Changing over to lifepo

[Cabin Rising]

At my cabin I currently have a four battery 48 volt bank using data storage AGM rated at 123ah. They are fed by 1800 watts of panels. 4 panels facing south and two others catching some late afternoon sun on the west roof.

I also have a backup set of telecom suitcase batteries for just in case. These are rated at 180ah. I have not seen how much they will take after hours. Mainly keeping me from being without if there is a problem or too many days without sunlight. Which has been a lot this year.

If I change the batteries out to the cheap 280ah chinese lifepo, what should I expect as improvement? The batteries I use now are surplus and very inexpensive. They work well during the day. I just have to watch the usage at night especially in the winter to not let them drain too much. So far they have never dropped below 90% charge.

Daytime usage keeps a chest freezer on timer running and relied on as an ice chest. I can run a small A/C for a few hours at peak sunlight, but otherwise lighting, fans and small wattage items like TV and PC. Microwave is not an issue when panels are producing.

In the next month I will be finally connecting to the grid. Keeping the solar for all of the lightweight stuff that runs constantly. And obviously for power outages, which is very common.

Aside for resetting the charge controller, is there much to be concerned about? Would more panels benefit? I use a 30 amp charge controller and a small 1500 watt inverter.

 

[time2roll]

Using only 10%? The LFP will be full by noon with virtually zero absorption time. And capable of using 80% instead of 10% so lots of reserve for extended periods of poor solar. That freezer can run 24/7 along with other items as conveniently needed instead of just when the sun is up. May not need the grid.

 

[Cabin Rising]

Going grid to power 3 phase machinery and welding equipment. A Miller Syncrowave 500 takes a lot of amps. Of course out in the sticks on a co-op, I dont expect to get much.

 

[Vigo]

Based on the the fact that you already don't drop below '90%' i'd say the main benefit of switching to lifepo4 is you could choose to drain the batteries much further with no concern over how it will affect their lifespan. But honestly given how little you are drawing down your batteries overnight i would say there is no compelling reason to change anything in the first place.