One nice thing about the 15 cell vs the 16 cell is that the LBCO settings for older inverters will work fine. I haven't used HomeGrid yet, but it's a good advantage for drop-in replacements with older inverters. I've used a Chinese battery called FNS for this reason. It operates between 47V and 51.7V. Seems to work very well if you can keep all devices calibrated.
Enjoy the weekend! On Sat, Apr 15, 2023 at 8:49 AM Kienan Maxfield via RE-wrenches < re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote: > Howie, > > I don't have experience with HomeGrid, but I have a well respected friend > (Jason Lerner) who loves them. > > I have had awesome experiences with Fortress, and I have been looking for > a chance to try HomeGrid as well. I think the stack idea is really cool!! > > I know that this is extremely nit-picky... The only thing I've seen so far > that I don't like about HomeGrid is that they use 15 cells in series > instead of the standard 16 cells. This just means that the voltages will be > lower than what I'm used to, and amperage will be a little higher. It's not > a big deal, everything will still work great, but I like the higher voltage > of a 16 cell bank. I just have all the numbers memorized for a 16 cell > battery bank, and while you should always double check the manufacturer's > instructions, it's nice to know off the top of your head if the numbers are > appoximately correct. > > When Fortress released their new inverterter that's essentially the same > as the Solark (comes from the same factory), Solark got mad and they pushed > out a new non-voluntary firmware update that broke the Modbus communication > with Fortress. People didn't even know that the Firmware had changed. All > they knew is that suddenly, their system wasn't working and it was shutting > down randomly. It worked one day, didn't work the next. Fortress made a > new firmware to communicate with Solark via canbus instead, so everything > is working great again now. I don't know if Solark is finished with their > vendeta against Fortress, but if Solark figures out a way to cause trouble > again, then anyone with a Fortress-Solark combo could experience a coms > disruption again... I really don't believe this was an accident on Solark's > part. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that Solark isn't mad at > HomeGrid right now, so that might be a better bet. I personally don't use > Solark. I'm leary of a company who pushes out Firmware updates that break > things. > > One question, does HomeGrid officially support combining new batteries > with old batteries? Fortress does not, they say in their documentation that > you shouldn't mix different ages of batteries together. I could be wrong, > but my understanding is that it should actually be fine, but the SOC will > be different on the different ages of batteries... particularly when the > batteries are between 30% and 80%. They'll be more tight with eachother > near the top and the bottom of their ranges, but they'll drift in the > middle. So I think it's fine to mix them like that, but I'm wondering if > HomeGrid specifically says it's okay or if they specifically say not to do > it? > > Thanks, > Kienan > > *Green-Go Solar Distribution LLC* > > *Maxfield Solar LLC (installation and consulting company)* > > *maxfieldso...@hotmail.com <https://maxfieldso...@hotmail.com/>* > > *(801) 631-5584(Cell)* > > *distribution.solar* > ------------------------------ > *From:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org> on behalf > of Howie Michaelson via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> > *Sent:* Friday, April 14, 2023 3:03 PM > *To:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> > *Cc:* Howie Michaelson <howie.michael...@gmail.com> > *Subject:* [RE-wrenches] HomeGrid Battery Experience > > Hi All, > I am looking to upgrade an offgrid client's battery bank from 2-volt Rolls > KS17s to LiFePO4 batteries. I'm basically looking at one Fortress eVault > Max cabinet vs. a HomeGrid 4 stack option. I have used the eVault Maxs > before, and generally like them. The 2 options are relatively equivalent > cost and size. The advantage of the eVault is that I've used them with > good success several times, and they have a better listed warranty (6,000 > cycles vs. 4,000, slightly more favorable end of life capacity retention). > The reason I am considering the HomeGrid is because the promise of more > incremental increases if that becomes a need (4.8 kWh blocks vs. 18.5 kWh) > and the promised ease of adding up to another 4 blocks with apparently > little or no effort compared to the need for a whole other large battery > connection. These will be matched up to an existing Sol-Ark 12k inverter. > If anyone has any experience with the HomeGrid (positive or negative), or > experience with both brands, I'd love to hear any feedback. I hate > installing equipment I haven't used before! 😕 > Thanks, > Howie > > *Howie Michaelson **Sun Catcher* > > *NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™ * > > *Solar Electric Systems Sales & Service 802-272-0004* > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > 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/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ > 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 > > -- Mac Lewis *"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates*
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org 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/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ 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
