using a Lev50 pack for solar

[paulcardier]

Hi
I am new there. I plan to change my battery pack ( peugeot ion 2012 ) , and use the old one for solar installation in our house.
This is a pack made with the first type of battery , LEV50 .
Is somebody already done this, with this kind of pack ?
My doubt is if I should use a specific charger instead of the tipical Fronius(Primo) + Victron(Quattro) pair, a solution that many are installing for this kind of purpose ( solar panel + battery + grid ) .
Have a nice day
Paul

 

[PV1]

As long as you have a functioning battery management system and the solar system either has a lithium ion charge profile or you can manually set max and minimum voltages, this should work. For your voltage range, take 3.5 volts and 4.1 volts for each cell and multiply for the number of cells wired in series. If you’re using the entire pack as is, then your voltage range is 308 volts to 360 volts DC.

 

[paulcardier]

Thank you for you reply PV1, very precise info.
I understand you recomand to unpack all the cell, and then wired them depending of the voltage I want to reach. In our case, I bought a crashed car with low mileage so I can also use also the Mitsubishi BMS with the old battery I want tu re-use for the solar : does this make sens , or simplify the stuff to be done ?
I plan to us a Victron Control Color as the central device between solar panel / inversor / charger / battery .
best regards
Paul

 

[PV1]

If the inverter and charge controller can handle pack voltage, that’s awesome. As for keeping the stock BMS, that would depend on information others on this forum may have. I don’t know how functional the BMS is with the pack separate from the car.

 

[pbui19]

I've been thinking about this as well, so far:

Charging: Use level 2 at 3kw AC via the regular AC & vehicle charger setup; once the PV inverter is turning on, either via the grid or an islanded-subgrid. This way, the pack is maintained by the vehicle build-in BMS.

Dis-charge: the meager 700w-1000w draw via the 12-v aux is simple too little. I am thinking of tapping the roughly 350-vdc at the motor, again to make use the iMiev build-in BMS. Haven't quite come up with a plan how to convert the 350-vdc to 240-vac cheaply yet.

Bulk pack voltage is one thing and probably ok for shallow charge/discharge. But i think lithium needs individual cell monitoring to maximize pack capacity utility.

Though I still believe the SparkEV would serve better as a solar pack, because I think its TMS (thermal) with the coolant is better than the iMiev air cooling.

 

[jray3]

Following closely, as I have the intact original pack from MR BEAN, changed out at 106k miles. I haven't yet found any info on whether the BMS is active full time or how to activate it when the pack is removed from the car. With the LEAF, it is possible using the WolfTronix LEAF Pack Sniffer, which I use and love at work.

 

[kiev]

i was thinking that i had posted the schematic for the CMU board, and as i recall there is a low voltage power supply on the board that is generated from the cells.

[edit] found it here, it appears to need an enable thru the 12V aux from the EV-ECU.
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4302#p39161

 

[jray3]

Haven't quite come up with a plan how to convert the 350-vdc to 240-vac cheaply yet.

Solar (PV) inverters that are designed for 240 VAC grid tie operation can be found quite cheaply as used or salvage, and are designed for up to 420 VDC input. I expect it would survive the relatively unlimited ampacity of a battery pack in the circuit due to their ability to sustain a shutdown and restart during full load, full output conditions. I've thrown the DC disconnect on an array at midday plenty of times to do PV repairs and troubleshooting. While I don't have need for the EV battery grid tie function and I do have a long list of higher priority projects, we'll see what this summer holds..

 

[jray3]

Thx Kenny, I finally took time to study your sketch and seem to see that 12V+ to pin 4 and 12V- to pin 6 will turn on the balancers?

 

[kiev]

It will enable the Low Voltage power supply +5V created from the cells; the CAN commands will need to be sent to control the balancers.

i think tomdb on the DIY electric car forum has decoded the balancer commands and even makes a SIMP BMS board to control all the CMU boards.

 

[toubab]

Hi, there maybe several ways to solve this solar installation, for my part I dismounted the battery pack from an Imiev to rearrange it as a 28V pack for use in a cabin, my installation is explained in another forum: https://secondlifestorage.com/showthread.php?tid=6319&highlight=Toubab

 

[pbui19]

Solar (PV) inverters that are designed for 240 VAC grid tie operation can be found quite cheaply as used or salvage, and are designed for up to 420 VDC input. I expect it would survive the relatively unlimited ampacity of a battery pack in the circuit due to their ability to sustain a shutdown and restart during full load, full output conditions.

