totalimpact
New member
- Joined
- May 13, 2020
- Messages
- 11
Advice please: Is a free APC Symetra LX worth my time?
My scenario: I live in a remote area,any hint of a wild fire, the Utility Cocuts our power (need it to runwell), one fire caused heavy damage to the power infrastructure and we had no power for 3 weeks, so now they cut power just if the wind blows - last summerwe probably did over 25 separate days of outage, typically 1-2 days continuous.
Goal: Potentially run long term (weeks) on solar/battery, even if at reduced usage, just essentials like fridge/well/limited lights.
I am in the process of capacity testing 30,000 1AH LiFePo4 cells, I have 10kw of solar panels coming next week, I have a Solar Edge 10k GTInverter, and a SMA 7k (run 2 in case 1 dies).
I work in the IT industry, and we work on electrical automation stuff, and my family was in the construction industry, so I'm adept at most anything I need to be.
Client is liquidating, they want this UPS hauled off tomorrow. I have nobody to helpon such short notice, so I might have to pay 1-2 guys $100-200 to ride along and help me yank the 4 batteries out of the tower and lug it over to the truck (~650lb) and unload at my house. I dont even know the exact model (they werent swift enough to send a photo of the back label, it could be anywhere from a 4kva-16kva tower, I imagine it is a 4-8.
If its the 8k, that is 6000+ watt sustained power handling. My well is a 3/4hp 220v pump, I imagine if I add an additional startup capacitor to the motor, this UPS would not care.
I have already setup a 12v Lifepo pack in a small UPS, and was able to nearly triple the runtime over a brand new SLA pack, and the charging range would be well within the happy range of the Lifepos, they would most likely last 10 years or more.
The base Symetra runs 4x 120vdc 9ah packs (100-147v range), and can expand to 16 packs. They can output 37-75amps depending on the model, and can charge+service loads at up to 80ampsinput - advertised to charge a depleted pack in 3 hours.
Advantages:
- Fair amp capacity
- Tower on wheels
- Dedicated genset input
- hot-swappable battery packs are already fused and cooled
- Its already in a fire proof casing
- It currently has good SLA batteries (unknown age)...would get swapped to LifePo soon and sold at the marina.
- 42S LifePo - I can wire that
Specs:
https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/prod...lable-to-16kVA-N-1-Tower-208-240V/P-SYA16K16P
https://download.schneider-electric...8SRKKA_R1_EN.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=SPD_SCON-8SRKKA_EN
Does this sound like a good choice of equipment to keep me online in an extended outage? I realize I probably will have to overcome integrating a BMS (42S??), andfool the grid tied inverters in to syncing off the UPS via transfer switches... and potentially burn off excess power to keep the load pulling from the solar... I could setup an arduino to monitor pack capacity and trip a relay to some hot water elements.
On another note, I already have 2 mid-sized Toshiba 1600EP UPS, 3.6kva, but they only do 15amps max output- not enough to safely handle the well.
Open to ideas/scrutiny. Sorry for TMI.
-John
My scenario: I live in a remote area,any hint of a wild fire, the Utility Cocuts our power (need it to runwell), one fire caused heavy damage to the power infrastructure and we had no power for 3 weeks, so now they cut power just if the wind blows - last summerwe probably did over 25 separate days of outage, typically 1-2 days continuous.
Goal: Potentially run long term (weeks) on solar/battery, even if at reduced usage, just essentials like fridge/well/limited lights.
I am in the process of capacity testing 30,000 1AH LiFePo4 cells, I have 10kw of solar panels coming next week, I have a Solar Edge 10k GTInverter, and a SMA 7k (run 2 in case 1 dies).
I work in the IT industry, and we work on electrical automation stuff, and my family was in the construction industry, so I'm adept at most anything I need to be.
Client is liquidating, they want this UPS hauled off tomorrow. I have nobody to helpon such short notice, so I might have to pay 1-2 guys $100-200 to ride along and help me yank the 4 batteries out of the tower and lug it over to the truck (~650lb) and unload at my house. I dont even know the exact model (they werent swift enough to send a photo of the back label, it could be anywhere from a 4kva-16kva tower, I imagine it is a 4-8.
If its the 8k, that is 6000+ watt sustained power handling. My well is a 3/4hp 220v pump, I imagine if I add an additional startup capacitor to the motor, this UPS would not care.
I have already setup a 12v Lifepo pack in a small UPS, and was able to nearly triple the runtime over a brand new SLA pack, and the charging range would be well within the happy range of the Lifepos, they would most likely last 10 years or more.
The base Symetra runs 4x 120vdc 9ah packs (100-147v range), and can expand to 16 packs. They can output 37-75amps depending on the model, and can charge+service loads at up to 80ampsinput - advertised to charge a depleted pack in 3 hours.
Advantages:
- Fair amp capacity
- Tower on wheels
- Dedicated genset input
- hot-swappable battery packs are already fused and cooled
- Its already in a fire proof casing
- It currently has good SLA batteries (unknown age)...would get swapped to LifePo soon and sold at the marina.
- 42S LifePo - I can wire that
Specs:
https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/prod...lable-to-16kVA-N-1-Tower-208-240V/P-SYA16K16P
https://download.schneider-electric...8SRKKA_R1_EN.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=SPD_SCON-8SRKKA_EN
Does this sound like a good choice of equipment to keep me online in an extended outage? I realize I probably will have to overcome integrating a BMS (42S??), andfool the grid tied inverters in to syncing off the UPS via transfer switches... and potentially burn off excess power to keep the load pulling from the solar... I could setup an arduino to monitor pack capacity and trip a relay to some hot water elements.
On another note, I already have 2 mid-sized Toshiba 1600EP UPS, 3.6kva, but they only do 15amps max output- not enough to safely handle the well.
Open to ideas/scrutiny. Sorry for TMI.
-John