What's happening with Overkill Solar?

[playitagainsam]

Their website hasn't had any updates about their new Pathfinder BMS since Sept. ??? I would support a product designed in the USA, with good documentation and software support.

Pathfinder BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

 

[alcook62]

Their website hasn't had any updates about their new Pathfinder BMS since Sept. ??? I would support a product designed in the USA, with good documentation and software support.

Pathfinder BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

I've wondered the same thing. I have three of the Overkill Solar JBD clone BMS's and would gladly buy the new Pathfinder. Overkill Solar has none of the old BMS's left for sale on the website. Are they still in business?

 

[featherlite]

Overkill web page updated on January 2, 2025, says:
"Working on it every single day!"

 

[North Forker]

I've been on the pre-sales list for a long time now and went ahead and ordered a couple other brand bms, unfortunately. There are many good/documented experiences with Overkill previous bms products. Enough that their product made my #1 DIY must have list. Their highly rated free application that works on other bms is also a win win. The last Overkill posted comment question, noted above from Jan 2, 2025, is my exact scenario with the inverter mentioned. I hope the bms is released soon. Not to complain, but signing up on the website for notifications has had no emails from them in four months. New product introduction, especially technical hardware with critical functionality, is a long term activity. It's still enjoyable to watch the magic happen and get excited about the information Overkill has shared on their website. Cheers!

 

[OverkillSolar]

Their website hasn't had any updates about their new Pathfinder BMS since Sept. ??? I would support a product designed in the USA, with good documentation and software support.

I posted an update today:

Pathfinder BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

 

[featherlite]

I posted an update today:

Great news!!!

Can't wait!

 

[North Forker]

I posted an update today:

Pathfinder BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

Awesome!

 

[Dagoth Ur Does Solar]

So I'm bumping this thread, Pathfinder BMS is now available for pre-order. I got the email this morning.

Pathfinder BMS (Presale) – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

Looks like it's $199 on the pre-sale price, but Overkill said the price is likely to go up (something like $250 for normal kits and $300 for Tesla kits).

Expected to be delivering in April. Cancellations will be accepted.

I think I am gonna pull the trigger. I have been leaning towards trying to do my first DIY battery, and this thing looks awesome. The real question is, do I get one or two...

I also emailed Overkill support asked if/when the active balancer version is released, will the balancer board be swappable onto an existing Pathfinder. Steve replied (quickly!) that it should just be a different base plate that would make the BMS a little taller but should be swappable onto an existing BMS, which is awesome.

@OverkillSolar Maybe this is a stretch, but is there any chance down the line the firmware for these things will be open sourced? I am opting to go with Pathfinder since it's western designed, and presumably Overkill wrote all the firmware for these? It seems like a really nice no-compromises solution.

While I am pipe dreaming, it'd be awesome to somehow have one of those Alibaba companies like Luyuan make one of those battery boxes with proper cutouts or mounts for the Pathfinder. I guess going with a DIN rail mount is the simplest though. I'm just trying to plan out what I wanna make long term.

 

[42OhmsPA]

I think I'm going to have to order one.
Looks pretty awesome.

 

[Dagoth Ur Does Solar]

Since this is the vendor review board, I went ahead and made a post in the industry news board, since that seems more relevant to the launch, rather than me just bumping this old thread:

Thread 'Overkill Solar Pathfinder BMS available for pre-orders now'

Mar 8, 2025

Pathfinder BMS (Presale) – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

I received the email this morning that this was finally available for pre-order. (I have no relation to Overkill, I have just been on the mailing list waiting for Pathfinder to drop).

All the info is in the above link, but the high points related to the pre-sale:

• $199 pre-order price
• Estimated ~April 30th, 2025 delivery date on orders
• Will go up to something like $250 or $300 depending on model and tariff status at the time
• Cancellations will be accepted
• Not listed on product page, but Overkill replied to my...

• Dagoth Ur Does Solar
• Replies: 57
• Forum: Industry News, Policies and New Products

• 

 

[agtcovert]

Thanks for this, been waiting. Preordered 3.

 

[BarracudaBob]

I didn't see any external communications for closed loop to inverter. With that much intelligence you would think they would have included that. What is the balance current ?

 

[Stircrazy]

at 200US it is priced out of the range for a 4S setup with only 170amp. I was waiting for this one, guess I will just stay with JBD

 

[BarracudaBob]

at 200US it is priced out of the range for a 4S setup with only 170amp. I was waiting for this one, guess I will just stay with JBD

It's really cool they put a lot of work into it and I'd like to support them but I bought a 165 amp hour battery with Bluetooth on a Christmas sale for 200 bucks

Kind of hard to justify $200 range without RS485 multiple protocols. I've gone down the way at JBD and solar assistant talking to multiple batteries.

I feel like sending them $20 just for a donation to say thank you for all your hard work.

 

[agtcovert]

@OverkillSolar Sorry if I missed this in your last video, couple questions:

- Do you know / will the BMS be able to be set up to be monitored by something like Solarassistant?
- A lot of us do open loop voltage based charging, but I have to ask anyway - doesn't look like closed loop was a design goal?

Thanks.

 

[OverkillSolar]

Kind of hard to justify $200 range without RS485 multiple protocols. I've gone down the way at JBD and solar assistant talking to multiple batteries.

The next version of this BMS is called the Nomad, and it has a bunch of communication options. The Pathfinder BMS is actually a Nomad-lite. I did this to get the programming done faster.

The Nomad user interface board will be available as a plug in upgrade for the Pathfinder- the BMS main boards are the same.

I feel like sending them $20 just for a donation to say thank you for all your hard work.

Did you know we made T-shirts? https://overkillsolar.com/product/overkill-solar-t-shirt/

 

[OverkillSolar]

@OverkillSolar Sorry if I missed this in your last video, couple questions:

- Do you know / will the BMS be able to be set up to be monitored by something like Solarassistant?
- A lot of us do open loop voltage based charging, but I have to ask anyway - doesn't look like closed loop was a design goal?

Thanks.

I am programming the pathfinder to connect to Home Assistant, and I plan to do the same with Solar Assistant but I'm not up to speed on it yet.