KiloVault Battery, is it good?

[crucian]

I haven't seen Will do a review on this. I'm still learning solar and figuring out my power needs.

Yes, I've been told to do my work and I'm doing so but was looking at the type of batteries and I know lithium is costly but leaning more towards it. Is it best to build your own LiFePO4 battery bank or is something like this worth the money?

I saw this video on YouTube and some comments even ask that they send Will a unit to test but from looking at the specs seen here, is this a good battery? https://www.altestore.com/store/dee...-75kwh-lithium-battery-storage-system-p41420/

Here's a link to the video-

 

[MisterSandals]

That is the @SolarQueen and she frequents this forum.

Maybe she will comment on whether this works with your system:

Just bought this and need suggestions

Ok so I listened and got this to start off running my refrigerator and a couple of fans or fan and tv but wanted to know what wattage solar panels and how many plus what type of battery is best that doesn't break the bank and how many batteries and panels I need to run this to it's full...

diysolarforum.com

 

[SolarQueen]

Hi there! Yup, that's me. KiloVault is a separate company from altE, but very closely related for now. We/they are expanding the distribution chain these days. I've been talking to Will about sending him one of the smaller 12V KiloVault batteries to review, but silly logistics have gotten in the way. Unfortunately, our small marketing budget doesn't have enough to send him one of the KiloVaults HABs. Obviously, I like the product, so take what I say knowing I may be biased. (I will say I pride myself in being very honest about my opinions).

If you are looking to save money, building your own is the way to go. Will has fantastic resources for doing that. If you are looking for a reliable, responsibly backed pre-built unit that is cost competitive with similar products, the HAB is certainly worth taking a look at. Every unit is tested before leaving the warehouse, and we have received excellent feedback from our customers who have been using them for over a year now.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the KiloVault HAB, happy to answer them.

 

[tweaked911]

Hi @SolarQueen,
Can you tell us what the batteries in the Kilovault Hab are? Are they easily replaceable if they fail in the future?
Thank you

 

[svetz]

Sweet! Huge surge capability. If only I could find an inverter that would work with it for my existing system (e.g., Incrementally Adding AC Batteries)

 

[cinergi]

Hi @SolarQueen,
Can you tell us what the batteries in the Kilovault Hab are? Are they easily replaceable if they fail in the future?
Thank you

This might be of interest: https://alte-january-2021-virtual-solar-conference.heysummit.com/talks/kilovault/?ah=UHeYDYIz

They're LiFePO4 prismatic cells. I doubt they're user-serviceable (think: warranty).

 

[CarlN]

Hi there! Yup, that's me. KiloVault is a separate company from altE, but very closely related for now. We/they are expanding the distribution chain these days. I've been talking to Will about sending him one of the smaller 12V KiloVault batteries to review, but silly logistics have gotten in the way. Unfortunately, our small marketing budget doesn't have enough to send him one of the KiloVaults HABs. Obviously, I like the product, so take what I say knowing I may be biased. (I will say I pride myself in being very honest about my opinions).

If you are looking to save money, building your own is the way to go. Will has fantastic resources for doing that. If you are looking for a reliable, responsibly backed pre-built unit that is cost competitive with similar products, the HAB is certainly worth taking a look at. Every unit is tested before leaving the warehouse, and we have received excellent feedback from our customers who have been using them for over a year now.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the KiloVault HAB, happy to answer them.

I was impressed by Will's review on the KiloVault 1800 watt battery. I only recently became aware of Kilovault and am impressed since you appear to have a major established company like Alt-E backing you up. I'm interested in putting a 4 battery bank of your 3000 watt Kilovault into my sailboat (e.g. 4 batteries). The local boatyard installs ReLions which appear almost exactly the same as the Kilovault (size, warranty) except the Kilovault has the mobile app, a much higher charge rate, and costs almost 50% less. Are there difference between KiloVault and Relion that I'm missing that would make Kilovault not as good as Relion for a boat application? (I realize you can't really give a sales pitch here - just looking for technical differences). Or any other opinions here about KiloVault vs Relion?

 

[SolarQueen]

I was impressed by Will's review on the KiloVault 1800 watt battery. I only recently became aware of Kilovault and am impressed since you appear to have a major established company like Alt-E backing you up. I'm interested in putting a 4 battery bank of your 3000 watt Kilovault into my sailboat (e.g. 4 batteries). The local boatyard installs ReLions which appear almost exactly the same as the Kilovault (size, warranty) except the Kilovault has the mobile app, a much higher charge rate, and costs almost 50% less. Are there difference between KiloVault and Relion that I'm missing that would make Kilovault not as good as Relion for a boat application? (I realize you can't really give a sales pitch here - just looking for technical differences). Or any other opinions here about KiloVault vs Relion?

I know very well respected distributor who was only offering Relions, he didn't feel any other brand met his strict quality criteria. He is now also carrying the KiloVault after extensive testing. The Relions are a tank, they are a great quality product, but KiloVault when combined with its quality, features, and price is tough to beat (in my slightly biased opinion).

 

[CarlN]

I know very well respected distributor who was only offering Relions, he didn't feel any other brand met his strict quality criteria. He is now also carrying the KiloVault after extensive testing. The Relions are a tank, they are a great quality product, but KiloVault when combined with its quality, features, and price is tough to beat (in my slightly biased opinion).

Thanks. It's great to hear that vote of confidence. The one area that both Relion and Kilovault now trail some of the competition is the warranty. Both only offer a 3 year replacement/repair warranty ( the pro-rata period isn't worth much). A few years ago 3 years was great but with more and more folks like Battleborn now offering 8 or 10 year it makes me look more carefully at them. Even upping the KiloVault warranty to 5 years would make it more competitive.

