Hot climate vs lithium battery

[Zaydoon]

Hi there,
I am living in a hot climate area, temperature can reach 50 `C majority of summer and I want to keep my battery banks out of house ( in a shade). How can I keep them at optimum temp, I am so disperate and thinking of using an old refrigerator to cool them. Is this a possibility.

 

[WYtreasure]

Hi Zaydoon,
Can you dig a hole where things stay a bit cooler? Old refers & freezers make great battery cabinets for some folks. The plastic interior & other combustible parts are not the greatest neighbors for batteries though.
Could geothermal (cooler air) be circulated around your batteries? It would be less energy than any type of cooler.

 

[Zaydoon]

I have no space to dig for geothermal, I planned to put the whole battery bank on roof with sandwich panel shade.

 

[WYtreasure]

You may end up posting in the "Up In Smoke" forum if you do that without a dedicated cooler.
Do you have lots & lots of panels to run an A/C unit on your batteries?

 

[Zaydoon]

I can manage 12 x 435 watt longi solar panel and there is a plenty of sun light in my area

 

[mrzed001]

I have no space to dig for geothermal, I planned to put the whole battery bank on roof with sandwich panel shade.

Here is the diagram how fast the hot kills LiFePO4 batteries:



On 60 Celsius, 5 months, 26% capacity loss.
Your battery would be toast in 6 months.

It needs a 10-30 Celsius environment !

 

[Zaydoon]

Or the lifepo4 battery will kill me.So can I use an old refregerator for two 48 v packs 100 amp each?

 

[Bobert]

Years ago I had a cooler that used a module something like this. https://www.amazon.com/Thermoelectr...tion-Semiconductor-Conditioner/dp/B079QWMCW3/

It was no powerhouse but might work to keep a well insulated compartment cool enough for optimal battery life.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

I want to keep my battery banks out of house

May I ask why? Because it's unlikely it will get to 50°C inside the house, isn't it.
-

 

[Zaydoon]

I have kids, and the accumulative temp from battery , inverters and ambient is so close to be dangerous.

 

[mrzed001]

I have kids, and the accumulative temp from battery , inverters and ambient is so close to be dangerous.

Do you have an Air Conditioner in the house? An inverter AC is the best for this purpose.
You can run it by day directly from solar inverter. The inverter will charge the battery at the same time.
And at night if needed use AC from battery.
And everyone in the house is happy and cool: you, your family, your inverter and battery
Many use it like this in Nigeria.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

Well, I keep the (LFP) batteries inside. They never get hot - but then I don't draw large amounts of power for long periods.
I keep the inverter outside - it's noisy.
Considering the price of batteries, maybe having them inside is not such a bad idea...
-

 

[Zaydoon]

Thanks to all I will try the hybrid solar air conditioner and see.

 

[curiouscarbon]

hi,

50C will certainly cause accelerated aging of the cells (less storage capacity as time)

to endure intensely hot environment with battery, i have considered using a small fridge with a container of water inside. pump the water from the fridge through two drilled holes, into a metal plate beneath the battery bank, and insulate the battery bank.

the insulation ensures little heat of environment reaches battery bank

fridge and pump loop ensures heat is removed from battery

if this approach sounds interesting i'm happy to write more about it.

wishing you good luck with this solar project, surely there are many multiple ways to reach the goal ?