Had to buy a new house battery

[oregano]

So my old lithium ion house battery finally died. This is the big battery that powers everything in my off grid home. A week ago it just quit recharging. So on Wednesday I drove to my mom's in Sacramento, stayed overnight, then Thursday I drove to Reno to the battery company to buy a new battery (they gave me a 7% discount fior buying it directly from them so they don't have to pay for shipping), drove back to Sacramento the same day, stayed overnight at my mom's, then early Friday I drove back. I was so exhausted I didn't install the battery until this morning (Saturday). Why did I buy a battery from the same company, well the issues I had were not their fault, I misused the battery and caused the onboard computer (inside the battery) to fail. They manufacture all their own batteries in a big warehouse on the south edge of Reno, so basically it's buying direct from the manufacturer. Nevada has America's only active lithium mine, in central-western Nevada near Tonopah, so this company uses locally sourced lithium. (Tesla has a battery Gigafactory near Reno,. at Storey County Industrial Park close to Fernley. Nevada attracts lithium battery makers due to the mine.) So I've been offline for a few days, but I'm back.

 

[Rocco]

Welcome back! How big/ heavy is your house battery?

 

[Jumpinbare]

I had to buy shampoo at Wal-Mart. They didn't have real poo.

Sorry you had the battery issue. I would like to have a house batter for my home solar setup. Since I don't, my power is shut off when the grid goes down so my panels don't energize the utility lines.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I have one of those LG Chem RESU10H (R-type) batteries. I had to replace mine, but it was luckily under warrantee. It was one of those things where it apparently charged up too quickly with my PV array, and once it reached 100% state of charge, it literally shut off, never to turn on again. So, I got a brand new battery with a brand new 10 year warranty. Still a pain in the behind navigating the process. It took me a few months trying to get a new battery shipped to me and then arranging installers. The nice thing though was that I use SolarEdge (SE) PV equipment, and SE worked with LG Chem in integrating some of the software. Once the battery was installed, it was simply a call to SolarEdge and they activated the system remotely. Woke up the next day and all was well.

In retrospect, knowing what I know now with this home, and having 2 EVs, I should have invested in an additional 30-40kWh of battery storage. The 10 does fine, and during grid outages, allows critical loads to operate in a closed-loop fashion. I have heat, hot water, refrigerator, kitchen circuits, bedroom, bathroom, sump pump, to operate.

My next home will be off-grid, if not, a grid-tied system that won't use the grid (depending upon local regulations). Looking for a super high-efficiency build, passive solar, geothermal, solar-battery, possibly a small wind system, solar water condensing-collecting system, etc. I don't want bills going into retirement. Pay for it all up front and be done with utility companies.

 

[Aspychata]

@oregano , will they fix your old house battery for you? Then you have a back-up plan.

 

[Rocco]

Since I don't, my power is shut off when the grid goes down so my panels don't energize the utility lines.

Don't you have a transfer switch at your electrical panel? To prevent islanding during outages?