Pylontech Batteries

[Joeboy]

The batteries should have an easier life running as 3 phase. Lower V and less heat?

[Stinsy]

I assume you mean US3000C ?

That would make a tasty battery array! What inverter are you using with them?

Yes sorry, corrected.

My old faithful SMA Sunny Island 5048s. As we are 3 phase I will do 3 banks of 5 and then paralleled up.

What is the thinking of 3 separate stacks vs the 3 inverters sharing a single big stack?

[Tinbum]

Each inverter will do 100A DC charging so ideal for a single stack of 5, so theoretically you could do 300A DC into the total pack. They will be sharing though as they are paralleled up. (max charging for a stack is 100A if i recall)

[nowty]

@Tinbun, it will be interesting to hear in about a years time whether you prefer the lithium or lead and whether you agree with my opinion.

I just looked up the prices of the Pylontechs vs Rolls flooded batteries and the price per kWh is surprisingly very similar if you assume your not going to discharge the lead lower than 50% SOC.

Hope it works out for you.

[Tinbum]

I've only ever discharged my lead to about 60% max. The lead will be used for the workshop and the lithium for the house. I like the lead but it takes up a lot of space and uses a fair bit of water. I do have 2 Growatt batteries and aside the firmware and its strange kwerks that's been good.

I'm just looking at the CAN and RS485 interfaces on the Pylontech to see what interface I can make up.

[dan_b]

A friend of mine is about to start on a new build, he wants it to be an eco-house, up to Passivhaus standard, heat pump, zero energy home etc and I was talking to him about solar and batteries. He's got an EV and is planning on installing 12 kWp of solar on the roof (he has a 3phase supply) so I said he should definitely get a battery system. He baulked at the idea as how expensive a system like a PowerWall or PowerVault are, and initiaully said he thought with heat pump and an Ev there wouldn't be much spare solar gen to go around anyway.

so, inspired by this thread, I suggested a PylonTech DIY rig - which he really likes the idea of.

What would be the best way to get going with a PylonTech system - in particular the battery inverter?
I suggested he could start with 4- 6kWh of batteries and then add more if he needed to.
How would you set up a system like that connection-wise - what do you need to do/consider?

He's thinking of getting 400W SunPower Panels with microinverters . I also suggested to him that if he was going to do that, instead of putting 12kWp all on the South facing roof, that he should actually consider putting some on the East and West ends of his property to extend the generation period over the day and get more useful generation for longer. Thoughts?

Sorry if this is a threadjack. Happy to move it to another post if preferred.

[Joeboy]

Its four years since my system was installed. The tech may have moved on. I have a solaredge system for the PV & a Goodwe Hybrid charge controller for power distribution to house/grid/battery. I'm sure there are all in one solutions by now. In saying that if my Goodwe unit failed i'd still have the output of the main array feeding into the house & grid from the solaredge whereas a single unit is also a single point failure...

He'd want to speak to his DNO and make sure that whichever controller he fits is capable of outputting the max possible. Makes it easier for home management. My Goodwe unit is rated at 3.6kW output but will output 4kW. I'd rather it was 6 or 7 and that balanced against the output capability of the stack. Not sure on the tech or rules but maybe possible to limit controller output to grid to 3.6kW yet to home 6kW.

My systems are due South & East/West. I'd stick to due South, harvest the extra power and store it in the stack. Your pal should keep an eye on the head room to grow capacity within the system as he might find he's harvesting more than predicted and wish to store it. For West & East he could install later if need be and T it into the battery stack as per Nowty's suggestion to me. This works well, splits the cost across time and gives you wiggle room in growth without affecting the DNO. Exciting times for your pal!

[Stinsy]

A friend of mine is about to start on a new build, he wants it to be an eco-house, up to Passivhaus standard, heat pump, zero energy home etc and I was talking to him about solar and batteries. He's got an EV and is planning on installing 12 kWp of solar on the roof (he has a 3phase supply) so I said he should definitely get a battery system. He baulked at the idea as how expensive a system like a PowerWall or PowerVault are, and initiaully said he thought with heat pump and an Ev there wouldn't be much spare solar gen to go around anyway.

so, inspired by this thread, I suggested a PylonTech DIY rig - which he really likes the idea of.

What would be the best way to get going with a PylonTech system - in particular the battery inverter?
I suggested he could start with 4- 6kWh of batteries and then add more if he needed to.
How would you set up a system like that connection-wise - what do you need to do/consider?

He's thinking of getting 400W SunPower Panels with microinverters . I also suggested to him that if he was going to do that, instead of putting 12kWp all on the South facing roof, that he should actually consider putting some on the East and West ends of his property to extend the generation period over the day and get more useful generation for longer. Thoughts?

Sorry if this is a threadjack. Happy to move it to another post if preferred.

Loads of options. Most single-phase inverters work with 3-phase, you just need 3x inverters. SMA / Victron is the first place to look for inverter/chargers. They’re at the premium end of the market, cheaper options are available.

A 12kWp array should easily produce all the energy required for an ordinary sized house, even with a heat pump and EV (well for 9 months of the year at least). I’d say it would be silly to have all that solar and not have batteries because you’d be “spilling” power to the grid at 5p in the day and buying it back again for 15p the same evening (generated by FF gas).

Having all the panels face south would result in the most power generated for the same number of panels. But you’d need more batteries to spread the power over 24hrs compared with the same number of panels in a SE/S/SW array.

I hope that is helpful!

I have 3x my kWp in kWh of batteries. An EV and a Zappi would mean you don’t need as many as I have.

[Tinbum]

Battery stock came in early so mine are due to delivered here tomorrow and hopefully the meter change will go ahead next week.

[Stinsy]

Battery stock came in early so mine are due to delivered here tomorrow and hopefully the meter change will go ahead next week.

Very Exciting. Have you decided how you're mounting them? Are you making your own cables? Are you using a busbar?

Looking forward to seeing the pics!