And yes, these cells suck. Look at the listing, it states brand new, grade a cells. And this is the garbage I got. Grade A cells are ordered. Or so it says they are. That will be next week's video. Hopefully they are good. I hate bloated cells, but ahh well. It's lifepo4, so I don't care. Worst that could happen is over pressure relief valve spitting gas for a day and I would have to wheel the box out of my shop. It wouldnt hurt anything though. I would assume that people watching a raw cell battery build would understand the problems with bloated cells. If not, look it up. I would never do this if it was not lifepo4. I used to build packs years ago with lipoly pouch cells and they will burn your house down. Not an issue with lifepo4, but it would be messy and smelly. And you can't breathe that stuff. So stick to a ready built battery if you don't understand this stuff. *Does off-grid solar confuse you?* Check out my DIY friendly website for solar system packages and product recommendations, and so much more! www.mobile-solarpower.com *Join our DIY solar community* #1 largest solar forum on the internet for beginners and professionals alike: www.diysolarforum.com *Check out my Book* Best-selling and beginner-friendly guide to 12V off-grid solar! amzn.to/2Aj4dX4 If DIY is not for you, but you love solar and need an offgrid system, check out Tesla Energy! They will price out a system and get your house offgrid: ts.la/william57509 *My DIY Solar Equipment Recommendations (Constantly updated! Check here first):* 12V/48V Lithium Solar Batteries: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-batteries.html Complete Solar System Component Directory: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solarcomponents.html Complete 48V System Blueprint: www.mobile-solarpower.com/48v-complete-system-blueprint.html Plug-N-Play System Recommendations: www.mobile-solarpower.com/full-size-systems.html Complete "Add to Cart" 48V System Kits: www.mobile-solarpower.com/complete-48v-solar-kits.html DIY Friendly Air Conditioner/ Heat Pumps: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-friendly-air-conditioners.html *My Favorite Online Stores for DIY Solar Products:* *Signature Solar* Offgrid One-Stop-Shop. Best Value 48V LiFePO4, Victron and Offgrid Specific Heat Pumps: www.signaturesolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek *Current Connected* SOK, Victron, Mr.Cool Heatpumps and High Quality Components. Fantastic customer support: currentconnected.com/?ref=wp *Litime* My favorite 12V budget battery!: www.litime.com/?ref=XBIA62RFcalHns *Epoch Batteries* My favorite high-quality 12V battery: www.epochbatteries.com/products/12v-460ah-lifepo4-battery-ip67-heated-bluetooth-victron-comms?rfsn=7352625.50494d *Renogy* A classic 12V solar store that has been around for ages! DC to DC Chargers and more! renogy.sjv.io/n1VjXx *Rich Solar* Renogy's biggest competitor! Similar products, but at a better price: richsolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek *Battery Hookup* Cheap cell deals bit.ly/2mIxSqt 5% off code: diysolar *Contact Information:* I am NOT available for personal solar system consult! If you wish to contact me, this is my direct email: williamprowsediysolar@gmail.com Join the forum at diysolarforum.com/ if you wish to hang out with myself and others and talk about solar *FTC Disclosure Statement and Disclaimers:* Every video includes some form of paid promotion or sponsorship. Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. My videos are for educational purposes only. Information is subject to change/update at any time. Electricity is DANGEROUS and can kill. Be smart and use common sense :) DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com
Thanks for sharing. After my aliexpress order for 280ah cells got canceled I considered getting these "320ah" cells, but hesitated due lousy Aliexpress dispute process.
Excellent video, it's so good to see some 48V builds from you. It sucks that the batteries are so poor of a quality but your taking the bullet for those people who might have gotten suckered into buying them. I cannot wait for your testing review of this pack. Also really looking forward to true Grade A cell pack video. :) BTW might be a good idea to keep a charcoal based full face gas mask in your work shop just in case you need to get something out of there without breathing in any of the gas. You could buy an ST-100X or something better and get a good quality canister for it.
I’m new to solar. Is the reason you have a 48v system so you can use smaller cables and have higher capacity? Also, do you use 2 inverters to get 240vac or are there single inverters that will do the job? Lastly, how do you wire your panels to the charge controller and what is the wattage/voltage of the panels?
@@blueskies927 you can use single inverters to get 240 volt single phase You have to get the right one though The reason for 48 volt is it allows you to use smaller gauge cables but still be able to have high power loads If you increase the voltage then current will be lower which allows the cables to be smaller
Will, it's obvious that you are the best solar energy content provider on TH-cam. That's because of your unbiased methodical evaluation of manufacturer's products. Congratulations for finding a way to support yourself and obviously have so much fun doing it, your enthusiasm is infectious. (Infectious might be the wrong word to use at this time)
I really like Wills positive attitude and honesty. I wish I could be as positive as Will, but after being around as long as I have it takes a toll on your optimism.
Hi Will, glad you tested these 320Ah battery packs. there is a group of Batteries with 304/310/320 Ah which I have used in strings (2 * 16) now for a while on my (Growatt) Solar system and had very little to complain. One cell bloated very slightly (not like the ones you got) when I top balanced a string of 16 and the seller added one more immediately to the next shipping foc. I'm living in Northern Thailand, which is quite close to China and shipping takes only 2 to 3 weeks, so it is easy to order spare batteries and parts. To save space and to keep potential bloating in check I stack them vertically. 8 batteries are stacked on each other and so far it works. I just received another 32 304 Ah batteries after I made good experiences with the 304Ah variation, but I also ordered another 16 320Ah, simply as it was irresistible low priced for 1,250 USD including shipping to my doorstep (83 USD per kWh, unbeatable) and a similar stack from the same seller worked fine but I have no too high expectations, but then, you never know. I'm in the process to expand to two Growatt SPF 5000 ES with 5 X 16S 304/320Ah strings what should keep my house (including all ACs and pool and water pumps, etc, off the grid for a good time of the year and to keep the house bright during the many power cuts we experience here. All great fun.
This guy is determined. He is methodical. Unbiased. Most importantly he shows that he has a strong will to follow a logical path and find answers to questions that help us all. Yes, this Will is a strong will in search of the facts.
I did this exact same thing a few months ago with the cheapest 100ah LiFePO4 batteries I found on eBay. Took a 2-3 months to arrive just like these and look similar only smaller. I had purchased a sailboat that had been converted to electric, but the lead acid batteries were sulfated. I tried adding magic potions but no luck. Then I got the lithium batteries almost as a test since they were cheaper than lead acid of similar capacity and OMG The performance is fantastic on the boat. I am able to motor for an hour or more at normal maneuvering speeds. I have not done full endurance testing. I'll be adding a second bank eventually. I use the cheap flexible solar panels on the boat.
I started 3d printing cases for my lifep04 cells. So far, seems to work well keeping the cells compressed. Thank you for all of the work you have put into these videos. I built a 12v 280ah lifep04 battery for our camper.
