60kWh? Nice. I might add a third battery, but I think that will be all I need. Anything more would be just for export, especially with my 5kW import/export limit on the inverter.
@@GaryMeatsLife yeah I’m totally off grid so during winter this will be a game changer. Currently running on 25 kWh lead acid and it means we are on the generator far more than I like. 👍🏻
Thanks for your series - it has been very helpful! Have you been able to access both of your Seplos units in BMS Studio when daisy-chained like this? I am struggling to see more than one at a time.
Always great to know the series is helping people out. I haven't tried to access more than one pack at a time, as I haven't needed or wanted to. I just upload any SW changes I want to each pack, one at a time and leave them do their job of saving me money. Andy on off grid garage has a video on it if you need to see what is happening with the packs daisy-chained. By the way, the method of power connection is not relevant to your question. Only the comms connection matters for your question. I have 3 pack now connected by BusBar and they communicate the same way regardless.
@@halogen25 Yes, the comms are working fine. In fact, if the batteries are all switched off and I switch on the main battery, the other batteries then turn on. I've only recently discovered this, so I will be seeing if it makes any difference with regards to discharge rates.
Hi Gary I connected 3 Seplos 280 same as your advice, to 1000amp bussbar, all 3 wire same length (3')to bussbar, discharge around 2 hrs, battery 2 (middle) 65% remain, battery 1&3 83% remains. All 3 start 95% same SOC. Please advise why #2 took a lot of discharge than #1. Thank you again. Checked CELL VOLTAGE all 3 batteries 3.308 ?? except Cell #1 of battery 1&3 (3.38)???? All The rest 3.308 (all 3 batteries)
As an amateur, the first thing I would check is the cell imbalance in each pack of 16 cells, because that is the easiest thing to do and requires only a few moments of time. You should check at full charge and at a lower SOC when the difference in SOC shows. If satisfied that the imbalance is acceptable, something like 10mV, then I would check the BMS settings. Your capacity settings could be wrong. Check all those settings and make sure each pack matches.
Every step of the way, I learn from you, to me, you are the best and very simple I can learn,cell balance is acceptable, the things most bothers me now is discharge between 3 batteries, parameters is the same, but middle (#2) battery more discharge than #1 I don't know why? Thanks again Gary.
@@banhvo4958 OK, so you have pack 1, 2 & 3. Let's call them A, B, C. Move the packs around from ABC to ACB and see what pack (if any) stands out. You need to keep the wires and comms cables exactly where they are now, so don't move them with the packs. So for example; the comms cable that currently goes from B to A will be going from C to A after the move. If pack B shows a problem, then it's a pack issue and you need to double check everything. If pack C shows a problem, now being in the middle, then it's a wiring problem. Trouble shooting will then depend on which pack shows a problem. Swapping the comms cables and rechecking, followed by swapping the wiring cables and rechecking should point to the problem if it is wiring related. Other than that, I am not sure what could be causing the issue other than a BMS fault if the issue remains with Pack B. You could swap out the BMS with another unit and see if the problem moves to a different pack.
I got mine from deligreen who are located in Poland. Saved me any hassles with import duties etc. got the kit and batteries from them for a very reasonable price. 👍🏻 if you want I can send you contact details of the guy I dealt with. Greet service from them.
@@GaryMeatsLife Gary,Thank you for letting us know, But why not directly contact SEPLOS to purchase, And they have a warehouse in Germany, I think the price will be good.
@@DIYsmithyFogstar have been great with regard to customer care. I value this much more than a lower price. While I haven’t purchased from Seplos directly, I haven’t found them to be responsive when I reached out after they thanked me for making a video of their product.
Not my area of expertise, but here’s my understanding. Physically yes, but the BMS are not compatible. They would need to connect to each other without comms link. Choose one BMS type to connect to the inverter. Don’t link the other BMS to anything. The unconnected battery will charge and discharge anyway alongside the connected battery.
@@GaryMeatsLife Thanks for the quick reply. All these BMS' are frustrating. I guess that would work like you described. Capacity would not be reported correctly but SOC would since current would be flowing in/out all of them.
Hi Gary, your entire series on these batteries is excellent. These DIY packs are the cheapest solution on the market by a long way. Trying to purchase 15kwh from pylontech or dyness etc is a multiple of your cost. Will you modify the cabling to connect the batteries to a bus bar as per the other comments?
Hi Alan. Yes, I plan to install bus bars when I add a third battery, or get a better inverter. There's a lot of conflicting info, but it would seem that the best advice is to use busbars and ideally fuse them individually with DC isolators. Daisy-chaining 2 or 3 batteries is fine though as long as the total draw is around 5 or 6kW.
