HI William, Yes the FM-100 has no problem with keeping the volts pretty tight and i’ve not heard of any lithium related issues, and someone is bound to chime in if there are.
jay > On May 8, 2024, at 9:39 AM, William Miller <will...@millersolar.com> wrote: > > Jay: > > I am considering ditching the Sunny Boys and installing 2 Outback FM100s. It > seems to me this might solve a few problems: > > 1. The cc should voltage clamp and prevent over voltage when the batteries go > higher Z. > 2. The CCs should start up at lower voltages as soon as the sun comes out. > 3. One of the FM 100s could be configured to drive an AGS relay. > 4. The operation would be voltage dependent, not SOC dependent. > > My concern is the shallow voltage/charge curve. Can I set this system fine > enough to work reliably? > > Has anyone used Outback charge controllers with lithium batteries? Any > advice? > > > William Miller > Miller Solar.com > 805-438-5600 > www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/> > > > On Wed, May 8, 2024 at 8:30 AM jay <jay.pe...@gmail.com > <mailto:jay.pe...@gmail.com>> wrote: > Hi William, > > Since the SOC isn’t being reliable maybe due to not charging correctly? > > I would recommend going to volts for the relay driver. Thats why I suggested > the tristar with RD-1. > Because really volts at full is the most accurate. > Not knowing how many PV inputs you could do a cascade. > > > jay > >> On May 8, 2024, at 9:00 AM, William Miller <will...@millersolar.com >> <mailto:will...@millersolar.com>> wrote: >> >> Jay: >> >> Thank you for taking the time. >> >> We are doing just what you suggest as an interim solution. >> >> The shortcoming of this work-around is that the highest setting for this >> relay function is 90% SOC. This may not be high enough to recalibrate the >> BMS units. And again, relying on SOC to drive operational decisions becomes >> problematic when one can’t rely on the accuracy of the SOC value. >> >> >> William Miller >> Miller Solar.com <http://solar.com/> >> 805-438-5600 >> www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/> >> >> >> On Wed, May 8, 2024 at 7:16 AM jay <jay.pe...@gmail.com >> <mailto:jay.pe...@gmail.com>> wrote: >> A possible fix. >> >> You could run a DC relay on the SB PV input that would be voltage triggered >> to prevent the battery volts from getting higher than you want. >> >> The SI has 2 aux relays I think? Or could do a tristar with RD-1 relay that >> has 4 channels. >> >> Just a thought >> >> jay >> >>> On May 7, 2024, at 11:11 PM, William Miller via RE-wrenches >>> <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>> <mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>> wrote: >>> >>> Friends: >>> >>> I am still wrestling with problems integrating a Sunny Island / Sunny Boy >>> AC coupled system to a set of 5 E-vault Max battery cabinets. >>> >>> As a refresher, with closed loop comms, the Frequency Shift Power Control >>> system is not working, or not working quickly enough, and when nearing full >>> charge, the voltage can spike up to 66 volts and the SI system shuts down. >>> Fortress has told me in a roundabout way that they agree this is a real >>> problem and they are working on a solution. >>> >>> Another problem has reared its head: If the E-Vaults do not get charged >>> fully every 5 to 7 days, the BMS units SOC value becomes radically out of >>> calibration. The E-vault will report a higher SOC than is realistic. The >>> SI system starts the generator based on SOC and if the SOC is reported as >>> high the generator don’t start. Sooner rather than later the battery >>> voltage gets too low and the system shuts down. >>> >>> I have been tweaking on the settings like days-since-full-charge to attempt >>> to get this cycle to stop. No definitive answer yet. >>> >>> Here is the reason I am writing: Yesterday I could not get the Sunny >>> Islands to start. The battery voltage was 46 which should have been enough >>> but for some reason they just would not start. Because of this I could not >>> charge the batteries from generator or from AC coupled solar. I called SMA >>> but they told me they could not advise because of the non-compatible >>> batteries. I asked about the emergency charging procedure in the manual >>> but I was told this does not work with lithium batteries. The process is >>> pretty scary anyway so I was not inclined to try. >>> >>> SMA told me I may need an external 48 volt charging system. I have heard >>> of this being required in certain scenarios by wrenches. This would be a >>> huge pain in the ass: ordering one, waiting for it, hooking it up, etc. >>> >>> Here is what I did: I initiated the Quick Start Configuration mode and >>> told the SI system there was a new battery bank. I told it the bank was a >>> very small VRLA battery. The SI system accepted the 46 volts, started up >>> and allowed a generator charge. After an hour or so we reprogrammed the >>> system for lithium and problem resolved, at least for now. >>> >>> Hopefully this trick may help one of you some day. If it does, it was >>> worth my time typing it out. >>> >>> William >>> >>> Miller Solar >>> 17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422 >>> 805-438-5600 >>> www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/> >>> CA Lic. 773985 >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >>> >>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >>> <http://re-wrenches.org/> >>> >>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>> <mailto:RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> >>> >>> Change listserver email address & settings: >>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>> <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> >>> >>> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the >>> other: >>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >>> <https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/> >>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>> <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> >>> >>> List rules & etiquette: >>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >>> <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> >>> >>> Check out or update participant bios: >>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/> >
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