I built my own 12V 280Ah battery inside a group 31 battery box using cells from Aliexpress about two months ago. They arrived with slight bloating, about 2mm gap between the cells, so it wasn't as bloated as your setup. I also bought a 200a daly smart bms for the cells at the same time. So far the battery has performed pretty well, have hooked up a 2000W inverter to them and the voltage drop was about 350 mV at 175A. Still a great difference between two sealed lead acid batteries which i had before and my current setup.
hi ,this is Aolithium battery ,we have some EVE battery cell in the stock right now ,3.2v 105/230/280/304 Ah with competitive price ,let me know if you need some
I've got 16 of the grade a batteries, building a 24v system. We are in a 5R, and are power hogs. Right now we're just building the system to see where can put and how it goes. Got a little under $2500 (200ah batteries) into so far, also using the overkill bms. I watch your videos, pause and take notes, want to thank you for what you do. We got room on roof for about 12 panels, our ac in basement, only 3 vents on roof, about 300sf for panels. So might use the used panels you had in a previous vid. Also using same container, but smaller, we put a barrier around the packs and then expanded foam in bottom of tote so they won't shift, batteries can be lifted out if necessary. Cause 5Rer's move.
I wouldn’t go with used panels if your that limited on space. Get the best panels that fit maybe even bifacial panels especially if your roof is white.
Nice, I just built one with 280Ah cells, $2300 delivered with no problems. OYE store. Nice welded studs. Mine has been working great for months. Just ordered another 16 cells for a 28kWh pack.
I recently building a 12V 4 cells LiFePo battery to replace my lead acid battery for my boat. I bought from Taobo (Chinese version of Ali Express) from a company Jiali Technology. Cells are grade A and arrived in mint condition. The price is RMB 680 (USD 99) for one 310Ah cell. They can provide stronger packaging box for extra (USD $4). The problem I encountered is delivery from China to HK. Many courier companies refused to deliver lithium batteries. End of the day it has to be delivered to my friends home in Shenzhen China and I picked up myself and use a cross border van to deliver to HK. The delivery of the cells to my friend’s home is 3 days after placing order. Lucky I lived in HK and not US. I repeat an oder for 4 more cells yesterday.
I have purchased 64 of these cells. To compensate for slots in the bus bars I fitted brass washers below the busbar and contact washers under the nuts. To stabilised the connections I clamped them with bandit. All my internal resistance were well below the list from Catl. They are allegedly grade A but some are slightly bulged. I top balanced and also fitted 2 amp active balance units to each pack. In time they hold a few millivolts. I have a spreadsheet of all the initial values if anyone wants it.
And here's me waffling about buying a 100Ah for my camper... lol. All joking aside, your videos are a HUGE help for nOObs like me who really are totally new to battery technology, especially when it comes to Lithium. There are so many makes and suppliers out there now it is hard to try to decide where to start. Your videos help a lot. Killer system WIll, I wish I had the spare $$ to put in a setup 1/2 that good in my place.
Rearrange the letters of Will's last name and you get "Powers". Will Powers! Love your videos man. They are super informative and candid. By far thee best channel on the topic!!
@Glitch Inthematrix with the US gov't currently hounding Chinese solar panels...it'll be a while But you can easily find used 335 watt paela for ~$100, just look
Thank you for excellent videos, Will! It seems, that flexible busbars will better fits for cell interconnections in the battery - it eliminates of expansion/contaction forces application to stud/busbar connections.
@@mfgxl, you mean short cable jumpers with cable lugs at its ends? Because, there are special flexible insulated busbars exists, which do not require cable lugs. These are avaible from Schneider Electric and othe brands.
I've been running a very similar pack of grade b bloated cells for 6 months (16KWH). No trouble. But I found better suppliers and get grade A cells for the same price. No bloating. Built a 64KWH grade A at same price per WH as my first grade B system.
@@con-king @Jeff R Great question. I don't know if there is a simple way to put this, but I don't know if it is as much a matter of supplier as it is context. The same supplier might treat people differently. A lot of them are supply constrained and are selling grade B to get by when they are out of stock on grade A. Don't just buy a random item listing. You need to establish a relationship with a representative at the supplier by contacting them directly. It takes time, first you buy a sample with a larger order contingent on the quality. Pooling a few orders together to make a larger one puts you at the front of the line. This sets the context that it is not worth the trouble trying to pull one over on you. Good Luck.
I have worked out how to use my Victron smart shunt to do capacity tests! Previously it shuts down and loses its reading when the bms shuts down- so Now I connect the smart shunt to the battery, then the BMS. So when the bms shuts down you can still see the A/h on the smart shunt!
Don’t just watch, build a small system yourself. You’d be amazed that the learning curve when you connect a little knowledge with actual practical application.
@@4philipp I have been more into soldering and power projects this year but on a tinkercad scale. Right now I am building a fume extractor and will stick to small 12v projects. Just not comfortable enough with electricity to try a larger scale project.
The forum has discussions on the aluminum cells, in addition to compression, or at least solid frame lockdown, they are concerned about electrically insulating separator between cells. Are you not concerned for the wrap leakage?
Wow, for about $10K, you can build a big enough system to power most homes, to include charging a car and running HVAC. Imagine if every home had a system like this.
Agreed. Think back two decades and this would have been essentially 'unobtanium' let alone anything at 3 or even 4 times the price. To top it all, Will does this by himself in his home workshop. Props for that alone!!!!!
@@brianjrichman And to think I started out with 2 trolling motor batteries after the Loma Prieta 1989 earthquake. Stuff is getting better by the minute, cheaper in price, too. Bluetooth components are a real winner. Check your battery state from your couch.
@@jghall00 You would be paying almost 33 cents a kwh in California. By the first day or two you would be in Tier 2 billing. That would cost almost $1000 a month here. 26 cents kwh Tier1, 33 cents per kwh Tier 2.
So around 90% capacity, you might get another 4% from balancing. That's 0.18$ per Wh, not bad. LithiumSolar's review of the same battery showed 96.5% capacity but that was after balancing. I think they should do great for a Van/Solar build. Thanks for the great review :)
Generally, what makes one battery or technology better for rv or solar or automotive systems? I’m guessing it has do for with the discharge depth? Or whatever it’s called. I know with some you can only use 50%, others are much more. But in theory could I use LiFePO4 in my car? Is it just not cost effective or is it not compatible?
@@Tommy-B. The LiFePO4 would start the car but it would cause your alternator to "fry" when charging because the batteries can absorb so much power. You would need to upgrade the alternator or put in an additional regulator to meter the charge output. (I think)
@@Tommy-B. It's not cost effective or compatible. You can't charge generic LiFePO batteries at low temps. If you want longetivity just avoid draining the battery or get a yellow top. Lead acid is used in cars because it's cost effective. Now my camper could use these cells, because it would benefit from the lower weight and higher depth of discharge. Different use case, as car batteries just start the engine or power accessories for brief periods.
@@Tommy-B. As I read it, Lithium batteries are only good for outputting about 100amps. But a car starter motor might require 500+ amps, so still using lead acid for high amp things.
@@sailingelectricgitana1286 LFP batteries can discharge at a 3C rate. For these 320 Ah cells that would be 960 amps. 4 in series makes an awesome 12 volt battery - except for the fact they can’t be safely charged below freezing. That rules them out unless you take special precautions to keep them in a insulated case with a thermostatically controlled low power heater.
