I am thinking about purchasing one Battle Born 100ah battery for small portable setup - High heat

[cwoods400]

I am seriously considering supplementing my portable solar system. I want a few days of additional autonomy, and so based on my relatively low watt hour requirements (anywhere from 150-200 watts for 3 hours per day) I am calculating that I will need roughly 1100 watt hours or so to feel more comfortable. I would like about two days of total autonomy. I live in South Florida, and I have about 800 watts of total portable solar panels at my disposal, but I will likely only be using half of that.

I am also utilizing an already existing Midnite Solar KID 30A MPPT charge controller (the one with the huge heavy-duty heat sink on it).

In light of these requirements and equipment, how should I configure the charge controller? Obviously, NO to equalization. Also NO to temperature compensation. But what about low temp. cut-off? I mean, I live in Southern Florida, so I doubt it will ever be an issue. Also, what about absorption voltage? Should I set it to 14.4 or 14.6? Float should probably hover at 13.6 (I'm assuming).

Also, the battery and charge controller may be periodically exposed to direct sunlight for a few hours at a time. Is that a big problem for lifepo4?

Any thoughts or concerns are great appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Diysolar123]

lifepo4 batteries have a temperature range they "like".
no freezing, and...less than 113F during charging and about 140F when discharging; but those are the limits(which you would normally not want to get to close to).

I would hope you could at least provide that poor battery some ventilated shade hehe

as to the voltage, you can read from many threads there really is very little capacity gains going from 13.2 to 14.4;
13.2 / 4 cells is just 3.3v per cell. The discussion on charge level and cell life is somewhat religious, soooo...

as this is a prepackaged battleborn battery, you really should just follow battleborns guidance rather thus forum quacks (which includes me hehe)

The Basics of Charging LiFePO4 Batteries

Click here to read all about charging your LiFePO4 batteries and the recommended charging parameters from Battle Born Batteries!

battlebornbatteries.com

 

[cwoods400]

Many thanks for the charging info. I will definitely read over these instructions. I think maybe for my little setup, a Battle Born might even be a little overkill. However, from what I've read, Battle Born batteries are really "the best there is" when it comes to a pre-packaged, reliable solution. They just work. Period. And, that's what I'm looking for. No hassles.