Who sells LiFePO4 cells in Europe?

[binaryLV]

Hello from Europe!

First of all, I'm new to solar power. My solar panels will be delivered in few days, inverter is on its way to my country, and those things will be installed by guys who do that for living.

I was thinking about connecting a single ready-made 51.2V 200Ah battery pack to the invertor, but then I found out that DIY solutions work well, cost less, can have higher capacity and are much more powerful. Although DIY will take a lot of time, I guess that's what I'm going to do.

LF280K cells seem to be a good option. Like many others, I was going to buy them from Docan, but then I found out that those could be grade B cells with unknown remaining cycle count. I'm kind of OK with that, those cells will probably last for at least 5, maybe 10 years in my setup, but I would like to know what other options I have. I'm scared of all those "fake companies", though.

From what I found, LF280K are made by EVE. Is www.evebattery.com their website? Or is it fake? If that's the real EVE, would it make sense to buy directly from them?

 

[LydMekk]

https://www.nkon.nl/

 

[Brett V]

I've had no problems with Docan US stock

 

[binaryLV]

Found enought proof that www.evebattery.com is indeed the real manufacturer of LF280K. Contacted them via alibaba just to get a reply that their "main business is to company". Oh well...

@LydMekk, I've seen those cells in nkon.nl, but A-grade cells with terminals are said to be out of stock there. They do have A-grade cells without terminals, but that doesn't seem to be a good option for me

@Brett V, when I contacted Docan and asked about shipping times and price, they offered me to send them from China. Only when I asked about EU stock, they said that they do have "some EVE LF280K in EU warehouse". Could be the lowest quality leftovers of whatever they used to have in stock?

So far it sounds like it's either B-grade from nkon.nl or "mystery grade" Docan. Does anyone know if any of them matches cells by capacity and/or other parameters before shipping?

Has anyone tested what happens with cells from Docan after 1-2 years of regular usage?

 

[ShaneC]

Fogstar.co.uk if you are uk based.

 

[SeaGal]

Fogstar.co.uk if you are uk based.

I don't think we own Latvia at the moment... I thought the last country we single-handedly invaded was Finland in 1855? ??

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

I thought the last country we single-handedly invaded was Finland in 1855? ??

Sveaborg and the Crimean War 1854-55

'Invaded' is the wrong term. Did damage, then went home. Also, it was together with the French.

On topic: go with NKON.

 

[SeaGal]

'Invaded' is the wrong term. Did damage, then went home

Yep - it was way too cold

Agree with the choice of NKON too

 

[binaryLV]

Fogstar.co.uk if you are uk based.

Nope, I'm from EU. Haven't bought anything from UK for some 3-4 years already (I don't really trust my memory, but google says that since January/February 2020, you know).

Those NKON cells - I guess they ship random cells without any kind of matching, right? Any issues with that? How's their packaging, any risk for the cells to be damaged?

 

[houseofancients]

Nope, I'm from EU. Haven't bought anything from UK for some 3-4 years already (I don't really trust my memory, but google says that since January/February 2020, you know).

Those NKON cells - I guess they ship random cells without any kind of matching, right? Any issues with that? How's their packaging, any risk for the cells to be damaged?

Nkon is probably the best you can go with..
As to shipping, I live 30 minutes from them, so I always pick up personally, but cells are packaged well..

Matching shouldnt be that big of an issue in a solar application.
Make sure you top balance, or use a balancing bms

 

[xuba-Aaron]

如果想要A级LF280KAh锂电池电芯就有点困难了，现在很多电池都带有B字样进入市场。
A级锂电池芯带有质量报告，购买时可以索要证书。

 

[binaryLV]

Matching shouldnt be that big of an issue in a solar application.
Make sure you top balance, or use a balancing bms

Oh, I'm not going to use that kind of battery pack without balancing I might be using 250A Daly BMS and a separate 5A balancer. Might be a good idea to create a separate topic for the BMS…

I expect charging/discharging currents to be as high as 120A, maybe slightly more. Inverter can handle 240A in both directions, but I guess it makes sense to make two parallel packs instead of having a single 2P16S (with a single balancer) or 16S2P (with two balancers?), and each pack would get roughly 120A. So you're telling that unmatched cells will handle that kind of loads without any issues?

Btw, there's a nice surprise from NKON - they replaced "out of stock" for A-grade LF280K with "Expected shipping date: 29 oktober 2023 (in 43 days)". Not only that, but they also reduced the price, it now costs pretty much the same as B-grade (which is in stock).

 

[JK2369]

I am not in EU and do not have experience with these sellers.