Hi Will, thanks for the video and the test results. I'm also concerned about those studs. The base of the welded studs seem small and the contact area with the bus bar is relatively low. Can you let us know if the circular base of the studs are steel or aluminum? If it's steel then it's going to be a problem. Another thing we must note is that they might have welded the studs, not for our convenience, but to hide the scratched/used terminals from prior usage. Thanks in advance!
Had you considered adding bypass diodes in between cells to allow them to balance on every charge cycle? Is there any concern with that type of cell chemistry overheating and causing a thermal runaway, or fire propagating from one cell to the next? If so, you could put some thermal barriers in between, which would also provide the cells some room to expand.
It's interesting to see your thought on these! Why didn't you order from a more well-known vendor though? I don't think it's fair to say they're 91% rated capacity when you didn't balance them. My concern with the compression is more to make sure the terminals don't break. I'm super paranoid about that happening. Do you think I'm worrying too much? What I ended up doing was very gently tightening the compression while at full SOC so that it's pretty much just holding them in place (not squeezing) which should allow them to decompress/compress normally without putting any force on the studs. Either way, I'm curious to see how yours are doing after a month or so. I haven't put mine in service just yet.
Yes that's exactly my thinking when I stated I want some compression to protect the terminal. I said it before I started building the pack. Even the garbage cells I test usually pull full capacity lately, without any balancing. If they matched them at the factory, they should be at the same exact soc. But yeah, doesn't look like they matched them up. Will need some balancing for sure.
Yes, I'll cycle them a bunch and retest, then I'll be able to draw a conclusion. I found a new listing that looks way better. And the shipping is faster. $1000 more for this size pack, but they look great. And yes, I never tried this store before. Check out the spelling errors in the listing 😂😂 they were cheap though!
Hi, Will. Thank you for sharing, it's really awesome. I'd like to ask you if it's safe to use such a bloated cells, that contract and expand so insanely. With regard to busbars and mounts and that internal compression issues. I mean they may not have the advertised capacity, but more than enough to cause a mayhem. What do you think?
It could blow the valve one day, but it is lifepo4, so not a big deal. I would never do this with a combustible chemistry. Lifepo4 and LTO is all I work with for this reason. I used to use other battery types, but those will burn your house down.
Can you do a video of how you add additional packs to your system? for example how to add the 320ah cells to an existing 250ah pack and maybe an existing 200ah pack too
These video's are great. Thanks so much for showing us the good and bad of the batteries and equipment. I plan to build my off grid solar system and these video's are priceless. The size of that system would be perfect for my house.
I'd like to build a 300ah battery, going to do a campervan conversion here. My head's spinning from all the stuff I need to learn in order to do that. Decided to build a battery thanks to Will's videos. Huge thanks! One thing that scares me more than building a battery without experience is how much the Chinese sellers lie. How can you believe anything they write on Allie Express? They're all brand new grade A cells in the description, but who knows? Most of the sellers that ship down here to Brazil have sold only a few units on AE, so no client ratings or reviews...
@@jiri4023 you wouldn’t really need anything except a charge controller. The battery comes already built and ready. Trust me, way easier to just buy it already made.
That’s a decent low cost system. What is your thought on multiple smaller systems for a home? Like one for critical appliances, a different one for lights, one for the workshop and so forth. I’m thinking here about system resilience. If one goes down, you only loose 1/4 or 1/3 of your supply and can still operate the others until parts are available.
I could see the value in having a couple of smaller systems. IF you have a camper trailer/RV then it would make sense to integrate that system into your home system, and reduce the size requirement for your home system. When you take your RV (and RV solar/battery system) out camping, you can stand to raise the temperature for your AC in the home, and empty/disconnect your fridge to reduce home power usage while you're away.
On a budget I ordered these about a week ago......aliexpress....considering thats over 15k of lithium power...honestly I will be satisfied 90 to 95 percent...still should get me above 12 k which was my target....let me know what you think.....this one is 48v 320 ah ....running a mr power 48v 5k all in one controller inverter.....I'm in Puerto Rico...my consumption is 400kilowatts per month...got 3500 in panels.......this is my second solar project...the first one was 24v off grid system I put in my house in the mountains....your videos were extremely helpful.....the system im putting together now is at my primary residence....thanks ....
your 3500 W panels will not provide enough to cover 400kWh for the month. This has not so much to do with the batteries (storage) you are using. I'm using similar types of batteries (in tropical sunny Northern Thailand) for our essential power supply. We are getting an average of 11 kWh/day out of 3.88 KW (monocrystal) Panels on the roof. For us, it is more important to bridge the powercuts we have here during the rainy season. So more storage means keeping the lights on for hours, if not days.
@@CarstenDohrmann thanks for your input ...but I get all day sun...literally 6 hours prime easy ...so just taking in ....3500 for 4 hours a day which I literally get more should get me 14 k easily...but if its becomes a issue might bump up to 4500 or 5000...but thanks for your input
Wow. Young and smart. Very smart. I’m so glad that you are so much into the subject and lot of knowledge. I want to really thank you for putting up this video and also looking forward to see more videos from you. God Bless and Cheers.
Good day Will. Could you please consider investigating graphene batteries? It is a fascinating potentially new tech addition. Your experience and understanding could really help people who are waiting for these batteries before adding solar backups with lithium batts. Thanks for the informative videos!
Will, You have some serious fault current available to you and i will stand to be corrected but those breakers may not be able to clear a fault of the available capacity , i believe you should consider using MCCB or HRC Fuses with a very high KA rating
, thanks for responding @@WillProwse I am probably a bit old school, relying on Mosfets for isolation & protection is something i am not used to from an industrial perspective, can you guarantee that the Mosfet will operate faster than the time current curve rating of the breaker ( Co-Ordination) as i see it the breaker should operate before the BMS if your using the breaker as a switch then its not really there for protection , So your saying the BMS circuit protection is there to protect the cable from overload and short circuit protection or just the battery ?, maybe you can tell me is the BMS set to protect the cable and the cable size greater than the Over Current & Short circuit protection of the BMS. I must say in Industry the talk of fully electronic circuit breakers where you may find semiconductors being used is only just starting to appear with many regulators not accepting them yet , Industry does not yet have the confidence that isolation can be fully achieved and be reliable however i do know fault clearing times can be really fast , that's my understanding and maybe you are correct that the BMS is suitable I just feel the protection should be off the Battery and be the primary form of protection with the BMS protecting the battery
I built one of these for my home, here in Ontario Canada the electricity price is cheapest during off peak hours, so I charge the system during the night and only pay .06/kwh . Save at least $2000/year
Lots of great info. For a while I thought large capacity battery banks were just out of budget for me since I don't make much. I didn't realize that you could buy these used ones
It's pretty incredible. I'm building a 14kwh power station for my parents RV. It's all wired into a breaker that sits inside the electrical compartment, then they run a 50amp plug into the RV shore power and charge the batteries with a generator using a growatt 5 in one. The whole system is less than $3k
@@deejnutz2068 that's crazy hahaha. I'm thinking of adding some extra range to my 60 mile range Chevy Spark EV. If I can figure out some way to add the batteries in parallel without the car noticing that would be great
@@ryanatkinson2978 Don't even *think* about breaking apart a car's battery pack, messing with 400V DC and trying to add your own cells. You would be a danger to yourself and others on the roads too. If you must, then carry extra batteries to run an inverter to charge the car if you can't find a charging station. Better option - just get a car with more capacity.
