Lt.Dan
Solar Wizard
Depends on how much money you want to spend on wiring, and what is an acceptable voltage drop for you
EG4 14.3kWh PowerPro WallMount AllWeather Lithium Battery | 48V 280Ah
- Thread starter Rocksnsalt
- Start date
cs1234
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- May 9, 2022
- Messages
- 2,464
@SignatureSolarJames
I know the spec sheets list some pretty high temperatures for ambient.. but..
My power meter and meter box are on the south side of my house and are hit with the full unshaded sun almost all day long. Can the 18kpv and these batteries stand up to full sunlight in 105-110 degree Texas sun? I assume that your company, being in Texas, have tested them under these exact conditions and found them to work flawlessly, but your personal assurance would be cool.
I'm considering building some sort of shaded enclosure with fans on that side of my house, but these darn HOA's don't like nothing.
I know the spec sheets list some pretty high temperatures for ambient.. but..
My power meter and meter box are on the south side of my house and are hit with the full unshaded sun almost all day long. Can the 18kpv and these batteries stand up to full sunlight in 105-110 degree Texas sun? I assume that your company, being in Texas, have tested them under these exact conditions and found them to work flawlessly, but your personal assurance would be cool.
I'm considering building some sort of shaded enclosure with fans on that side of my house, but these darn HOA's don't like nothing.
Yes, 40 feet of 4/0 isn't cheap, but it's a one time purchase, at least.
I would never consider mounting $10k batteries outside. For environmental and security reasons.
I'd also be worried about safety/liability issue too if someone messed with them. Someone could completely shut me down if the disconnected my battery.
I might buy one of these to try in my auxillary backup solar array.
I would never consider mounting $10k batteries outside. For environmental and security reasons.
I'd also be worried about safety/liability issue too if someone messed with them. Someone could completely shut me down if the disconnected my battery.
I might buy one of these to try in my auxillary backup solar array.
SignatureSolarJames
Try Solar, the Grid will always take you back
Direct south facing sun is never recommended. You can get a privacy fence wrap-around or other cover types
cs1234
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- May 9, 2022
- Messages
- 2,464
I was kind of figuring as much. I've been thinking of extending my fence all the way up to the front of my house foundation anyway.
TheHappyNomads
New Member
The unmarked units are intriguing to me as I am not going to grid - tie them However, you would think they would be marked down a bit more than the pre-order marked units... 
BlueMarblePA
Solar Enthusiast
Another option is to mount the Solark 15k outdoors next to the batteries and just run longer AC wires?
Lt.Dan
Solar Wizard
That would be smarter, and less costly in wiring.
This is a concern I have as well. The EG4 Lifepower4's range is 33⁰F to 137⁰F. However, EG4 6500EX inverters decrease their abilities at 105⁰ F IIRC.
Alkaline
Solar Wizard
its the exact opposite, if you live in North you have all weather, if you live in the south well I guess for 3 days of cold we have out of the year you would be ok... The rest of the time it would be hot.
Alkaline
Solar Wizard
Yeah make it really easy for thieves to take it, they won't even have to break in. No way I would put something like this outside. No Way!
So using 4 parallel kits for 5p as shown in my attached cartoon would be a no-go?
Maybe add an extra parallel kit between each end battery and intermediate battery?
Attachments
Last edited:
PreppenWolf
Solar Addict
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2022
- Messages
- 933
Cross posting my interest from Will's thread below. @SignatureSolarJames is there any data on this?
I would really like to know more about the heating performance in cold weather. Hard data on total daily power consumption if in 20F, 10F, 0F conditions. I see the spec sheet has 223W listed for the heater, but that's not enough info to judge performance. How insulated the box?
I'm building a cabin on my property that will be insulated but not heated and have its own 3kW solar system. I'm currently planning on lead acid due to the temps here in NH, but if the power consumption is reasonable for a full day at colder temps I'm willing to panel up some and/or do a secondary insulation cabinet to go LiFePO4.
I would really like to know more about the heating performance in cold weather. Hard data on total daily power consumption if in 20F, 10F, 0F conditions. I see the spec sheet has 223W listed for the heater, but that's not enough info to judge performance. How insulated the box?
I'm building a cabin on my property that will be insulated but not heated and have its own 3kW solar system. I'm currently planning on lead acid due to the temps here in NH, but if the power consumption is reasonable for a full day at colder temps I'm willing to panel up some and/or do a secondary insulation cabinet to go LiFePO4.
K2mannn
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
- Messages
- 19
A battery pack can be located a long distance away, you will just need to have larger diameter wires the further away. You always want as low of resistance in the wires as practical, the lower the better. The resistance of the wire causes a power loss proportional to the square of the current. With large enough wire, you can locate it as far away as you want. Look up the DC resistance of your available wire sizes. Wires can always be paralleled if you need lower resistance.
K2mannn
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
- Messages
- 19
Just need to protect it with some of my Human Glue Boards
@SignatureSolarJames I've been thinking about this some more, would the attached picture show a better 5p configuration? I just don't know if the EG4 18kPV needs to be connected to a single battery pack or not; you mentioned needing bus bars, etc. for > 3p, so I assume no? Just trying to understand what you envisioned/recommend for a 5P configuration with a single 18kPV?
This layout could accommodate doubling the parallel kits between the batteries as well, would there be any benefit to that?
I'd like to use the pre-made parallel kit connections and leads and minimize the need for additional equipment/work/costs as much as possible; saving install effort, being plug and play, and the 10 year warranty makes an attractive bundle.
I'm currently planning my system and was going to build my batteries because the lifepro4 server rack batteries just weren't quite what I wanted; apparently I wasn't the only one thinking this because the powerpro announcement last week forced me back to the drawing board on my utility room layout, and has made the decision to build vs. buy much harder ?.
Attachments
SignatureSolarJames
Try Solar, the Grid will always take you back
the 5P approach you have is fine, the total max draw is only 50A/Battery
I would use the included 39-inch cables and just pull off the central battery, the line losses across the bus are too low IMO to justify the extra cable run
SignatureSolarJames
Try Solar, the Grid will always take you back
3 deep either way, 5 total
that is 71kwh before you use bus bars and should be good for most applications
neutrinostar
New Member
Isn't this rebrand of same battery GSL has. https://cdnsolar.ca/products/gsl-en...40a-ul1973-ce-emc-51-2v-280ah-lifepo4-lithiumWow.
All Weather. (Well, maybe not “All”)
Comprehensive Certifications.
Please tell me more…
EG4 PowerPro WallMount AllWeather Lithium Battery | 48V 280Ah | 14.3kWh LiFePO4 | All-Weather Energy Storage | UL1973, UL9540A
EG4 PowerPro WallMount AllWeather Lithium Battery | 48V 280Ah | 14.3kWh LiFePO4 | All-Weather Energy Storage | UL1973, UL9540Asignaturesolar.com
And in case you missed Will Prowse’s videos on this battery:
Can get it Canada for 7K in some stores, self-heated as well. However GSL can parallel up to 16. This one is limited to 3.
Rocksnsalt
Solar Enthusiast
So… $7k Canadian is $5186 US (today).
The Signature Solar battery is $4000 US +shipping.
Not sure how that works out.
But if you need to put more than three together, awesome, go for it. ????
Similar threads
