Battery Add On For Existing Solar Systems With Victron And Pylontech Lithium
If you’ve already got a Solar system on your roof but your sick of increasing power outages or the feed in tariff’s receiving another cut then a great way to combat this is by adding batteries to your existing Solar system. This is the most premium way that you can add genuine backup power to your home, this isn’t a hybrid system this is an off grid system meaning the off grid inverter can surge 2.5 times its continuous output to start air conditioners and pumps whereas hybrid inverters cannot surge. We do this by using an off grid Multiplus II inverter charger for maximum power and performance when the power goes out paired with the safest and best performing Pylontech lithium batteries. You can select the inverter size and battery storage that suits your requirements from the different drop downs available. Of course you are more than welcome to give us a call to discuss.
What is the difference between grid connected Solar battery systems ‘On Grid Off Grid’ vs ‘Hybrid’
There is a big difference between different Solar battery options that are available on the market, it is always our goal to explain to you what a system does do and just as importantly what it doesn’t do.
A ‘Hybrid’ battery system is best suited to saving money on your bills but nowhere near as good for backup power, for example when the power goes out you won’t be able to run heavier drawing items such as air conditioners or pumps and often your Solar won’t be able to charge the batteries when the grid has gone down. The reason that they can’t run these items is because the inverter is a high frequency transformerless inverter which doesn’t have the same power as a low frequency inverter that has a transformer which is an off grid style inverter. The ‘Hybrid’ option is cheaper and will give you a quicker return on your investment whilst giving you some backup power so still a great option.
With an ‘On Grid Off Grid’ system these are a little bit more expensive but these have a lot more grunt when the power goes out meaning that you can run air conditioners, pumps, power tools etc the amount of appliances that you can run when the power goes down depends on the inverter size that you select. We use proven Victron gear to power our ‘On Grid Off Grid’ systems which we also use to power all of our off grid systems they are a low frequency inverter with a transformer, the transformer acts as a shock absorber for higher drawing loads such as air conditioners and pumps meaning that you are much more self sufficient with a system like this compared to a hybrid system.
It’s important to remember there is no right or wrong when it comes to ‘Hybrid’ or ‘On Grid Off Grid’ its a matter of been clear with what you are wanting to achieve whether it is strictly saving money on your bills or whether you would like more power when the grid drops out.
Package Includes
- Victron Multiplus II Inverter Charger - 5kVa
- Pylontech 48v Lithium Battery bank using the new US5000b modules - 10kWh
- 4 Battery cabinet to suit
- Victron Cerbo GX system monitor with online access
- Victron Energy smart metre
- DC cabling and fuses to suit
- Safety label kit
- Pre-wired and programmed board
What Happens To Your Existing Solar When The Power Drops Out?
In an off grid system there are two ways that you can bring your Solar power into your system, you can either AC couple it or DC couple it, there are advantages and disadvantages of both. If you’re connected to the grid and you have a Solar system this is AC coupled Solar using a Solar inverter. The thing with Solar inverters is that they can only operate and by operating I mean they can only bring your Solar power into your system if there is 240v at the Solar inverter, if you’re connected to the grid that will satisfy that requirement but when the power drops out your Solar will do one of two things depending on how you want your Solar hooked up.
Option A
If you keep your existing Solar exporting to the grid then when the grid drops out your Victron Multiplus inverter will run from the batteries only, the Solar will drop offline when the power drops out, that is because legally the Solar must be wired on the input side of the inverter. In this case you can add DC coupled Solar with a Victron Smartsolar MPPT charge controller you might add an additional 6, 10, 16 x S0lar panels so that when the power drops out your AC coupled Solar still will drop out but your DC coupled Solar will still be making for you to consume and charge your batteries, this way allows you to have the best of both ways that you can still export power back to the grid and you still have backup Solar power when the grid drops out.
Option B
You can rewire your existing Solar to be on the output side of the Victron Multiplus inverter but in doing so legally it must be setup as a UPS 0 export system. What this means is that your existing Solar will still be online when the grid drops out with the only trade off that you can’t export excess power back to the grid, this isn’t such a big deal as the real savings of a Solar system is from the power that you can consume directly which saves you buying it at $0.20> per kWh not so much what you feed in where they pay you typically $0.06 per kWh.
US5000B Pylontech Battery Information
- Up to 90% can be used without adversely compromising battery life
- Rated to 6000 cycles to 80% depth of discharge/use, which equals over 15 years of life
- High surge capacity, a 15kWh bank can handle a 15kW load, and a surge of 30kW
- Charge efficiency of 97%, this means far less energy wasted during charging and more power available to you in less time
- Internal intelligent management means each battery module can operate to its potential, rather than performing only as well as the weakest battery
- Additional batteries can be added, 5kWh at a time
Warranty Information
- All Victron components have a 5 year full warranty
- Pylontech Lithium batteries come with a 10 year warranty
- All other items come with a minimum 12 month warranty