Great video Will! I've recommended your channel to another Survivalist TH-camr with a massive following, who's building a small solar system for her off-Grid Solar Van-conversion(one of her many projects!), she may well have been (or possibly will get in touch?) or perhaps just check out your videos, but I recommend you and your channel as the top Solar and Battery channel in my opinion by far! Another great video! I'm learning more every video I check out of yours! So I look forward to seeing the results! I'm wanting to build my own system from the information I've learned/knowledge I've gained this past year, from your channel, but money is sticking point at the moment for battery cells and panels, but once that changes, I'm definitely intending to build my own battery bank and solar array to wire (possibly my house/workshop), but Most DEFINITELY an off-grid Van conversion that Im planning next year!(all being well! So thanks for all the information! Keep the great videos coming!! Ps. I envy the entire set up you have there powering EVERYTHING you are and are intending to great idea the Bit Coin mining to heat the workshop!! (Genius Win win situation there!!) Great stuff! Best regards from London England 👍💪😎🏴
Compression is important for all type of cells other than the cylindrical ones. The charge / discharge rate is not relevant as you seen they are expanded when fully charged and you do not want to have distance between plates in a cell and to accomplish that they will need to be compressed. That blue sleeve is fairly thin and may be easily damaged so is best to have something between each cell like some thin silicone pads as they will offer both electrical isolation between cells as well as some elasticity for when cells expand and contract. This are probably 280Ah cells not sure why they are advertised as 310 or 320Ah. I also order some of this blue 280Ah cells to do some testing as currently this are almost the only option considering the cost per kWh and. The ones I got should have square terminals and then soldered on top what look like aluminium cylinders that are taped. I also do not like that they drill the connectors as they where not designed for that.
IMPORTANT: So, 3 months to get it. The credit card only give money back in 60 days. What if they don't send you the batteries or the ship captured by Pirate or so ? do they still send you replace or give money back? thanks
Realize that using two 24v BMS's in series likely have MOSFET cutout switches with Vds_breakdown voltage suitable for a 24v battery (likely 40v MOSFET's) but not for a 48v stack. When one BMS cuts open then it will be subjected to the 48v stack voltage. Same issue applies to self contained 12v w/ BMS. If you stack them you need to make sure their BMS has breakdown voltage capable of total series stack voltage. If the 12v battery spec does not state what their stacking capability it then assume they cannot be stacked.
Hi Will, I have a question and maybe you can do a video about this topic. A lot of all-in one inverters will only work with the batteries if they have a RS485 connection. Do you know about any BMS with a build in RS485 port that will communicate with the most known inverters? And what setting do you use for your Growatt inverter when you connect your DIY lifepo4 batteri banks?
Will I just ordered 16 Grade A (brand new) 320Ah batteries from Aliexpress. I gotta tell you I am super nervous about what I'm going to get. Anyway, watching your 48v battery build really helped me to pull the trigger on the whole DIY build. Thanks and please keep the videos coming.
Lol bro that size battery bank is great for almost any house in Jamaica. I'm gonna look into getting these and offering them in the systems my company builds and sells down here
I really like the storage container you put the batteries in (red n black) if I am unable to put my EB455 or Bluetti AC200P indoors for a while I’d like a good waterproof container I can store them in. I didn’t see the storage bin on your list of where to buy… I am 70 and I am still learning… can you or anyone help please… thank you
This is my first video I watched about how to build a home battery. Quite amazing and it seems quite doable. Have a background in electrical engineering, but one thing I would be worried about is how to build a safe system, that doesn’t go up in flames, and with that, your house. Can you elaborate about the safety aspects? If you run such system over 12-15 years, what are the components that can fail? I can buy LiFePO4 batteries here that have a built in fire extinguisher. Also I was wondering why you don’t have any ventilation on your enclosure.
Eve 280ah cells, from Eve, are currently $105 each. Grade A new. So this build would probably be much cheaper today. Something like a 105ah mobile power station DIY build would be interesting now. Orient Power has a DIY bms/ panel, which has the SOC/SOH display, but is that the only way to get a DIY display? I would think that today's BMS offerings would also be improved.
the battery cell cores that have been treated at the top of the pile - all old goods - are disassembled from the electric vehicle, showing signs of swelling,
Your link to the cheap cells from today goes to a Sanbren page that says brand new cells. Is this the seller you talked about towards the end of the video for brand new cells or is this the seller that sold you the grade B stuff used in this video? Thanks for all you do for those of us interested in building our own battery bank.
And yes, these cells suck. Look at the listing, it states brand new, grade a cells. And this is the garbage I got.
Grade A cells are ordered. Or so it says they are. That will be next week's video. Hopefully they are good.
I hate bloated cells, but ahh well. It's lifepo4, so I don't care. Worst that could happen is over pressure relief valve spitting gas for a day and I would have to wheel the box out of my shop. It wouldnt hurt anything though. I would assume that people watching a raw cell battery build would understand the problems with bloated cells. If not, look it up. I would never do this if it was not lifepo4. I used to build packs years ago with lipoly pouch cells and they will burn your house down. Not an issue with lifepo4, but it would be messy and smelly. And you can't breathe that stuff. So stick to a ready built battery if you don't understand this stuff.
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*My Favorite Online Stores for DIY Solar Products:*
*Signature Solar*
Offgrid One-Stop-Shop. Best Value 48V LiFePO4, Victron and Offgrid Specific Heat Pumps:
www.signaturesolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek
*Current Connected*
SOK, Victron, Mr.Cool Heatpumps and High Quality Components. Fantastic customer support:
currentconnected.com/?ref=wp
*Litime*
My favorite 12V budget battery!:
www.litime.com/?ref=XBIA62RFcalHns
*Epoch Batteries*
My favorite high-quality 12V battery:
www.epochbatteries.com/products/12v-460ah-lifepo4-battery-ip67-heated-bluetooth-victron-comms?rfsn=7352625.50494d
*Renogy*
A classic 12V solar store that has been around for ages! DC to DC Chargers and more!
renogy.sjv.io/n1VjXx
*Rich Solar*
Renogy's biggest competitor! Similar products, but at a better price:
richsolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek
*Battery Hookup*
Cheap cell deals
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5% off code: diysolar
*Contact Information:*
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Thanks for sharing. After my aliexpress order for 280ah cells got canceled I considered getting these "320ah" cells, but hesitated due lousy Aliexpress dispute process.
Excellent video, it's so good to see some 48V builds from you.
It sucks that the batteries are so poor of a quality but your taking the bullet for those people who might have gotten suckered into buying them. I cannot wait for your testing review of this pack. Also really looking forward to true Grade A cell pack video. :)
BTW might be a good idea to keep a charcoal based full face gas mask in your work shop just in case you need to get something out of there without breathing in any of the gas. You could buy an ST-100X or something better and get a good quality canister for it.
I’m new to solar. Is the reason you have a 48v system so you can use smaller cables and have higher capacity? Also, do you use 2 inverters to get 240vac or are there single inverters that will do the job? Lastly, how do you wire your panels to the charge controller and what is the wattage/voltage of the panels?
