Victron Energy: Alternator/Solar Charging - LFP Battery System

[shade]

Looks like Victron released an update that has a fixed absorb time for LFPs now, yay

That's a lot of updates. Are they usually responsive on the update front? From their forums, it looks like they are.

one would hope it had a shunt internally so BMS would be capable of disconnecting on overload situations.. but perhaps they just use thermal monitoring for that? shrug.

Maybe, but I wonder how many BMVs they'd sell if anyone could Velcro an old phone to a bulkhead and run the BT app instead. Considering the downside of losing any kind of interface, I should probably leave a BMV on the list. I really don't see myself ever buying a Color Control GX or anything similar.

 

[dreadlocks]

Yeah they are super responsive and have high quality control, I been hearing about some of these features/fixes since April but they crammed so much into this release they set themselves up for months of regression testing.

That fixes my biggest complaint about my SmartSolar, now I can set a fixed absorb and it will balance the cells daily even when I'm putting very low discharges on it sitting idle.. whereas before with their dynamic algorithm I don't think I was doing much balancing until I started discharging it deeper.. a few weeks of idle keeping fridge going was just the kind of load that would start causing cells to get out of balance.

This will also fix most of the issues w/multiple solar chargers, dont seem they added the syncing of smart solar's yet but they have been working on it.. It seems pretty complex so I'm not concerned it was not in this release.

 

[shade]

I see a lot of questions about their new DC-DC chargers that are supposed to be formally announced in November. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with compared to lower priced options.

Time for bed. I wanted to get that diagram done last night, but I was too busy. Thanks to both of you for the help.

 

[Wyuna]

I’m looking forwards to seeing what their new DC-DC range is when released.

Im expecting a good range of units with high amp charging for large lithium banks.

 

[1leglance]

I am really really enjoying this thread since Victron looks to be who I will be working with on my SEMA Transit van.
Redarc is willing to give me a Manager 30 at 50% off (so $600) which is a really nice almost all in one solution. But that is still a bunch of money and the more I think about it the more it would be hard to convince anyone to spend $1200 on a Manager 30

I am emailing back and forth with the US side of the company and they are great also. Jason at Northern Arizona Wind & Solar has also been amazing. He helped me setup my Tacoma with a residential panel into a 75/15 Victron Solar Controller the BMS (which has a shunt).....which I paid full retail for and love...thus the reason I was glad they said yes to this project.

Since my system sounds much like what Shade is putting together I will play with his draw.io and show what is currently being recommended to me. This is a really good thread so keep the info flowing and if I can ask any questions back up the Victron chain please let me know.

 

[TantoTrailers]

Interesting read and good learning as I am beefing up my electrical in my rig! Keep it up

 

[1leglance]

Not trying to thread Hi-jack and I will delete this if Shade minds but I figure this adds to the whole Victron thread....
Here is what I understand Victron telling me to use....with the understanding I never use an inverter so I wanted just a battery charger for shore power.
And they offered their Color Control GX panel for people at events to play with all the info vs using my phone But honestly I think a cheap craiglist smartphone would be a neat demo
Full Disclosure I am not sure how much of this I will pay retail vs discount vs partnership but I will make sure everyone knows before I sing any praises

 

[dreadlocks]

75/15 is about half the size you need for that solar panel, and one of the advantages of LFP is its ability to quickly recharge.. which a 25A charger is not really a fast charge for a 150AH LFP when you could charge it with 60A.. its like difference of running a genset or driving for a few hours vs all day.

 

[shade]

Not trying to thread Hi-jack and I will delete this if Shade minds but I figure this adds to the whole Victron thread....
Here is what I understand Victron telling me to use....with the understanding I never use an inverter so I wanted just a battery charger for shore power.
And they offered their Color Control GX panel for play with all the info vs using my phone But honestly I think a cheap craiglist smartphone would be a neat demo
Full Disclosure I am not sure how much of this I will pay retail vs discount vs partnership but I will make sure everyone knows before I sing any praises


View attachment 539648eople at eventscould

I don't mind. I populated the first few posts of the thread so I can keep those updated and refer back to them, regardless of whatever else is discussed.

If you're looking for a way to create diagrams, draw.io is pretty slick.

 

[1leglance]

75/15 is about half the size you need for that solar panel, and one of the advantages of LFP is its ability to quickly recharge.. which a 25A charger is not really a fast charge for a 150AH LFP when you could charge it with 60A.. its like difference of running a genset or driving for a few hours vs all day.

So this is great, I thought since the panel specs
LG360Q1C-A5 Specifications:

• Module power: 360 Watts
• Number of cells: 60
• Power tolerance: -0/+3 Watts
• Vmp: 36.5 Volts
• Voc: 42.7 Volts
• Imp: 9.87 Amps
• Isc: 10.79 Amps
• Module efficiency: 20.8%
• Dimensions (inches): 66.93" x 40.0" x 1.57"
• Dimensions (mm): 1700 x 1016 x 40
• Weight: 40.79 lb.

That 15amp would be good......what is recommended in the Victron lineup

And the Victron Inverter / Charger that seems like it would put in more amps are HUGE things for a 130in wheelbase low roof camper van
My Tacoma with a 300w panel into a Victron 75/15 into 2 group 31 AGM has no shore power and works great...would it be the difference between Lithium and AGM then?

 

[1leglance]

I don't mind. I populated the first few posts of the thread so I can keep those updated and refer back to them, regardless of whatever else is discussed.

If you're looking for a way to create diagrams, draw.io is pretty slick.

Thanks for letting me play also as I am sure others will reference this thread as it has a great title......the draw.io website is way cool and I am sure I will spend way way too much time there....thanks for that

 

[dreadlocks]

360W @ 12V = 30A..

The panel's rating of 36V is 10A..

Watts = Volts * Amps

15A @ 12V is only 180W.. you are leaving a whole lot of panel off the table.. if you read the victron manual it says 220W is Nominal, ie add a bit of overhead into it so its easier to achieve 15A output:


Its okay to oversize solar on an undersized battery bank, but oversizing solar on an undersized controller is not a great design to say the least.. both LFP and your dual AGM would appreciate higher charge rates than 15A to realize the bulk of their benefits. (pun intended), this would be acceptable on say a 100AH FLA battery perhaps, but not those.

 

[1leglance]

360W @ 12V = 21A..

The panel's rating of 36V is 10A..

Watts = Volts * Amps

15A @ 12V is only 180W.. You are leaving 6A (72W) off the table.

So it looks like they make a 20A and 30A so this would be the one eh?
Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 Solar Charge Controller 12/24VDC at 30 Amps

 

[dreadlocks]

my maths was wrong, I'm a lil too tipsy.. reread, its 30A.. you'll want the 30A smart solar.

Ive got a fixed 325W panel @ 70V on a SmartSolar 100/30 and LFP Battery, does quite awesome.. input amperage is 5-6A, output is like ~25A+ in good sun.. I've seen full 325W output w/my setup this summer, that was pretty damn cool.

 

[luthj]

Since the victron solar controller is connected to the comm bus, do you even need a charge disconnect? You have one for the alternator, and then use a single master disconnect for load/charge as a last layer of defense. Obviously there are reasons to have load/charge disconnects separate, but you are unlikely to regularly run the battery down low enough to benefit from the separation. If you do draw the battery down to disconnect state, you would need to manually enable the disconnect to start charging. This has some value I think, as you will be immediately alerted to any possible issue.