setup (FLA are old and I'll not replace them when they'll be worn), I'd be pleased to find out a more convenient way to manage this assembly.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

The best way to manage the assembly , IMHO, would be to give the FLAs away to charity and just use the LFPs.
Da' retta allo zio ;·)

And BTW, Location: Italy is not very helpful. Big difference in latitude and insolation between Bolzano and Palermo... Lombardy in particular is pretty bad, but I mean for further posts really.
.

 

[houseofancients]

Hello everyone, guys,
I just joined this wonderful forum as I'm a solar enthusiast too and I'd like to keep learning from your experience and maybe to share my little own.

I'm from Italy and I apologize in advance if my english will not be perfect.

Actually I have a 5.25kWp (21x 250W polycristalline panels) self-built photovoltaic system with a cheap PIP-5048MS inverter and an 8 years old 48V 500Ah Forklift lead acid battery to which I recently added a DIY EVE 280 LiFePo4 bank with JK BMS and balancer.

I choose to monitor PV system and my still pretty sketchy home automation through a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with solpiplog, emoncms and home assistant.

See you ;-)

welcome !

 

[AlainDp]

The best way to manage the assembly , IMHO, would be to give the FLAs away to charity and just use the LFPs.
Da' retta allo zio ;·)

You are certainly right, zio! ... maybe I follow your suggestion ... sooner or later!
PS: I live right in Lombardy, damp and foggy plain! ?

 

[Don B. Cilly]

I was born there. Luckily I didn't live there long, but I know the place.
But honestly, unless you charge (and discharge, really) them separately it's not really a good thing to have both.
Better do it sooner than later. Try. Put the FLAs "on hold". Leave them on trickle charge or something. Just use the LFPs. See the difference.
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