Lithium battery recommendation?

Stations
,
1

Hello Motus:

I need to swap a battery at a station on a remote offshore island.

I am interested in upgrading to a Lithium Iron battery but have only used SLA batteries thus far. Does anyone have a recommendation for a Lithium Iron battery to consider? I am looking to source in the US/pick one up locally if possible.

Also, I am assuming the MorningStar SunSaver SS-10L-12V charge controller will work with the Lithium Iron battery, but please let me know if there is anything I should be aware of there.

Many thanks,

Pam

2

Pam,

I have had good success with using 100aH LiFePO4 batteries from several suppliers, but we recently found this one that is made in Phoenix, AZ: https://higherwire.com/collections/renewed-lithium-ion-battery-packs/products/12v-100ah-lifepo4-battery. These are refurbished batteries, but they also sell brand new ones.

If you upgrade to a Lithium battery, you will also need to change the charge controller, as the SunSaver does not work with Lithium. I have had good success with affordable charge controllers off Amazon such as this one: https://a.co/d/2w7L4QF. This controller will also work well with a SLA battery as well, and has the low voltage cutoff feature like the SunSaver 10L.

One thing we have noticed using LiFePO4 batteries in some areas, is that they don’t perform well in extreme cold environments. They will shut down at a certain temperature, and then sometimes not come back on, or come back on when they get warmer. Some battery Manufacturers also make the battery with an onboard warmer of some sort, or with lower temps in mind.

There could also be some programming on the charge controller that might help with the low temp cutoffs we’ve experienced, I just have not had the time to experiment with that idea.

Best of luck!
Matt

3

I’ve been using lithium battery set ups in 3 remote AK motus towers. I pull my antennae, solar panel, battery and sensorstation during the winter months so I don’t have to deal with keeping it powered during extreme cold weather. Dakota Lithium 100ah battery, and a solar panel and charge controller from them as well have been working good with these set ups the last few years. Let me know if you want any more information or specifics.
Cheers,
Nick Docken

4

Hi folks,

We’ve started deploying LiFePo4 batteries with integrated heating elements that are rated for charging/discharging at temperatures down to -20 C. These are manufactured by CanBat and have great monitoring tools that can be accessed via BlueTooth for quick battery diagnostics. We’ve also been insulating the batteries cases with 1" foam board and thermbal bubble insulation to hopefully extend the temperature range. As Matt said, these require an MPPT charge controller - the Morningstar SunSaver will not work well for these batteries. The other issue is the reduced charging in winter months on top of the higher power consumption due to heating so I would at least double the normal solar panel capacity (160-200 Watts).

We will report on what happens with our batteries after this next winter so we can all find the best solution together.

The equipment we’ve been using:

There are also American manufacturers of self heating batteries:

Cheers,

Lucas