@@blueskies927
you can use single inverters to get 240 volt single phase
You have to get the right one though
The reason for 48 volt is it allows you to use smaller gauge cables but still be able to have high power loads
If you increase the voltage then current will be lower which allows the cables to be smaller
It's strange that they have 130 all positive reviews on the Aliexpress link. I read a few of them and they seem legit but who knows.
Will, it's obvious that you are the best solar energy content provider on TH-cam.
That's because of your unbiased methodical evaluation of manufacturer's products. Congratulations for
finding a way to support yourself and obviously have so much fun doing it, your enthusiasm is infectious.
(Infectious might be the wrong word to use at this time)
He isn't afraid to say something isn't good, if it isn't. I like that honesty.
I really like Wills positive attitude and honesty. I wish I could be as positive as Will, but after being around as long as I have it takes a toll on your optimism.
No it's not, best contest is off-grid-garage from my friend in sunny australia
Hi Will, glad you tested these 320Ah battery packs. there is a group of Batteries with 304/310/320 Ah which I have used in strings (2 * 16) now for a while on my (Growatt) Solar system and had very little to complain. One cell bloated very slightly (not like the ones you got) when I top balanced a string of 16 and the seller added one more immediately to the next shipping foc. I'm living in Northern Thailand, which is quite close to China and shipping takes only 2 to 3 weeks, so it is easy to order spare batteries and parts. To save space and to keep potential bloating in check I stack them vertically. 8 batteries are stacked on each other and so far it works. I just received another 32 304 Ah batteries after I made good experiences with the 304Ah variation, but I also ordered another 16 320Ah, simply as it was irresistible low priced for 1,250 USD including shipping to my doorstep (83 USD per kWh, unbeatable) and a similar stack from the same seller worked fine but I have no too high expectations, but then, you never know. I'm in the process to expand to two Growatt SPF 5000 ES with 5 X 16S 304/320Ah strings what should keep my house (including all ACs and pool and water pumps, etc, off the grid for a good time of the year and to keep the house bright during the many power cuts we experience here. All great fun.
This guy is determined. He is methodical. Unbiased. Most importantly he shows that he has a strong will to follow a logical path and find answers to questions that help us all. Yes, this Will is a strong will in search of the facts.
@Ben David just how boomers be when they get bricked up about something
You can make manufacturer change their design with a little critic which improve their products for all of us, great job
I did this exact same thing a few months ago with the cheapest 100ah LiFePO4 batteries I found on eBay. Took a 2-3 months to arrive just like these and look similar only smaller. I had purchased a sailboat that had been converted to electric, but the lead acid batteries were sulfated. I tried adding magic potions but no luck. Then I got the lithium batteries almost as a test since they were cheaper than lead acid of similar capacity and OMG The performance is fantastic on the boat. I am able to motor for an hour or more at normal maneuvering speeds. I have not done full endurance testing. I'll be adding a second bank eventually. I use the cheap flexible solar panels on the boat.
I started 3d printing cases for my lifep04 cells. So far, seems to work well keeping the cells compressed. Thank you for all of the work you have put into these videos. I built a 12v 280ah lifep04 battery for our camper.
Thanks for all our hard work Will.
That plastic box you have them in is it safe without having a small fan to take the heat outta the box if it gets any?
It's unbelievable how much I learn by watching your channel. Thank you so much!
This is the best solar channel on TH-cam. Subscribed.
I built my own 12V 280Ah battery inside a group 31 battery box using cells from Aliexpress about two months ago. They arrived with slight bloating, about 2mm gap between the cells, so it wasn't as bloated as your setup. I also bought a 200a daly smart bms for the cells at the same time. So far the battery has performed pretty well, have hooked up a 2000W inverter to them and the voltage drop was about 350 mV at 175A. Still a great difference between two sealed lead acid batteries which i had before and my current setup.
I can't believe how expensive the empty battery boxes are right now.
hi ,this is Aolithium battery ,we have some EVE battery cell in the stock right now ,3.2v 105/230/280/304 Ah with competitive price ,let me know if you need some
I've got 16 of the grade a batteries, building a 24v system. We are in a 5R, and are power hogs. Right now we're just building the system to see where can put and how it goes. Got a little under $2500 (200ah batteries) into so far, also using the overkill bms. I watch your videos, pause and take notes, want to thank you for what you do. We got room on roof for about 12 panels, our ac in basement, only 3 vents on roof, about 300sf for panels. So might use the used panels you had in a previous vid. Also using same container, but smaller, we put a barrier around the packs and then expanded foam in bottom of tote so they won't shift, batteries can be lifted out if necessary. Cause 5Rer's move.
I wouldn’t go with used panels if your that limited on space. Get the best panels that fit maybe even bifacial panels especially if your roof is white.
90% capacity at half price. Absolutely worth it.
Nice, I just built one with 280Ah cells, $2300 delivered with no problems. OYE store. Nice welded studs. Mine has been working great for months. Just ordered another 16 cells for a 28kWh pack.
I recently building a 12V 4 cells LiFePo battery to replace my lead acid battery for my boat. I bought from Taobo (Chinese version of Ali Express) from a company Jiali Technology. Cells are grade A and arrived in mint condition. The price is RMB 680 (USD 99) for one 310Ah cell. They can provide stronger packaging box for extra (USD $4). The problem I encountered is delivery from China to HK. Many courier companies refused to deliver lithium batteries. End of the day it has to be delivered to my friends home in Shenzhen China and I picked up myself and use a cross border van to deliver to HK. The delivery of the cells to my friend’s home is 3 days after placing order. Lucky I lived in HK and not US. I repeat an oder for 4 more cells yesterday.
I really appreciate how you thoroughly explain each step (the how, why and when). Great info sensei! I look forward to the next video :D
I love your channel. I feel like if I watch enough of it.. I will eventually understand all of it. Thanks for these!
I have purchased 64 of these cells. To compensate for slots in the bus bars I fitted brass washers below the busbar and contact washers under the nuts. To stabilised the connections I clamped them with bandit.
All my internal resistance were well below the list from Catl. They are allegedly grade A but some are slightly bulged. I top balanced and also fitted 2 amp active balance units to each pack. In time they hold a few millivolts.
I have a spreadsheet of all the initial values if anyone wants it.
Best DIY Solar Channel bar none.
so much great information by someone who goes the extra mile to be safe and cost conscious. i look forward to seeing more of your content.
And here's me waffling about buying a 100Ah for my camper... lol. All joking aside, your videos are a HUGE help for nOObs like me who really are totally new to battery technology, especially when it comes to Lithium. There are so many makes and suppliers out there now it is hard to try to decide where to start. Your videos help a lot.
Killer system WIll, I wish I had the spare $$ to put in a setup 1/2 that good in my place.
Always a good day when a new video comes out!
320Ah? Wow. Getting so big. Nice overview. Can't wait for the next one. Thanks for sharing.
Rearrange the letters of Will's last name and you get "Powers". Will Powers! Love your videos man. They are super informative and candid. By far thee best channel on the topic!!
You put out so much good information, I really enjoy your channel.
Makes me wish I could scrounge up $11k and get off the grid completely lol. This system would easily handle my usage 😊
@Glitch Inthematrix And energy production from nuclear fusion is only 10 years away.
