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Time to stock up on lifepo4 batteries.
by Eumenes 3y ago
Time to stock up on lifepo4 batteries.
- toomuchtodo 3y agoTime to ramp utility scale energy storage. Make batteries while the inputs are cheap. https://www.pcienergysolutions.com/2022/04/27/how-quickly-can-the-u-s-ramp-up-battery-storage-capacity/ https://www.pcienergysolutions.com/2022/04/27/how-quickly-ca... https://www.iea.org/energy-system/electricity/grid-scale-storage https://www.iea.org/energy-system/electricity/grid-scale-sto... https://insideevs.com/news/692788/tesla-battery-energy-storage-deployment-2023q3/ https://insideevs.com/news/692788/tesla-battery-energy-stora... (edit: as the cost of renewables approaches sub $0.01/kwh wholesale, storage/transmission/distribution become the primary costs of energy)
- Eumenes 3y agoHow challenging is it to DIY your own lithium battery packs?
- dylan604 3y agoHow good are you at putting out fire that doesn't mind getting wet?
- licomo 3y agoThat's never discouraged me from experimenting before ;) But in all seriousness, it depends on the chemistry. Li-ion? - No way I'm building my own! LiFePO4 - can come in nice prismatic cells that are easy to connect terminals with bars (just remember to keep them under compression!). Their failure mode is MUCH nicer than Li-ion. LTO - these are really interesting to me, and I am really tempted to branch out into this area. They look great from a safety perspective. Disclaimer: I have installed ~15 kWh of DIY batteries for solar.
- s1artibartfast 3y agoNo need to dissuade people from actually learning and doing things. It is pretty trivial if you are prepared.
- dylan604 3y agoThere is no attempt at dissuading anyone from anything. It was a simple question that is pretty pertinent to the process of the task. If the potential of fire is something you're not able to accept, then this would be pretty challenging. If potential fires are not a show stopper, are you prepared for this particular type of fire? If you are, the DIY battery is probably not going to be challenging. What you find trivial might be too much of an ask for someone else. Because you think it is trivial and demonstrate that you clearly feel it is something you can blindly recommend to someone else on the internet is dangerous arrogance. Sometimes, it is perfectly reasonable for the response to a question to be another question.
- s1artibartfast 3y agothats all fine and well. It just came off as dismissive, snarky, and negative. a very anti hacking attitude - at least to me.
- tomashubelbauer 3y agoYou can use LFP cells (don't suffer from thermal runaway) with a good BMS to avoid this risk.
- jasonjayr 3y agoCheck out this discussion from yesterday from just such an effort, regarding the challenges + severe dangers involved: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38541441 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38541441
- nicoburns 3y agoIt's definitely doable. There are plenty of tutorials out there on the internet. But like others have said, there's plenty that can go wrong if you don't get it right (a fire that can't be put out). Personally I would consider building one myself, but there's no way I'd keep it in my house (it would be going in a fireproof metal shed at the bottom of the garden or similar). And tbh, that's probably more trouble (and expense) than just buying a commercial one.
- amelius 3y agoHow do you know the commercial ones are safe?
- nicoburns 3y agoI mean, ultimately you don't. And there's always going to be some risk (ideally I'd definitely put any home battery in a fireproof location). But a commercial one is at least likely to have high quality welds, be wired properly, and have some kind of QA procedure overseen by someone who knows what they're doing). If there's a systematic problem with the design you are also likely to get notified via product recall, etc.
- wongarsu 3y agoFor stationary applications like a UPS or a power wall LiFePo4 is pretty safe and easy to set up. LiIon is obviously better for mobile use cases and easier to get used cells for, but it's also a lot more unstable and dangerous.
- rightbyte 3y agoDon't do it somewhere that you can't afford burning down. Lithium iron prismatic cells are quite neat if you want to make your own packs. Electric gocart suppliers might sell you cells and bms. It was really hard to get anyone to sell you cells, like 8 years ago when, I did 4 6kWh packs. It might be easier now.
- robertlagrant 3y agoJust need to buy a billion battery chargers now and plug them in.
- kcb 3y agoI bought a 100ah 12v lifepo4 battery on Amazon for my boat motor last year and prices have literally halfed since that time. Crazy to see the rapid change before your eyes.
- tiahura 3y ago12v 100ah was 500 a few years ago. Now under $175 on Amazon.
- foobarian 3y agoAny ideas what the best source is for 18650 format LFP cells?