Battery settings
Hi, I have five 5.32 kWh batteries + 8kw inverter + 16 x 660w Canadian panels and the installer set the SOC to 50% and told me it will increase their longevity. Everyday the inverter dumps excess power down to the 50%
However it is summer in Cape Town and I am only using 20% of the battery power in 24hrs so should I increase the SOC settings on all five batteries to 75%. Will this help increase the longevity of the batteries.
I don’t export power to the grid.
In winter the system powers two heaters at night and I change the SOC down to 30%, after that the grid cuts in.
The system was originally installed two years ago due to the power cuts which stopped the following week.
Cheers in advance.
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OK - your extra heaters makes sense ito system spec in that case.
IMO your usage patterns CURRENTLY IN SUMMER is governed by this graph
That red line I drew is basically what you cycle through your batteries on a daily basis in summer (charge and discharge)
In Winter that is bound to double or be even more. (2 heaters at night extra - asuming currently you are not using them even though it is cold and rainy i CT today)
With whatever battery setting you choose and whatever logic anybody will try and sell you to extend battery life, THAT is the reality of YOUR LIFE and REQUIREMENTS.
It's important to note this:
Whatever battery settings you choose, the position of the red lines will not change during either summer or winter if you keep using the batteries to store energy during the day - any possible change in battery settings can only affect the ability of the system to deliver energy as and when you need it after the sun has gone down (as the only source of energy - let's say you do not want the grid to be a factor at all).
Whatever your battery settings are currently, IMO is adequate to cater for both summer and winter.
If you are always at home/around or are willing and able to, via the app remotely, tweak PV and storage, then there is a school of thinking on the internet, that you can, during summer I would say lower the battery SOC during the day to something like eg 70% (still giving you the about 50% drain after hours plus a small safety net of 20%) ....................... IF ITS SUNNY THE WHOLE DAY.
If its overcast/rainy like today, I would NOT change the battery settings at all.
Whether or not you are going to have an extended battery life as a result and how you define and measure THAT, is the mystery everybody and his dog have many different and varied opinions on if you study the contents of the internet - just like @groots said already.
It would also be interesting to see the annual energy usage and PV, Grid patterns for your plant so as to compare the battery usage as I estimated to your real life spec of running 2 extra heaters over night, and how much in reality there is adifference between summer and winter.
Me - I would recommend leave it as it is