And it has been 10 years away for like the last 60 years.
@yougotservedyo in my opinion it pays for it self as soon as you turn it on and you have energy independence
Sell your car
@Glitch Inthematrix with the US gov't currently hounding Chinese solar panels...it'll be a while
But you can easily find used 335 watt paela for ~$100, just look
How many years would 11k pay your Bill??
I was looking at these batteries, i really appreciate the tips and testing.
Let us know if you get them
I bought 32 of the 320ah for 3700 and were grade A!
@@nunyabusiness2191that's a whole lot of capacity for that price, i guess you'll be running a whole house on that
@@whateverthisis3929 this one is my smaller bank. I have 2500ah 48v total..i use for power and central air water heater and heating in spring and fall
Thank you for excellent videos, Will!
It seems, that flexible busbars will better fits for cell interconnections in the battery - it eliminates of expansion/contaction forces application to stud/busbar connections.
They call those cables
@@mfgxl, you mean short cable jumpers with cable lugs at its ends? Because, there are special flexible insulated busbars exists, which do not require cable lugs. These are avaible from Schneider Electric and othe brands.
I've been running a very similar pack of grade b bloated cells for 6 months (16KWH). No trouble. But I found better suppliers and get grade A cells for the same price. No bloating. Built a 64KWH grade A at same price per WH as my first grade B system.
What suppliers do you recommend?
Could you give a link to the grade A cells you bought?
@@con-king @Jeff R Great question. I don't know if there is a simple way to put this, but I don't know if it is as much a matter of supplier as it is context. The same supplier might treat people differently. A lot of them are supply constrained and are selling grade B to get by when they are out of stock on grade A.
Don't just buy a random item listing. You need to establish a relationship with a representative at the supplier by contacting them directly.
It takes time, first you buy a sample with a larger order contingent on the quality.
Pooling a few orders together to make a larger one puts you at the front of the line.
This sets the context that it is not worth the trouble trying to pull one over on you.
Good Luck.
@@justdoityourself7134 I'm game. How much do you charge for a killer deal with your supplier?
I have worked out how to use my Victron smart shunt to do capacity tests! Previously it shuts down and loses its reading when the bms shuts down- so Now I connect the smart shunt to the battery, then the BMS. So when the bms shuts down you can still see the A/h on the smart shunt!
I wish I had like 1% the knowledge of electricity and power management you have. I’ll keep watching to learn the other 99.5% 😁
Don’t just watch, build a small system yourself. You’d be amazed that the learning curve when you connect a little knowledge with actual practical application.
@@4philipp I have been more into soldering and power projects this year but on a tinkercad scale. Right now I am building a fume extractor and will stick to small 12v projects. Just not comfortable enough with electricity to try a larger scale project.
I have 16 280ah on their way. They claimed grade A. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the video.
I've been waiting for this video since January
Wow what a system! That's a serious lithium battery! Can't wait to see the other "secret" battery 😃😃😃
The forum has discussions on the aluminum cells, in addition to compression, or at least solid frame lockdown, they are concerned about electrically insulating separator between cells.
Are you not concerned for the wrap leakage?
I could but I've seen plenty of packs work fine without it. High vibration environment, then yeah. That would be smart idea.
Wow, for about $10K, you can build a big enough system to power most homes, to include charging a car and running HVAC. Imagine if every home had a system like this.
Agreed. Think back two decades and this would have been essentially 'unobtanium' let alone anything at 3 or even 4 times the price. To top it all, Will does this by himself in his home workshop. Props for that alone!!!!!
@@brianjrichman And to think I started out with 2 trolling motor batteries after the Loma Prieta 1989 earthquake. Stuff is getting better by the minute, cheaper in price, too. Bluetooth components are a real winner. Check your battery state from your couch.
You can get cells for cheaper than this. This is about $170 a kwh but you can get some for $120 a kwh. Used to be even cheaper a year ago.
We use 100 kWh a day in summer. My family are energy hogs 😭
@@jghall00 You would be paying almost 33 cents a kwh in California. By the first day or two you would be in Tier 2 billing. That would cost almost $1000 a month here. 26 cents kwh Tier1, 33 cents per kwh Tier 2.
So around 90% capacity, you might get another 4% from balancing. That's 0.18$ per Wh, not bad.
LithiumSolar's review of the same battery showed 96.5% capacity but that was after balancing.
I think they should do great for a Van/Solar build.
Thanks for the great review :)
Generally, what makes one battery or technology better for rv or solar or automotive systems? I’m guessing it has do for with the discharge depth? Or whatever it’s called. I know with some you can only use 50%, others are much more. But in theory could I use LiFePO4 in my car? Is it just not cost effective or is it not compatible?
@@Tommy-B. The LiFePO4 would start the car but it would cause your alternator to "fry" when charging because the batteries can absorb so much power. You would need to upgrade the alternator or put in an additional regulator to meter the charge output. (I think)
@@Tommy-B. It's not cost effective or compatible. You can't charge generic LiFePO batteries at low temps. If you want longetivity just avoid draining the battery or get a yellow top. Lead acid is used in cars because it's cost effective. Now my camper could use these cells, because it would benefit from the lower weight and higher depth of discharge. Different use case, as car batteries just start the engine or power accessories for brief periods.
@@Tommy-B. As I read it, Lithium batteries are only good for outputting about 100amps. But a car starter motor might require 500+ amps, so still using lead acid for high amp things.
@@sailingelectricgitana1286 LFP batteries can discharge at a 3C rate. For these 320 Ah cells that would be 960 amps. 4 in series makes an awesome 12 volt battery - except for the fact they can’t be safely charged below freezing. That rules them out unless you take special precautions to keep them in a insulated case with a thermostatically controlled low power heater.
Hi Will, thanks for the video and the test results. I'm also concerned about those studs. The base of the welded studs seem small and the contact area with the bus bar is relatively low. Can you let us know if the circular base of the studs are steel or aluminum? If it's steel then it's going to be a problem. Another thing we must note is that they might have welded the studs, not for our convenience, but to hide the scratched/used terminals from prior usage. Thanks in advance!
Had you considered adding bypass diodes in between cells to allow them to balance on every charge cycle? Is there any concern with that type of cell chemistry overheating and causing a thermal runaway, or fire propagating from one cell to the next? If so, you could put some thermal barriers in between, which would also provide the cells some room to expand.
Hi Will, I have given you many excellent recommendations these past few years. Thank you for all your valuable informative work.
Pretty awesome system. A far cry from the motorhome back in the day!
It's interesting to see your thought on these! Why didn't you order from a more well-known vendor though? I don't think it's fair to say they're 91% rated capacity when you didn't balance them. My concern with the compression is more to make sure the terminals don't break. I'm super paranoid about that happening. Do you think I'm worrying too much? What I ended up doing was very gently tightening the compression while at full SOC so that it's pretty much just holding them in place (not squeezing) which should allow them to decompress/compress normally without putting any force on the studs. Either way, I'm curious to see how yours are doing after a month or so. I haven't put mine in service just yet.
Yes that's exactly my thinking when I stated I want some compression to protect the terminal. I said it before I started building the pack.