 

[SolarQueen]

Thanks. It's great to hear that vote of confidence. The one area that both Relion and Kilovault now trail some of the competition is the warranty. Both only offer a 3 year replacement/repair warranty ( the pro-rata period isn't worth much). A few years ago 3 years was great but with more and more folks like Battleborn now offering 8 or 10 year it makes me look more carefully at them. Even upping the KiloVault warranty to 5 years would make it more competitive.

We did increase the warranties to 7.5 years to 10 years, depending on use and product.

 

[woodyalaska]

Probably advise against Kilovault at this present time imo. I have two 12v 300ah kilovault HLX+ on a 24V Magnum inverter. Both batteries were purchased last year (October 'ish 2020). Did all the require items before installation, made sure both were charged, both had the same SOC and voltage.

After installation, every day without fail the inverter would cut off, It would be like someone flipped the DC breaker. This would happen randomly, no high loads basically a light on and charging my laptop. Spoke to the dealer who I got the batteries from and we went over everything on my inverter, the charge voltages, input amps, you name it we did it.

Recently reached out to AltE for support as my dealer was out of ideas. They asked for EVERYTHING again. Screenshots of the app showing the battery status, cell voltage page, pics of my setup with the batteries ,cables etc. AltE said they believed the batteries were not balanced (even though the app screenshots show the batteries at the same SOC, VOLTAGE) and was advised I needed a balancer. Wasn't really happy with the answer but just bought one to eliminate everything. Got it, installed it and to my surprise the same result.

I have been through swapping out cables, tried a different inverter, basically everything with the same result. Where my rant and issue with Kilovault/AltE is..... the warranty. AltE are current looking into this since Jan 6 2022.. the last response from Louis at AltE is "I'm truly sorry, at this time I'm still working/arguing with the engineers about this". Personally I believe one of the BMS is faulty and I'm here off grid with power dropping everyday. My neighbor has pretty much the same setup, though its 48v using the Simpliphi. Wish I went that route, now I'm back on my lead acids as I can't rely on having power drop randomly,

I may have been unlucky and just got a bad battery, however if you want to get the right support I don't believe AltE will be there for you when you need it

 

[billynoah]

@SolarQueen - I have two Kilovault HABs that always show a different SOC despite having identical voltage. The difference is between 5 and 8%. Is that normal with these? I called for tech support and was told to ignore the SOC and that it's just an estimate.

 

[Bluedog225]

Sorry to hear this. These companies (Alt E and Signature Solar) are good at sales…..

edit-To be fair. Sig is working on it.

 

[billynoah]

Sorry to hear this. These companies (Alt E and Signature Solar) are good at sales…..

edit-To be fair. Sig is working on it.

Are you saying the SOC indicator should be more accurate and consistent than what they are saying is acceptable? As I'm new to this tech, I'm finding it difficult to argue with the manufacturer when they are stating this behaviour is normal. More information about what's reasonable to expect here would be helpful.

 

[Bossrox]

I haven't seen Will do a review on this. I'm still learning solar and figuring out my power needs.

Yes, I've been told to do my work and I'm doing so but was looking at the type of batteries and I know lithium is costly but leaning more towards it. Is it best to build your own LiFePO4 battery bank or is something like this worth the money?

I saw this video on YouTube and some comments even ask that they send Will a unit to test but from looking at the specs seen here, is this a good battery? https://www.altestore.com/store/dee...-75kwh-lithium-battery-storage-system-p41420/

Here's a link to the video-

I wouldn't buy anything from altestore, they are scumbags! Victron uses them as gatekeepers for warranty claims & I was denied a claim by them from some guy named Louis that told me my system wasn't wired properly which was full of shit. I plan on doing a video about that soon to slam this company as liers.

 

[billynoah]

I wouldn't buy anything from altestore, they are scumbags! Victron uses them as gatekeepers for warranty claims & I was denied a claim by them from some guy named Louis that told me my system wasn't wired properly which was full of shit. I plan on doing a video about that soon to slam this company as liers.

That's very interesting - I am currently having issues and I'm talking to Louis as well and he's also telling me my batteries are not properly wired. I've asked for an explanation about what the problem is and so far haven't gotten an answer.

 

[Bossrox]

That's very interesting - I am currently having issues and I'm talking to Louis as well and he's also telling me my batteries are not properly wired. I've asked for an explanation about what the problem is and so far haven't gotten an answer.

Yeah, the moron doesn't tell you how its wired wrong, he just says that to make you go away. Well that POS is going to pay for screwing me when I stick my story up on youtube. Just so you know, I've had 3 victron chargers fail on me. Victron replaced the 1st 2 that were wired correctly but the latest failure is wired the same as the 1st 2 but somehow now, the wiring is wrong, bullshit! I've had my system running for over 2 years wired like it is now & you can't hook up chargers wrong & have a system work properly.

 

[billynoah]

I'm sorry to hear that. I have mine wired like this:



I am told that they need to have individual wires running from each battery to the inverter or a bussbar. I don't see how that's electrically any different?

 

[Bossrox]

I'm sorry to hear that. I have mine wired like this:

View attachment 83329

I am told that they need to have individual wires running from each battery to the inverter or a bussbar. I don't see how that's electrically any different?

That is the preferred way to do it but if your wire sizes are appropriate there's no difference. Technically the load will draw from the connection with least resistance so if you had a mismatch of continuity that could be an issue but the same thing could happen off a bussbar or direct connect so there's really no difference if all the parameters are correct.

 

[Stucco]

I have gotten a few things from Aliexpress, and also tried to get scammed from there. If you do order stuff make sure that each vendor is a separate paypal purchase. They like to aggregate multiple vendors under a single PO, and that makes it tough to get refunds. But I got all my money back when they tried pulling the "fake shipping company and you need to check with your post office" scam.