LiFePO4 Battery Cells - 3.2 V | shop.GWL.eu

LiFePO4 (LFP), Lithium Iron-Phosphate single cells operating at nominal voltage 3,2V and over 2000 cycles lifespan | Prismatic | Cylindrical | Pouch | Capacities from 1100mAh to 1000Ah | Available in our European Warehouse with fast Worldwide delivery.

shop.gwl.eu

EU STOCK FAST DPD DELIVERY LF280K 3.2V LiFePO4 Prismatic Battery Cell Laser Welded Terminal Stud

This product link for EU stock, the website price just for single battery(MOQ is 4pcs) Free Shipping VIA DPD to below countries: Austria,Belgium,Bulgaria,Czech Republic,Ireland,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Latvia,Romania,Slovakia,Slovenia,HungaryIf you come from below EU countries that some a

www.docanpower.com

 

[houseofancients]

Oh, I'm not going to use that kind of battery pack without balancing I might be using 250A Daly BMS and a separate 5A balancer. Might be a good idea to create a separate topic for the BMS…

I expect charging/discharging currents to be as high as 120A, maybe slightly more. Inverter can handle 240A in both directions, but I guess it makes sense to make two parallel packs instead of having a single 2P16S (with a single balancer) or 16S2P (with two balancers?), and each pack would get roughly 120A. So you're telling that unmatched cells will handle that kind of loads without any issues?

Btw, there's a nice surprise from NKON - they replaced "out of stock" for A-grade LF280K with "Expected shipping date: 29 oktober 2023 (in 43 days)". Not only that, but they also reduced the price, it now costs pretty much the same as B-grade (which is in stock).

I don't and will never do the 280k's, but loads of people do so I hope it is a nice surprise for them

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

GWL is fine, but quite expensive for cells. They have their own brand of smaller cells and Winston cells for larger capacities. Winston cells are good (plastic encasing), but cost a lot more than a comparable EVE cell.

I wouldn't get Docan cells from EU stock. They likely don't have them available and you get them directly from China anyway.

The only larger supplier in the EU for cells I can recommend at this time is NKON. There are smaller companies (even some here in Finland - no affiliation) but they tend to be more expensive. They are a good source if you need one or two cells to replace a broken cell or something...

 

[binaryLV]

Jenny Wu from Docan wrote me:
* from China - lead time around three weeks, delivery time around 45-55 days
* from EU stock - lead time around 1-2 days, delivery time around one week
I've heard from a local guy that he got his last batch of batteries in 10 days. That wouldn't be possible if they shipped from China.

EVE wrote me that they cannot confirm that cells from NKON are genuine...

 

[houseofancients]

Jenny Wu from Docan wrote me:
* from China - lead time around three weeks, delivery time around 45-55 days
* from EU stock - lead time around 1-2 days, delivery time around one week
I've heard from a local guy that he got his last batch of batteries in 10 days. That wouldn't be possible if they shipped from China.

EVE wrote me that they cannot confirm that cells from NKON are genuine...

Docan will send you guaranteed b grade cells.

EVE can guarantee that because NKON does cell b grade EVE and other brands.
They are however very honest and open about that, more than can be said of docan, as they have been proven to relaser b grade cells, and market them as a

 

[binaryLV]

Docan will send you guaranteed b grade cells.

Yeah, I do understand that.

EVE can guarantee that because NKON does cell b grade EVE and other brands.

Wait, what?

Eve LF280K v3 Prismatic 280Ah - LiFePO4 - 3.2V A-grade - Prismatic - LiFePO4 - Rechargeable batteries | NKON

Capacity report available. Height of the studs: 13mm

eu.nkon.nl

Product - "Eve LF280K v3 Prismatic 280Ah - LiFePO4 - 3.2V A-grade". These are supposed to be A grade, not B grade. And NKON state in the description that these "come directly from EVE".

What do you mean by "EVE can guarantee that"? When I wrote EVE that I've ordered those cells from NKON because "few people told me that nkon.nl are selling genuine EVE batteries in Europe", I got replies "No" and "We can't identify their products".

 

[houseofancients]

Yeah, I do understand that.


Wait, what?

Eve LF280K v3 Prismatic 280Ah - LiFePO4 - 3.2V A-grade - Prismatic - LiFePO4 - Rechargeable batteries | NKON

Capacity report available. Height of the studs: 13mm

eu.nkon.nl

Product - "Eve LF280K v3 Prismatic 280Ah - LiFePO4 - 3.2V A-grade". These are supposed to be A grade, not B grade. And NKON state in the description that these "come directly from EVE".

What do you mean by "EVE can guarantee that"? When I wrote EVE that I've ordered those cells from NKON because "few people told me that nkon.nl are selling genuine EVE batteries in Europe", I got replies "No" and "We can't identify their products".

Can't guarantee that.. stupid spell check got me there.

They are, if you choose their grade a's , they come with EVE's own test reports..
Find the EVE reaction rather curious as NKON is EVE biggest distri in the EU, and had been for a while.
Must be something else going on, as NKON has started reselling other brands too in the last year,, and are very open and clear about that to their customers, don't know what though