Hi, your battery cables connection is wrong. You all time will have bigger pressure on first battery and less on second. On 20:20 we can see, that first battery discharge on 52.1A, second 41.8A. And it will be all time. Charging will be same - first battery will charge quicker and with higher amperage. You need connect both batteries to the bus bar with same length cables and just after connect inverter to the bus bar. And 25mm cables for the batteries is max 100A - you batteries can give 400A - if something will go wrong it can kill your inverter... It's better to use DC fuse in the inverter/batteries connection. I'm use 2 Sunsynk 5kW inverters with 2 same Seplos batteries (280Ah). Just my BMS is 2.0. My batteries all time have near the same charge level and charging/discharging amperage.
Thanks for your comment. I have the bus bars and the DC fuse already and plan to take the busbar route. It’s also why in the video you see I had ferrules on the cable ends. The BMS will manage discharge and charge rates. The voltages are syncing up and once batteries are fully balanced, I expect they will match perfectly. I will monitor this over the coming days. The settings on both the batteries and the inverter limit the charge and discharge, so I am not concerned about it. The 25mm^2 cable is also more than enough for the current. Eventually I will have 3 or more batteries and at least an 8kW inverter, so I will then upgrade to 35mm^2 cable. Until then, the setup is as advised by people with more knowledge than me
Connect same way as in video. When connecting battery 3, just treat it like battery 2 and connect it the same way as you connected battery 2 to battery 1.
I've linked mine in a similar way, But I selected 1 & 2 on the back. They seemed to sync up over a couple of days, All seemed good, But now they seem to be in different states of charge.... within about 10% I guess but not as close as they originally were. Seplos don't actually include the ethernet to usb with the battery either so haven't been able to run the software on the laptop. They are both on PylonTech on the and batteries and inverter. Seems to be a lot of debate online on if that's the best way to wire them or not too, apparently they should have equal length positivel and negatives between eachother then a live from one battery and negative from the other..... So not running cables to the inverter just from one battery.... 🙃
You need connect both batteries to the bus bar with same length cables and just after connect inverter to the bus bar. If you do not do it your charging/discharging will be not correct - first battery will charge/discharge quicker and with higher amperage. I use 2 Sunsynk 5kW inverters with 2 same Seplos batteries (280Ah). Just my BMS is 2.0. My batteries all time have near the same charge level and charging/discharging amperage.
I have run my four batteries through their own non polarized mcb’s to a bus bar and then through a higher rated mcb to the inverter, at the moment you are reliant on a 400amp fuse and with 25mm cables rated at 170amps they would get rather warm with a fault current.
My preference was to use 35mm^2, but I was advised this was over-kill for the setup and I am also limited by the 25mm^2 cables that connect to the inverter. For now, I will leave it alone, but my plans are to get a better inverter (minimum 8kW), run cables from each battery via its own DC breaker to busbars which will have an appropriately sized DC Breaker before the final run to the inverter. This is just the start and the videos are a basic guide for people wanting to do similar.
@@GaryMeatsLife Hi Gary . Watched all your videos . Will be very helpful when I start my DIY early next year . Just collecting as much info as possible , especially from yourself as I'm in Donegal . You say you are looking to upgrade to an 8kw inverter or more , I thought we were held to maximum 6kw inverter in Ireland ?? I'd love to know if a bigger inverter is possible , as I've a huge shed roof that can get up to 22kw on the roof , but haven't worked out exactly how i could benefit from that , being held to 6kw inverter ...... Even when you add the 133% rule , or maybe even 150% depending on which inverter I get . Regards Mark
@@glash101 Hi Mark. Good question. For most domestic installations, we are covered with what is called an NC6, limiting us to around 5kW (or more accurately, 25Amps) inverters effective from last year, 6kW previously. However, we can apply for an NC7 Mini Generation Form via the ESB which (if/when granted) would allow us to increase the size of the inverter allowed over the 25A limit. There is a cost of around €1,000 for the ESB to process your application and there is a chance it could be declined. There is no refund if declined. In general, if you are only applying for a small increase to say 8kW, or even a 12kW, then it is not likely to be declined. Ask for a massive inverter and you probably won't get it. In my case, my realistic solar limit will be around 10kWp, so I probably won't go with a larger inverter. I have to do the math on it, which would involve more batteries and MIC upgrades. What I will probably end up doing is getting my MIC supply upgraded (currently only an 8kVa, pending a free 12kVa upgrade) to 16kVa, which costs around €2,000. I could then at least charge my battery packs more quickly during cheap rate using a battery charger to bus-bar and then export a few kWh toward the later end of the night by dumping to the grid at around 5kW, less the house load at the time. I still have plenty to figure out.
