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  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Ok, so now its time to start talking about the whole purpose for this thread, the NIFE batteries themselves. So, why did I choose 1000AH? NIFE batteries come in many different sizes from 10AH all the way up to 1200AH, however the most common sizes chosen is usually 200AH or 500AH. In a 48v...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Dear Will, So, I guess I need to address your hit piece on NIFE which I thought border lined on irrational hatred. Now I guess you probably looked at these batteries back in the day and decided they didn’t suit a RV installation, and I would agree. But transport isn’t the only application for...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    So, let’s start with the solar panels (yeah, I know boring right). As this is an experimental system, I decided to build my own ground mount. I had steel angle cut to length at my local steel shop which probably cost me around AU$300 (these are plantation oz store tokens). I drilled out holes...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    -Nickel-Iron (NI-FE) 1000ah 12V (12kw of usable storage) -5kw of panels -4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating and cooling (~900w electrical power) Hi everybody, I have been busy building my solar system which is primarily designed to heat my house in the winter. I initially looked at...
  • Post in thread: Should I do custom programming for Epever Tracer controller and Battleborn battery?

    Yeah get yourself an MT-50 if you havent already done so, much easier and more convenient to program than using the god-awful PC software, IMO.
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    I finally have my 2 Epever charge controllers acting in parallel together using the PT-ADP-PORT! There is both good and bad here, and the bad starts with a very poorly written manual that skips the most important step of all, it also includes a bunch of unnecessary steps. The software that is...
  • Post in thread: Nickel Iron Batteries

    I have been driving mine to 0% SOC all winter now. its only the last few days as we come out of the worst of winter than II have been able to get multiple days of charge in and not use near 100% You don't need to be all nice like with these batteries, you have to be a little rough with them...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Next, I want to talk about fuses, this was another mistake I made, purchasing a 300A fuse/isolator off eBay in order to isolate my batteries, what could possibly go wrong? Totally legit right? Its say 300A so it must be true! Well basically I would hit about 80A continuous and this thing would...
  • Post in thread: Nickel Iron (Ni-Fe) Battery

    Thank you!! See what I did there? We cant have too many going off plantation now can we? Must keep them in the company store! Can't allow them to be free! Couple sets of panels + spare pot ash + deionized water + NIFE cells = lifetime Free energy device!! We cant have that now can we!! How does...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    No worries, yes I have been meaning to do an update. We are just coming out of winter and are now going into summer. There hasn't really been anything to report because they have been doing their job fantastically. I will however be packing up my setup and putting it into storage as I will be...
  • Post in thread: Products from china

    Your panels state 1000w/m2 which is usually how they overstate their rating using 1200w/m2. If they are not lying on their sticker then at least that part appears correct. Most crap I purchase from china I usually regret.
  • Post in thread: Nickel Iron Batteries

    Yeah they are not for everyone, which is a shame really given their low temperature characteristics. Operating temperature range of -22 to +140F (-30 to +60C) Surly you must get some good wind!
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Cycling up, The first cycle Let’s talk about cycling up these batteries, this is another unique feature of this chemistry. When you first receive these batteries, they are extremely weak to the point of basically useless. I was told that the capacity of the first cycle will be <5% of their...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    The next part of the system is the charge controllers. Currently I’m using Epever charge controllers and for the most part I’m quite happy with them however I do have a few issues which I will go into. My main charge controller is the Tracer10420AN which has a Max PV voltage of 180-200v Max...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Heat Pump Ok, so here is the last topic of my “show and tell” the Heat Pump I’m running as my load. Well actually I have 2, and no I can’t run both at the same time, it’s a one or the other kinda deal. But that’s all fine and dandy, I have my split system in the kitchen which covers both the...
  • Post in thread: Nickel Iron Batteries

    Yes, see my thread.... https://diysolarforum.com/threads/ni-fe-1000ah-12v-with-5kw-of-panels-running-4kw-reverse-cycle-ac-for-heating-house.2490/ I'm almost 12months in now, and the batteries have been working well.
  • Post in thread: Nickel Iron Batteries

