Dagoth Ur Does Solar
Solar Enthusiast
I currently have a single 12V 230Ah LiFePO4 battery in my system, with a BMS rated for 200A of continuous current. I have been considering, in the future, adding additional capacity, of at least 1 more, but up to 3 more of the same battery, so that I can have a couple of days of powering light critical loads (i.e. chest freezer).
I have been thinking about the best way to wire this up, as well as fusing my batteries. My understanding is each positive lead to the battery would ideally have a fuse (in case the overcurrent protection of the BMS fails).
Here's my ignorant question: When paralleling 4 batteries, how do you determine the amperage rating of the busbar used for connecting all the batteries? I assume this would not need to be the compared amperage, right? If I had a 400A max continuous discharge load from inverters/other devices, I would want to rate the busbar for 400A + a safety margin, correct? It wouldn't need to be 800A (summing the BMS' amp rating), right? Could I just grab a 500A quality busbar and call it a day?
Question two: It looks like most busbars for higher amperages tend to only have 4 terminal posts. If I had four batteries, ideally, I would need at least a 5 post busbar to account for my positive and negative leads heading off to the rest of the system, right?
I have been thinking about the best way to wire this up, as well as fusing my batteries. My understanding is each positive lead to the battery would ideally have a fuse (in case the overcurrent protection of the BMS fails).
Here's my ignorant question: When paralleling 4 batteries, how do you determine the amperage rating of the busbar used for connecting all the batteries? I assume this would not need to be the compared amperage, right? If I had a 400A max continuous discharge load from inverters/other devices, I would want to rate the busbar for 400A + a safety margin, correct? It wouldn't need to be 800A (summing the BMS' amp rating), right? Could I just grab a 500A quality busbar and call it a day?
Question two: It looks like most busbars for higher amperages tend to only have 4 terminal posts. If I had four batteries, ideally, I would need at least a 5 post busbar to account for my positive and negative leads heading off to the rest of the system, right?