I've smoked a cheap solar charger upon replacing the PV panel with a battery. I am guessing that as the PV load current is pulled, the PV output voltage is also lowered and thus limits the amp drawn. I missed my chance of obtaining some used Enphase M215 micro-inverter on ebay to try out, it was going for $160/10.

Please let us know if you ever get around to supplying a grid-tie inverter to a battery, may want to have some sort of fuse/breaker in line though.

 

[JoeS]

Hi, there maybe several ways to solve this solar installation, for my part I dismounted the battery pack from an Imiev to rearrange it as a 28V pack for use in a cabin, my installation is explained in another forum: https://secondlifestorage.com/showthread.php?tid=6319&highlight=Toubab

Toubab, welcome to the forum and thank you for the link. Delighted you were able to implement the LEV50 into your cabin, and have to put up with that terrible cell inbalance. :roll: :lol:

 

[pbui19]

please advise/comment/shoot-holes in first draft of poor-man (cheapskate) V2H:

first time sharing an image, let me know if can be viewed.

 

[kiev]

Can't see it here on the forum, but if you select the share button and find the BBC code tab, then copy and paste that code, it should show up here,

 

[MickeyS70]

please advise/comment/shoot-holes in first draft of poor-man (cheapskate) V2H:

first time sharing an image, let me know if can be viewed.

Hi
I think I have a fair idea what you want to achieve, good news is that you can use the IMIEV’s CHAdeMO port to power a solar hybrid inverter.

https://youtu.be/0acVkoMpxFc?si=2JZ9S4FWM9ude0gy

What is unclear but crucial:
- what capacity is your 48V battery?
- what is the average load of your house?

Mickey

 

[pbui19]

I think I have a fair idea what you want to achieve, good news is that you can use the IMIEV’s CHAdeMO port to power a solar hybrid inverter.

https://youtu.be/0acVkoMpxFc?si=2JZ9S4FWM9ude0gy

What is unclear but crucial:
- what capacity is your 48V battery?
- what is the average load of your house?

Mickey

thanks for reminding of Ben 300mpg.org, was following his adventure for quite a while. I recall his SolarCity inverter died, may be he got another one. I was trying to get some but couldn't find one then.

That y1-yr old youtube actually answered one of my other unknown (for another project), about how the M215 micros handle over production. Still will verify Ben's finding: M215s simply turn-off during over production, then attempt restart at 5-min interval.

am still in the dreaming phase, so no battery yet, probably start with 5kwh rack mount, ~$1400. It's a grid-assist, not to replace grid.

Accessing DC through the Chademo port would be nice. But will look into an alternative, may the AC or heater disconnect. The Bolt's AC disconnect is reallyy accessible under the hood.

Ben's hack is intriguing that the iMiev's BMS was operational, despite being "off". But that's 1-yr old video, he may have updates. Am also wondering about temperature management of the iMiev's pack. My iMiev has the hack, from this forum, to direct vent & AConditioned air into the pack

I regularly charge the iMiev's J1772 from excess PV off-grid production, but currently can only pull out via the 12-aux.

 

[MickeyS70]

I had a similar dream:
- implement a conventional PV setup first
- source a CHAdeMO male plug
- connect it to the PV input of a second hybrid inverter, set function to charge battery only
- connect both inverters to a 48V battery
- design a circuit that allows control of charge/discharge functions
- automate functions

Looks easy on paper

 

[pbui19]

https://youtu.be/0acVkoMpxFc?si=2JZ9S4FWM9ude0gy

hello - does any body know which two pins Ben is shorting out around 3:21 into the video, to bypass the canBus comm ? I've reached out to Ben but yet to hear back. The main attraction is the ability to keep the iMiev off while the BMS is still tracking Amp-Hr
Thanks

 

[MickeyS70]

hello - does any body know which two pins Ben is shorting out around 3:21 into the video, to bypass the canBus comm ?
Thanks

Have a look at below
https://300mpg.org/2021/11/11/chademo-relay-hack-switch-and-testing/