@@GaryMeatsLife Fantastic .... I'll keep my eyes peeled to what direction you take . I may have a 12kvA or 16lva installed as it's only an 8 year old built house . I'll have to check . I am in essence a year or 2 behind you , so it's good to get an Irish perspective . But I've learned loads watching your vids . Even the one where you hooked the battery up to the inverter , that was great . There's not much of that kind about . I do watch stuff like Off Grid Garage , but his circumstances are very different to ours , where he lives . I may have the odd question for you here and there , but enjoying your vids and getting to understand as much as I can ..... It is less difficult than I initially thought it would be .
@@glash101 You may not be that far behind. I decided to get solar in the summer of 2023. I put it off when the stars didn't align for an installation and I wanted to prepare better, including making the location of the inverter (side entrance of semi-D) water tight. Got solar done in March. I was going for a 5kWh battery from installer. Decided to go for 10kWh and then looked at the cost before deciding to go the DIY kit route. I spent less and got 3X the storage. Anyway, the important thing to consider is why you might want a larger inverter. Is it the array size? Is it the peak kW usage at any one time? Is it the charge/discharge speed for batteries? My reason is mainly battery charging speed. The Triton T90 currently draws 7-8kW when in use, so about 2-4kW comes from the grid depending on whatever else is running, but it's only for a an average of an hour per day, so I draw around 3-4kWh from the grid daily for showers due to the inverter limit. I plan to get a larger water cylinder and install a thermostatic shower, so I will be using water slowly heated at 2kW instead of 8kW and the water pressure will be much better than the T90 will provide. At least that's how I am justifying it to myself 😂 Feel free to ask any questions you have. I'm happy to answer if I can.
Very helpful series. Thank you! I have just started building my 2 kits. 😊 hope to get another 2 in the not too distant future.
60kWh? Nice. I might add a third battery, but I think that will be all I need. Anything more would be just for export, especially with my 5kW import/export limit on the inverter.
@@GaryMeatsLife yeah I’m totally off grid so during winter this will be a game changer. Currently running on 25 kWh lead acid and it means we are on the generator far more than I like. 👍🏻
Thanks for your series - it has been very helpful! Have you been able to access both of your Seplos units in BMS Studio when daisy-chained like this? I am struggling to see more than one at a time.
Always great to know the series is helping people out. I haven't tried to access more than one pack at a time, as I haven't needed or wanted to. I just upload any SW changes I want to each pack, one at a time and leave them do their job of saving me money. Andy on off grid garage has a video on it if you need to see what is happening with the packs daisy-chained.
By the way, the method of power connection is not relevant to your question. Only the comms connection matters for your question. I have 3 pack now connected by BusBar and they communicate the same way regardless.
@@GaryMeatsLife Thank you! Do you know if the batteries are working together properly for communication with your inverter via CAN?
@@halogen25 Yes, the comms are working fine. In fact, if the batteries are all switched off and I switch on the main battery, the other batteries then turn on. I've only recently discovered this, so I will be seeing if it makes any difference with regards to discharge rates.
Hi Gary
I connected 3 Seplos 280 same as your advice, to 1000amp bussbar, all 3 wire same length (3')to bussbar, discharge around 2 hrs, battery 2 (middle) 65% remain, battery 1&3 83% remains.
All 3 start 95% same SOC. Please advise why #2 took a lot of discharge than #1. Thank you again.
Checked CELL VOLTAGE all 3 batteries 3.308 ?? except
Cell #1 of battery 1&3 (3.38)???? All The rest 3.308 (all 3 batteries)
As an amateur, the first thing I would check is the cell imbalance in each pack of 16 cells, because that is the easiest thing to do and requires only a few moments of time. You should check at full charge and at a lower SOC when the difference in SOC shows.
If satisfied that the imbalance is acceptable, something like 10mV, then I would check the BMS settings. Your capacity settings could be wrong. Check all those settings and make sure each pack matches.
Every step of the way, I learn from you, to me, you are the best and very simple I can learn,cell balance is acceptable, the things most bothers me now is discharge between 3 batteries, parameters is the same, but middle (#2) battery more discharge than #1 I don't know why? Thanks again Gary.
@@banhvo4958 OK, so you have pack 1, 2 & 3. Let's call them A, B, C.
Move the packs around from ABC to ACB and see what pack (if any) stands out.
You need to keep the wires and comms cables exactly where they are now, so don't move them with the packs. So for example; the comms cable that currently goes from B to A will be going from C to A after the move.
