I kind of saw the writing on the wall a few years back. The incumbent installer for all the off-grid islands around me installed dozens of HUP systems over the last 5 years. Now he is gone, and I am actively removing them and installing LFPs. Most of them have been abused, so they're 6,000-pound bricks in elevated equipment buildings at very remote sites. Not fun.
As much as I loved these batteries for some early off-grid jobs I did, the modularity, expandability, lack of maintenance, monitoring insight, and weight of LFP is too much to ignore. Not perfect, for sure, but overall it's better for my situation. Incidentally, I think Tommy lived about 30 minutes away from me, in Placida, FL, near Boca Grande. I seem to recall picking up a HUP battery bank at his shop for my father's house in the Caribbean about a decade ago. Seems like yesterday, but also a million years ago in some ways! I just removed a battery from an island that I bought from him in 2010, but it had already been replaced a few years back and was just waiting for a barge to remove it. It lasted about 12 years, though. Hard to argue with that performance! Jason Szumlanski Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP) Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956 Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208 On Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 4:54 PM Chris Daum via RE-wrenches < [email protected]> wrote: > Yes, I’ve been selling these since 2007. Damn good batteries; I did hear > from Tommy in a roundabout fashion; THE contact person at Enersys is Jammie > Bednarek, 484-203-8660, and her e-mail is [email protected]. > If you have a bunch of these batteries out there, take note! > > > > And thanks for your input. > > > > Chris Daum > > Oasis Montana Inc. > > 406-777-4309 > > > > *From:* RE-wrenches <[email protected]> *On > Behalf Of *Ray Walters via RE-wrenches > *Sent:* Wednesday, June 17, 2026 12:33 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Cc:* Ray Walters <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Solar One HUP batteries > > > > We were a distributor for the HUP Solar One for almost 2 decades. > Enersys, the parent company, decided to pull the plug on the entire HUP > line, due to reduced demand for lead acid batteries, and then the 2025 > Tariffs were the final blow. We were told to pull all advertising, and > mention of what was a great battery. I don't know what to say about a > replacement cell, other than to contact Enersys directly and try to work > through the chain of command. > > Tommy retired with that, so is no longer a contact point, and I really > don't have anything to offer either. A bad cell is highly unusual with the > HUPs, I only saw that on a system where the owners were not able to get to > one of the cells, and so it went dry. I've recovered cells by charging > them vigorously with a large automotive charger set to 6 v, and just put > that across the terminals of the individual cell while charging the whole > system as well. > > Also, the HUPs need a pretty high charge rate to bring the cells to full > SG. Depends on the model, but the minimum charge rate can be as high as 200 > amps for the largest model. I've attached a spec sheet with minimum charge > rates listed. Basically if you aren't getting close to those charge rates, > you can end up with sulfation damage long term. I've almost always been > able to recover HUPs, but it might take 2 days of EQing at very high > voltages (62 v @ 48v nominal) nothing will happen, and then finally the SG > will start moving. > > Ray Walters > Remote Solar > > On 6/17/2026 11:59 AM, Dana Orzel via RE-wrenches wrote: > > Chris I am on the Solar One If no reply let em know I can dive into my > battery box & look at ID & Data > > > > > > _________________________________________________________ > > Dana Orzel GREAT SOLAR WORKS! > > C – 208.721.7003 E – [email protected] > > W - www. greatsolarworks.com www.solarwork.com > > *“Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988!”* > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > > > List Address: [email protected] > > > > Change listserver email address & settings: > > 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/[email protected]/ > > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > > > List rules & etiquette: > > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > > > Check out or update participant bios: > > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > 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/[email protected]/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
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