Solark + Orion = SUCCESS (couldnt have done it w/o DIY Solar Forum!)

[offgrider]

Thanks to all over the past 2 years who have helped me realize the dream I had when I was a kid and first started reading about solar!

The Solark/panels/optimizers (12K, QCells 440wattX26, TigoX26) were the easy part, I just had my electrical contractor do it all as the house was built. The DIY batteries were the complicated part, but ended up being very rewarding and fun project for me. I got 32 of the 280ah lifepo4s from lightning-power and capacity tested them all on my 40amp etech. They all were right around 285ah. Then paralleled them altogether for a top balance on that 40amp charger and got them to 3.6v and let them sit for a few weeks before assembling them into a 16s2p bank on an Orion JR2. This is roughly 30KwHrs.

The BMS proved to be tricky; the kit that was shipped wouldn't work as-is; I had to source what the BMS manual referred to as a "current amplifier" since the contactor that came as part of the kit has a 4amp coil inrush start and the BMS's signal outputs can only do 175ma. I ended up using a solid state relay in between the BMS and the contactor for this, it ended up being stupid simple. Speaking of which, the contactor that came in the kit (Gigavac MX23B) is great, it has built in suppression (no external diodes required) as well as a built in economizer. I powered the BMS/contactor from a wall outlet that is on the Solark's critical loads panel. The BMS and contactor when on only draws 5 watts (measured from the AC side of the power adapter Im using for it) The trick to the BMS though, was to not use the regular charge/discharge enable relay outputs. This BMS also has an output called MPE which is watchdog controlled just like the charge/discharge enables are, but it can be configured as output type of "contactor" and then can be set to remain on unless critical DTCs are thrown or if any cell's voltage or temperature goes too low or too high. The BMS also measures the cells' internal resistance, pretty neat.

So all yesterday evening and last night until this AM, the home ran completely from batteries, and are now charging back up in the sun!

Thanks again for everyone bearing with me!

That being said, I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone - the Orion support people (here in the US its Ewert Evolve) are just the worst. I still have lots of questions on the JR2 regarding pack health vs pack capacity, internal resistance, CANBUS comms, etc that all are behaving odd, and they are just awful to deal with. just terrible.

 

[Ampster]

That being said, I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone - the Orion support people (here in the US its Ewert) are just the worst. I still have lots of questions on the JR2 regarding pack health vs pack capacity, internal resistance, CANBUS comms, etc that all are behaving odd, and they are just awful to deal with. just terrible.

I wonder if you are thinking about Evolve, the dealer in Colorado, whom I bought my first Orion Jr BMS.. I could not get any support from them. When I contacted Ewart I got friendly people and for the past five years they have been very helpful. I am always respectful of their time and try to do my research before framing my issue.

 

[offgrider]

I went back and checked my emails and you're absolutely right, Ive corrected that. it was Evolve who was obstinately unhelpful. Thanks for checking.

 

[Notgreyenuf]

Hello offgrider,
I am working on the same project that you've already done; a Sol-Ark 12k indoor to an Orion Jr. 2 BMS (CANBus enabled). I am building a 16s3p system using LiFePO4 cells (120 Ah) and have arrived at the wiring phase. I ended up with the Orion Jr. 2 as my research showed that it could us the Canbus feature on the Solark. So I am now neck deep in the build and need to find a way to finish it.

I will gather the parts to build a current amplifier (as you suggested) so I don't fry the BMS by exceeding the 175mA that the system is designed to handle.

I have a few questions and wondering if you can answer them easily.

Pin 1: Did you wire this to something? This appears to be a backup to the CANBus for enabling charge
Pin 3: The manual shows the relay being wired here (powered from the pack), but I believe you used a AC/DC adapter to power the relay instead. Curious if you used this pin and how.
Pin 4: Did you wire the positive from an adapter (48 V DC) to this input and the negative to ground? Charge power only available when the essential panel has current?
Pin 5: Did you connect this pin to the SolArk as a backup to the Canbus signal?
Pins 11,13 and 14: Did you use any of these Analog outputs? I was considering finding a screen that would provide a readout for these three functions, converting the voltage to a reading on a display.

Thank you for any light that you can shed on this.

 

[Ampster]

......so I don't fry the BMS by exceeding the 175mA that the system is designed to handle.

There is no concern about frying thr Orion Jr BMS since no current flows throught the BMS itself. The limit is on the control circuit and it will simply not provide enough current to operate the contactor. My solution was to simply use an inexpensive relay that drew less than 150mA. Then the relay contacts can use another larger source of current to control the higher current needed to close the contacts on the Contactor that turns on and off the load.
I am not sure I understand most of your other questions enough to answer them, However, with regard to CAN communications, you will need the Orion JR2 which is the only version which will communicate with the SolArk. I know because I have both models and spent time with Orion support who were very helpful. I realize your question is directed to @offgrider but I do not believe he has been active for over a year. He and I had several conversations in the past. Until I upgraded my battery pack, I had been using Orion BMSs for eight years and am familiar with their operation. I actually never used the contactor and just relied on the CAN communications to control the charging.

Do you know which version of the Orion JR BMS you have?

 

[Ampster]

@Notgreyenuf , did that answer your questions? Offgrider hasn't posted in over a year so we may not hear from him.

 

[Notgreyenuf]

Hi Ampster, Thank you for the feedback. I have an Orion Jr.2 with the CAN option. My questions were geared towards the backup to the CAN signals. I believe that the BMS and SolArk will speak directly through the CAN protocol; but it is good to have some redundancy.
I did get the relay option, curious if this is best wired into #4 or #3. Not sure if I should be putting in a system for Pin #1 to enable charge. Any thoughts on this are welcome as I work on this. Thank you for your response.

 

[Ampster]

The first thing I woul do is wire it up for the CAN signalling and monitor it. I never got the Orion to go more than a couple of days without some kind of fault. All those were minor but I did not want to constantly trip the Contactor. That is why I do not know which wires to use because it has been a long time. Best to consult with the manual and test your relay operation without the contactor until you have it tuned up. You have to set the Orion CAN protocol to Victron and it should connect with the SolArk after checking the two boxes in the SolArk battery configuration. Then set the charging parameters such as CV (Absorb) and a lower value for Float on the Orion JR2. If communications is working these are the settings your SolArk will use. If Communications is lost you should also set up the SolArk Voltages as a backup if communications fails.