Even the garbage cells I test usually pull full capacity lately, without any balancing. If they matched them at the factory, they should be at the same exact soc. But yeah, doesn't look like they matched them up. Will need some balancing for sure.
Yes, I'll cycle them a bunch and retest, then I'll be able to draw a conclusion. I found a new listing that looks way better. And the shipping is faster. $1000 more for this size pack, but they look great. And yes, I never tried this store before. Check out the spelling errors in the listing 😂😂 they were cheap though!
You are a very impressive human being. Keep up the great work.
Hi, Will. Thank you for sharing, it's really awesome. I'd like to ask you if it's safe to use such a bloated cells, that contract and expand so insanely. With regard to busbars and mounts and that internal compression issues. I mean they may not have the advertised capacity, but more than enough to cause a mayhem. What do you think?
It could blow the valve one day, but it is lifepo4, so not a big deal. I would never do this with a combustible chemistry. Lifepo4 and LTO is all I work with for this reason. I used to use other battery types, but those will burn your house down.
@@WillProwse Older video but seeing how cells may eventually start swelling it seems braided buss bars are the only way to go.
Excellent video! Sounds like your setup rocks dude. Thanks for the demo and the costs of all the equipment. Keeping rocking!
This was so over my head. But still interesting none the less.
Watch his earlier videos it's not as complicated as it looks.
That's another great video, I really love the way you explain everything, I also wanted to know what you think about BYD batteries pack HVM and HVS
The prismatic cells from Sky Energy/Calb and Thundersky/Winston always came with bolts and end plates to apply significant clamping force.
Yes of course. Those need it. I hated using those.
Dont over tight these studs they broke easily
I also share his concern with the small contact area of the studs, especially with large cells that could put out high currents.
Can you do a video of how you add additional packs to your system? for example how to add the 320ah cells to an existing 250ah pack and maybe an existing 200ah pack too
These video's are great. Thanks so much for showing us the good and bad of the batteries and equipment. I plan to build my off grid solar system and these video's are priceless. The size of that system would be perfect for my house.
I'd like to build a 300ah battery, going to do a campervan conversion here. My head's spinning from all the stuff I need to learn in order to do that. Decided to build a battery thanks to Will's videos. Huge thanks! One thing that scares me more than building a battery without experience is how much the Chinese sellers lie. How can you believe anything they write on Allie Express? They're all brand new grade A cells in the description, but who knows? Most of the sellers that ship down here to Brazil have sold only a few units on AE, so no client ratings or reviews...
Just buy a 300AH and that should be fine and simple
@@vanderumd11 That's what I'll do. I guess even if they send used ones, it should be OK for a van. Still studying what BMS I'm gonna need though.
@@jiri4023 you wouldn’t really need anything except a charge controller. The battery comes already built and ready. Trust me, way easier to just buy it already made.
That’s a decent low cost system.
What is your thought on multiple smaller systems for a home? Like one for critical appliances, a different one for lights, one for the workshop and so forth. I’m thinking here about system resilience. If one goes down, you only loose 1/4 or 1/3 of your supply and can still operate the others until parts are available.
You could also use an arduino to limit power consumption of a group of appliances. So there will always be enough juice for the critical appliances.
I could see the value in having a couple of smaller systems. IF you have a camper trailer/RV then it would make sense to integrate that system into your home system, and reduce the size requirement for your home system. When you take your RV (and RV solar/battery system) out camping, you can stand to raise the temperature for your AC in the home, and empty/disconnect your fridge to reduce home power usage while you're away.
Would it be worth making insulated links so that every adjacent pair of cells is bolted at both ends?
That would aid mechanical stability.
May you flourish now and in the future.
On a budget I ordered these about a week ago......aliexpress....considering thats over 15k of lithium power...honestly I will be satisfied 90 to 95 percent...still should get me above 12 k which was my target....let me know what you think.....this one is 48v 320 ah ....running a mr power 48v 5k all in one controller inverter.....I'm in Puerto Rico...my consumption is 400kilowatts per month...got 3500 in panels.......this is my second solar project...the first one was 24v off grid system I put in my house in the mountains....your videos were extremely helpful.....the system im putting together now is at my primary residence....thanks ....
your 3500 W panels will not provide enough to cover 400kWh for the month. This has not so much to do with the batteries (storage) you are using. I'm using similar types of batteries (in tropical sunny Northern Thailand) for our essential power supply. We are getting an average of 11 kWh/day out of 3.88 KW (monocrystal) Panels on the roof. For us, it is more important to bridge the powercuts we have here during the rainy season. So more storage means keeping the lights on for hours, if not days.
@@CarstenDohrmann thanks for your input ...but I get all day sun...literally 6 hours prime easy ...so just taking in ....3500 for 4 hours a day which I literally get more should get me 14 k easily...but if its becomes a issue might bump up to 4500 or 5000...but thanks for your input
@@CarstenDohrmann oh in my cabin in the mountain I'm getting 8k to 10k a day on 1440 watt array
Great video Will. As always, you make it easy to understand. Thanks for the knowledge
Excellent advice and review. Love your channel. Well done! All the best. Zen
Wow. Young and smart. Very smart. I’m so glad that you are so much into the subject and lot of knowledge. I want to really thank you for putting up this video and also looking forward to see more videos from you. God Bless and Cheers.
you should press together the batts, I read that this increases the life of the batts and you don't produce mechanical stress on the connectors
Overkill is now selling a 16 cell BMS. Just a heads up. :)
I am learning so much from you Will, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Good day Will. Could you please consider investigating graphene batteries? It is a fascinating potentially new tech addition. Your experience and understanding could really help people who are waiting for these batteries before adding solar backups with lithium batts. Thanks for the informative videos!
Tesla PW and PW2 (before 2022) are LiOn. The latest ones are LFP (LiFePO4) which don't catch on fire.
Well now I'm expecting a battery reveal video for those unreleased ones you are testing!
Will, You have some serious fault current available to you and i will stand to be corrected but those breakers may not be able to clear a fault of the available capacity , i believe you should consider using MCCB or HRC Fuses with a very high KA rating
Each bms has OCP, and a marine grade circuit breaker rated for this voltage. Why would it not?
There are 3 over current protection devices, and the voltage rating of the fets is 80V. Should be fine right?
, thanks for responding @@WillProwse I am probably a bit old school, relying on Mosfets for isolation & protection is something i am not used to from an industrial perspective, can you guarantee that the Mosfet will operate faster than the time current curve rating of the breaker ( Co-Ordination) as i see it the breaker should operate before the BMS if your using the breaker as a switch then its not really there for protection , So your saying the BMS circuit protection is there to protect the cable from overload and short circuit protection or just the battery ?, maybe you can tell me is the BMS set to protect the cable and the cable size greater than the Over Current & Short circuit protection of the BMS.
I must say in Industry the talk of fully electronic circuit breakers where you may find semiconductors being used is only just starting to appear with many regulators not accepting them yet , Industry does not yet have the confidence that isolation can be fully achieved and be reliable however i do know fault clearing times can be really fast , that's my understanding and maybe you are correct that the BMS is suitable
I just feel the protection should be off the Battery and be the primary form of protection with the BMS protecting the battery
I built one of these for my home, here in Ontario Canada the electricity price is cheapest during off peak hours, so I charge the system during the night and only pay .06/kwh . Save at least $2000/year
I really love the idea of coinminers as heating.