If pack B shows a problem, then it's a pack issue and you need to double check everything. If pack C shows a problem, now being in the middle, then it's a wiring problem.
Trouble shooting will then depend on which pack shows a problem. Swapping the comms cables and rechecking, followed by swapping the wiring cables and rechecking should point to the problem if it is wiring related.
Other than that, I am not sure what could be causing the issue other than a BMS fault if the issue remains with Pack B. You could swap out the BMS with another unit and see if the problem moves to a different pack.
Can I ask where you got your Sepols kit and batteries from.
The kit was purchased from FogStar in the UK. The batteries from NKON in the Netherlands.
I got mine from deligreen who are located in Poland. Saved me any hassles with import duties etc. got the kit and batteries from them for a very reasonable price. 👍🏻 if you want I can send you contact details of the guy I dealt with. Greet service from them.
@@GaryMeatsLife Gary,Thank you for letting us know, But why not directly contact SEPLOS to purchase, And they have a warehouse in Germany, I think the price will be good.
@@DIYsmithyFogstar have been great with regard to customer care. I value this much more than a lower price.
While I haven’t purchased from Seplos directly, I haven’t found them to be responsive when I reached out after they thanked me for making a video of their product.
Great video and very helpful. Do you know if Sepolos v2 (10e) and v3 can be daisy chained together?
Not my area of expertise, but here’s my understanding. Physically yes, but the BMS are not compatible. They would need to connect to each other without comms link. Choose one BMS type to connect to the inverter. Don’t link the other BMS to anything. The unconnected battery will charge and discharge anyway alongside the connected battery.
@@GaryMeatsLife Thanks for the quick reply. All these BMS' are frustrating. I guess that would work like you described. Capacity would not be reported correctly but SOC would since current would be flowing in/out all of them.
Hi Gary, your entire series on these batteries is excellent. These DIY packs are the cheapest solution on the market by a long way. Trying to purchase 15kwh from pylontech or dyness etc is a multiple of your cost. Will you modify the cabling to connect the batteries to a bus bar as per the other comments?
Hi Alan. Yes, I plan to install bus bars when I add a third battery, or get a better inverter. There's a lot of conflicting info, but it would seem that the best advice is to use busbars and ideally fuse them individually with DC isolators. Daisy-chaining 2 or 3 batteries is fine though as long as the total draw is around 5 or 6kW.
Hi, your battery cables connection is wrong. You all time will have bigger pressure on first battery and less on second. On 20:20 we can see, that first battery discharge on 52.1A, second 41.8A. And it will be all time. Charging will be same - first battery will charge quicker and with higher amperage. You need connect both batteries to the bus bar with same length cables and just after connect inverter to the bus bar. And 25mm cables for the batteries is max 100A - you batteries can give 400A - if something will go wrong it can kill your inverter... It's better to use DC fuse in the inverter/batteries connection. I'm use 2 Sunsynk 5kW inverters with 2 same Seplos batteries (280Ah). Just my BMS is 2.0. My batteries all time have near the same charge level and charging/discharging amperage.
Thanks for your comment. I have the bus bars and the DC fuse already and plan to take the busbar route. It’s also why in the video you see I had ferrules on the cable ends.
The BMS will manage discharge and charge rates. The voltages are syncing up and once batteries are fully balanced, I expect they will match perfectly. I will monitor this over the coming days.
The settings on both the batteries and the inverter limit the charge and discharge, so I am not concerned about it. The 25mm^2 cable is also more than enough for the current. Eventually I will have 3 or more batteries and at least an 8kW inverter, so I will then upgrade to 35mm^2 cable. Until then, the setup is as advised by people with more knowledge than me
I will connect bat 1 and2 same as you, 3rd bat port 1 to bat 2 port 2. Can you correct me? Thank you.
Connect same way as in video. When connecting battery 3, just treat it like battery 2 and connect it the same way as you connected battery 2 to battery 1.
Ok, thank you so much for helping me.
I've linked mine in a similar way, But I selected 1 & 2 on the back.
They seemed to sync up over a couple of days, All seemed good, But now they seem to be in different states of charge.... within about 10% I guess but not as close as they originally were.
Seplos don't actually include the ethernet to usb with the battery either so haven't been able to run the software on the laptop. They are both on PylonTech on the and batteries and inverter.