    Generally around the same however there are some variables here. I have 12kw of storage (1000ah 12V), and in the middle of winter i have around 6h of good sunlight. These batteries take around 15h to fully charge however in my 6h I'm able to pump in 8-9kw at a float of 16.2V. However when I go...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Charge Controller update #2 I guess now is as good of a time as any in order to update y'all on my 2 Epever charge controllers running in parallel. Although I managed to get my controllers acting in parallel, they never really worked great. They would be all over the place, and changing...
  • Post in thread: A couple questions for Epever experts.

    I have a post on how to parallel these controllers using the PT-ADP-PORT.... https://diysolarforum.com/threads/ni-fe-1000ah-12v-with-5kw-of-panels-running-4kw-reverse-cycle-ac-for-heating-house.2490/post-31664
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Voltage Drop Fix We I have finally gotten around to fixing my Voltage drop issue. Now that we are going into winter, I need to have my load running (RC-AC unit) whilst still banking power for later in the evening. However, what would happen is with the load off the Charge Controllers would be...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Hes the guy who owns and runs this site! :) Hes a lithium guy, manufactures send him free batteries all the time to promote their product. He's up front about that, but it does make you wonder when he is so negative about other types such as NIFE. The whole purpose of this thread was to provide...
  • Post in thread: Nickel Iron (Ni-Fe) Battery

    I'll let you know what that happens also! Also thanks for the confimation that I'm onto something. How do you know when your over the target? You take the most flack!
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    NIFE has its use case, as does LiFePO4, as do other chemistry's, why does it have to be a binary proposition? I'm simply pointing out my use case along with my experience and my data. I think some of your viewers are interested in an alternative to lithium, many are probably not even aware...
  • Post in thread: Solar PV powered reverse cycle AC

    Yes, I do the same. The purpose of this thread is to discuss the newer DC capable devices.
  • Post in thread: Edison Batteries

    This year for the total system... Source 2265.84kWh, Load 2084.09kWh Probably half of that being direct solar to load, with the other half being via the batteries. But honestly, who cares? The sun shines regardless and panels are cheap!
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Off Gassing In my previous post I explained how water is replaced in the cells but I didn’t explain why that’s needed. These cells are a lot like the old-style lead acid battery where they are unsealed, and like the unsealed type battery you had to keep an eye on the water levels in the cells...
  • Post in thread: Products from china

    That's a fake MPPT, its PWM. Its clearly not large enough to house the inductor needed for it to be MPPT. If you want a cheap PWM then go ahead. You can also tell if its PWM and not MPPT by looking at the Voltage input Vs Output If solar input is like 30V max and output is 12V thats PWM...
  • Post in thread: Solar PV powered reverse cycle AC

    These things require between 100-300V so its not that easy. And using a DC-DC converter introduces similar losses to an inverter (maybe a little less) and are also expensive. But yes I'm kinda torn, on one hand you can reduce the amount of charge controllers needed in your system, but the...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    Continuing on with cycling these batteries up, this is where I hooked up my cheap Chinese inverter and my 300/600/1000w 240v oil column heater (resistive load). I’ll be talking about inverters in a later post, but let’s focus on the first few cycles for now. Below is the 2nd discharge and I...
  • Post in thread: NI-FE 1000ah 12V with 5kw of panels running 4kw Reverse Cycle AC for heating house

    August Day Source (kWh) Load (kWh) Batt Out (kWh) Voltage Dod ROI 1 1.79 0.78 0.74 15.15 - 10.38 64% $0.27 2 0.18 1.19 1.20 14.13 - 10.13 53% $0.23 3 3.68 1.88 0.74 14.49 - 10.10 59% $0.58 4 0.17 1.13 1.14 14.41 - 10.09 58% $0.22 5 3.08 1.24 1.08 15.31 - 11.31 53% $0.21 6...
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