LiFePO4 - SOK or Renogy.
Not looking for a big bank or high charge/discharge currents. Don't need charging below freezing. In Canada things become difficult/expensive. Narrowed down to these 2: 1)SOK, 100AH, $CAD 975 ...
Forum Discussion
wintersun wrote:
I went with Lithionics that produces a 125 AH in Group 31 size. For cold weather charging the Relion battery has an internal warmer and can be charged at much lower temperatures than the rest.
One thing I noticed with the Lithionics is that they take a charge at 3 times the rate of the lead acid batteries and so an hour of generator run time will take them to 100% SOC most days. Solar panel output is also better utilized to charge the batteries during daylight hours.
"With the low-temperature RELiON RB100-LT 100Ah battery, it takes about an hour to warm from -20°C to +5°C before charging begins"
None of the LFPs can be charged below freezing. You have to warm them up first (off grid that means with the LFP capacity remaining before you turn on the heater--so don't go too low or you can't get back)
On "3x faster" people still believe that? Yipes! The above quote is missing important numbers, such as the starting SOC, the charging amps, the size of the battery bank, and what 100% means wrt the BMS, so it is meaningless.
Again , how does solar do better with LFP? the sun does not shine any brighter. The amps accepted by FLA is about the same over time, because of the low charging rate with solar that means about the same absorption time as LFP into the 90s, so no magic there.
LFPs are a good choice for some scenarios, but there is no need to help advertisers spread their silly claims.