Seems to be a lot of debate online on if that's the best way to wire them or not too, apparently they should have equal length positivel and negatives between eachother then a live from one battery and negative from the other..... So not running cables to the inverter just from one battery.... 🙃
You need connect both batteries to the bus bar with same length cables and just after connect inverter to the bus bar. If you do not do it your charging/discharging will be not correct - first battery will charge/discharge quicker and with higher amperage. I use 2 Sunsynk 5kW inverters with 2 same Seplos batteries (280Ah). Just my BMS is 2.0. My batteries all time have near the same charge level and charging/discharging amperage.
I tried Pylontech, then AoBo and now user define. It’s been the most stable setting.
I have run my four batteries through their own non polarized mcb’s to a bus bar and then through a higher rated mcb to the inverter, at the moment you are reliant on a 400amp fuse and with 25mm cables rated at 170amps they would get rather warm with a fault current.
My preference was to use 35mm^2, but I was advised this was over-kill for the setup and I am also limited by the 25mm^2 cables that connect to the inverter. For now, I will leave it alone, but my plans are to get a better inverter (minimum 8kW), run cables from each battery via its own DC breaker to busbars which will have an appropriately sized DC Breaker before the final run to the inverter. This is just the start and the videos are a basic guide for people wanting to do similar.
@@GaryMeatsLife
Hi Gary . Watched all your videos . Will be very helpful when I start my DIY early next year . Just collecting as much info as possible , especially from yourself as I'm in Donegal .
You say you are looking to upgrade to an 8kw inverter or more , I thought we were held to maximum 6kw inverter in Ireland ??
I'd love to know if a bigger inverter is possible , as I've a huge shed roof that can get up to 22kw on the roof , but haven't worked out exactly how i could benefit from that , being held to 6kw inverter ...... Even when you add the 133% rule , or maybe even 150% depending on which inverter I get .
Regards Mark
@@glash101 Hi Mark. Good question. For most domestic installations, we are covered with what is called an NC6, limiting us to around 5kW (or more accurately, 25Amps) inverters effective from last year, 6kW previously. However, we can apply for an NC7 Mini Generation Form via the ESB which (if/when granted) would allow us to increase the size of the inverter allowed over the 25A limit. There is a cost of around €1,000 for the ESB to process your application and there is a chance it could be declined. There is no refund if declined.
In general, if you are only applying for a small increase to say 8kW, or even a 12kW, then it is not likely to be declined. Ask for a massive inverter and you probably won't get it. In my case, my realistic solar limit will be around 10kWp, so I probably won't go with a larger inverter. I have to do the math on it, which would involve more batteries and MIC upgrades. What I will probably end up doing is getting my MIC supply upgraded (currently only an 8kVa, pending a free 12kVa upgrade) to 16kVa, which costs around €2,000. I could then at least charge my battery packs more quickly during cheap rate using a battery charger to bus-bar and then export a few kWh toward the later end of the night by dumping to the grid at around 5kW, less the house load at the time.
I still have plenty to figure out.
@@GaryMeatsLife Fantastic .... I'll keep my eyes peeled to what direction you take . I may have a 12kvA or 16lva installed as it's only an 8 year old built house . I'll have to check .
I am in essence a year or 2 behind you , so it's good to get an Irish perspective . But I've learned loads watching your vids . Even the one where you hooked the battery up to the inverter , that was great . There's not much of that kind about . I do watch stuff like Off Grid Garage , but his circumstances are very different to ours , where he lives .
I may have the odd question for you here and there , but enjoying your vids and getting to understand as much as I can ..... It is less difficult than I initially thought it would be .
@@glash101 You may not be that far behind. I decided to get solar in the summer of 2023. I put it off when the stars didn't align for an installation and I wanted to prepare better, including making the location of the inverter (side entrance of semi-D) water tight. Got solar done in March. I was going for a 5kWh battery from installer. Decided to go for 10kWh and then looked at the cost before deciding to go the DIY kit route. I spent less and got 3X the storage.
Anyway, the important thing to consider is why you might want a larger inverter. Is it the array size? Is it the peak kW usage at any one time? Is it the charge/discharge speed for batteries? My reason is mainly battery charging speed. The Triton T90 currently draws 7-8kW when in use, so about 2-4kW comes from the grid depending on whatever else is running, but it's only for a an average of an hour per day, so I draw around 3-4kWh from the grid daily for showers due to the inverter limit. I plan to get a larger water cylinder and install a thermostatic shower, so I will be using water slowly heated at 2kW instead of 8kW and the water pressure will be much better than the T90 will provide. At least that's how I am justifying it to myself 😂
Feel free to ask any questions you have. I'm happy to answer if I can.
Put the link of those items where you bought them up.
I got mine from Fogstar and from NKON (Europe). Depending on where you hail, I recommend finding your most local reputable seller.