Setting up 4kw homestead solar

[Rocketman]

The 18650 battery store is probably where I would get any more EVE cells. Yep I could get them cheaper directly from China, but I think they have good high quality cells (never purchased from them).

For bms’s I have used two - I made a 50ah portable battery with Overkill’s bms. No issues…

For my MotorHome’s 544ah battery I used Batrium. I wanted a contactor based bms so my choices at the time were Rec-BMS, Orion Jr, and Batrium. To me the simplest software was the Batrium. I was basing this on YouTube videos. I have been happy with the bms. I also thought I wanted to connect it to my Victron system to control charging- but I changed my mind when setting up the battery.

Over time I have heard good things about the JK Bms’s.

My opinion on BMS’s is they are the last resort to protect the cells and so should never be called into action (other than some cell balancing). The chargers should stop charging before the bms cuts them off. The inverter and Battery protects should stop draining power before the bms cuts off too.

Good Luck

 

[sparrs]

The 18650 battery store is probably where I would get any more EVE cells. Yep I could get them cheaper directly from China, but I think they have good high quality cells (never purchased from them).

For bms’s I have used two - I made a 50ah portable battery with Overkill’s bms. No issues…

For my MotorHome’s 544ah battery I used Batrium. I wanted a contactor based bms so my choices at the time were Rec-BMS, Orion Jr, and Batrium. To me the simplest software was the Batrium. I was basing this on YouTube videos. I have been happy with the bms. I also thought I wanted to connect it to my Victron system to control charging- but I changed my mind when setting up the battery.

Over time I have heard good things about the JK Bms’s.

My opinion on BMS’s is they are the last resort to protect the cells and so should never be called into action (other than some cell balancing). The chargers should stop charging before the bms cuts them off. The inverter and Battery protects should stop draining power before the bms cuts off too.

Good Luck

Good info. In this case the setup was pretty straightforward with voltage settings at the charge controllers(56.8 bulk/absorb, 54 float, 48 cut off programmed at the inverter)
The real-time current discharge and AH clocking in and out on the display is handy for the power picture.

The system is up and running, pleasantly smooth setup.
The only snag is the Outback 8048 inverter was tripping the 220ah LFP battery on startup with overcurrent. I wired four car batteries in series to "jump start" the inverter before transferring it to the lithium battery with a quick switch. Apparently the Outback has the most robust power storage and pulls heavy current on startup. A precharge resistor/DC power supply may have been an option to slow charge the capacitor bank, but this was quick and available. Unsure whether it will be needed for future start ups as well.
I put three runs of #10 from FM80s to battery to allow full power once I max each at 4kw in the future - all soldered lug connections.
Starting up the inverter, I switched on the AC, water heater, refrigerator, and started a miter saw bringing the load to 6kw - the inverter handled it without a burp. Love the heavy duty approach Outback took to build this thing.
The FM80s are flawless, love the cast aluminum build and simplicity. The daily yield log and real-time watts displayed is handy.
4200 watts output around 3 hrs a day off the 4800 watt array, 20-22 KWH harvest per day with clear conditions in summertime.
Currently supplementing the battery charge with a generator once every three days when cloudy, putting another 12 panels on order soon and splitting one array for each charge controller. Pleased to find the inverter accepts input from a conventional generator on a Miller Bobcat 225 welder, putting 5-6 KW to the battery and bringing it to charge in two hours. Can't find a direct parameter to limit charging current at the inverter, relying on the BMS protections for a day or two until I can dig into it.
Everything plays well together and the voltage curves on the panels are wonderfully flat, keeping incoming voltage above 58V at 2S until it drops off sharply at night.
I had a great experience dealing with Matt at Surplus Solar, just order an extra panel or two to replace shipping damage.