Lots of great info. For a while I thought large capacity battery banks were just out of budget for me since I don't make much. I didn't realize that you could buy these used ones
It's pretty incredible. I'm building a 14kwh power station for my parents RV. It's all wired into a breaker that sits inside the electrical compartment, then they run a 50amp plug into the RV shore power and charge the batteries with a generator using a growatt 5 in one.
The whole system is less than $3k
@@deejnutz2068 that's crazy hahaha. I'm thinking of adding some extra range to my 60 mile range Chevy Spark EV. If I can figure out some way to add the batteries in parallel without the car noticing that would be great
@@ryanatkinson2978 Don't even *think* about breaking apart a car's battery pack, messing with 400V DC and trying to add your own cells. You would be a danger to yourself and others on the roads too. If you must, then carry extra batteries to run an inverter to charge the car if you can't find a charging station.
Better option - just get a car with more capacity.
flexible cable or humped bars seems like the way to go
Great video Will! I've recommended your channel to another Survivalist TH-camr with a massive following, who's building a small solar system for her off-Grid Solar Van-conversion(one of her many projects!), she may well have been (or possibly will get in touch?) or perhaps just check out your videos, but I recommend you and your channel as the top Solar and Battery channel in my opinion by far!
Another great video! I'm learning more every video I check out of yours! So I look forward to seeing the results! I'm wanting to build my own system from the information I've learned/knowledge I've gained this past year, from your channel, but money is sticking point at the moment for battery cells and panels, but once that changes, I'm definitely intending to build my own battery bank and solar array to wire (possibly my house/workshop), but Most DEFINITELY an off-grid Van conversion that Im planning next year!(all being well! So thanks for all the information! Keep the great videos coming!!
Ps. I envy the entire set up you have there powering EVERYTHING you are and are intending to great idea the Bit Coin mining to heat the workshop!! (Genius Win win situation there!!) Great stuff!
Best regards from London England 👍💪😎🏴
Compression is important for all type of cells other than the cylindrical ones. The charge / discharge rate is not relevant as you seen they are expanded when fully charged and you do not want to have distance between plates in a cell and to accomplish that they will need to be compressed.
That blue sleeve is fairly thin and may be easily damaged so is best to have something between each cell like some thin silicone pads as they will offer both electrical isolation between cells as well as some elasticity for when cells expand and contract.
This are probably 280Ah cells not sure why they are advertised as 310 or 320Ah. I also order some of this blue 280Ah cells to do some testing as currently this are almost the only option considering the cost per kWh and. The ones I got should have square terminals and then soldered on top what look like aluminium cylinders that are taped. I also do not like that they drill the connectors as they where not designed for that.
Do you have a source for silicone pads?
This dude is a solar and battery electricity God!
Nice I needed to see this because I need to build one of these to power a glass shop and kiln.
IMPORTANT: So, 3 months to get it. The credit card only give money back in 60 days. What if they don't send you the batteries or the ship captured by Pirate or so ? do they still send you replace or give money back? thanks
When you have an option to purchase new for $6k, and DIY for $2k, I think you won't complain of 10% capacity loss.
Realize that using two 24v BMS's in series likely have MOSFET cutout switches with Vds_breakdown voltage suitable for a 24v battery (likely 40v MOSFET's) but not for a 48v stack. When one BMS cuts open then it will be subjected to the 48v stack voltage.
Same issue applies to self contained 12v w/ BMS. If you stack them you need to make sure their BMS has breakdown voltage capable of total series stack voltage. If the 12v battery spec does not state what their stacking capability it then assume they cannot be stacked.
Oh I know. They have voltage rating of 80V. They are designed to be put in series to 48V.
We talk about that alot in my videos. Maybe you're new here. Welcome
I run folding at home for heating in winter 🙂
When I first started looking at LiFePO4 as an option for sailboats, $11,000 was low for a small system for a sailboat!
10:49 most 2021 thing I've heared so far 🤣
Hi Will,
I have a question and maybe you can do a video about this topic. A lot of all-in one inverters will only work with the batteries if they have a RS485 connection. Do you know about any BMS with a build in RS485 port that will communicate with the most known inverters? And what setting do you use for your Growatt inverter when you connect your DIY lifepo4 batteri banks?
Will I just ordered 16 Grade A (brand new) 320Ah batteries from Aliexpress. I gotta tell you I am super nervous about what I'm going to get. Anyway, watching your 48v battery build really helped me to pull the trigger on the whole DIY build. Thanks and please keep the videos coming.
Will is going to power all of Nevada soon... this is awesome
What do you think of the Basen Green kits? Have you done a review on those?
Have you considered fabricating and spring loaded battery rack instead of tape?
Can you do a video on using hybrid batteries for solar
Lol bro that size battery bank is great for almost any house in Jamaica. I'm gonna look into getting these and offering them in the systems my company builds and sells down here
Would have like a update in the description to the followup on how the Ah changed over a month of use
could you do a video on just BMSs that we can use for various voltages?
I really like the storage container you put the batteries in (red n black) if I am unable to put my EB455 or Bluetti AC200P indoors for a while I’d like a good waterproof container I can store them in. I didn’t see the storage bin on your list of where to buy… I am 70 and I am still learning… can you or anyone help please… thank you
thumbs up for those speakers. They are a 2.1 beast
My middle name is Errol. Cool to see you have the same name. And yeah, they are awesome speakers
cell voltage at fully charged and fully discharge would be nice to see how balanced the cells are.
Why don't you use braided copper connectors for expanding and contracting batteries?
This is my first video I watched about how to build a home battery. Quite amazing and it seems quite doable. Have a background in electrical engineering, but one thing I would be worried about is how to build a safe system, that doesn’t go up in flames, and with that, your house. Can you elaborate about the safety aspects? If you run such system over 12-15 years, what are the components that can fail? I can buy LiFePO4 batteries here that have a built in fire extinguisher.
Also I was wondering why you don’t have any ventilation on your enclosure.
Lifepo4 is pretty safe. Build with them. Don't compress grade B cells.
Eve 280ah cells, from Eve, are currently $105 each. Grade A new. So this build would probably be much cheaper today. Something like a 105ah mobile power station DIY build would be interesting now. Orient Power has a DIY bms/ panel, which has the SOC/SOH display, but is that the only way to get a DIY display? I would think that today's BMS offerings would also be improved.
regarding the BMS - could you have used a larger one (eg: 20s BMS) and just doubled up the last few leads?
the battery cell cores that have been treated at the top of the pile - all old goods - are disassembled from the electric vehicle, showing signs of swelling,
Yes, very nice! I have no idea what is going on yet interesting!
I plan to get ur book Will, i expect that will bring me up to speed!!!
Your link to the cheap cells from today goes to a Sanbren page that says brand new cells. Is this the seller you talked about towards the end of the video for brand new cells or is this the seller that sold you the grade B stuff used in this video? Thanks for all you do for those of us interested in building our own battery bank.
No, the first one IS the one I used. They lied to me.
They estimated cost of $11k did not include the 7000 Watts of solar panels right?
Whooly Cow!! What a monster power supply!!!!