Simplyphi Batteries bought by Briggs and Stratton

Dave Angelini

Sep 7, 2021 — Briggs & Stratton announced today it has acquired SimpliPhi Power, a California-based manufacturer of energy storage and management systems.

Old news but any feed back please !  The store here is selling them

JRHill

I commissioned 3ea 3.8-48 in Dec 2020. I liked them immediately and added a 4th the following March. For our needs and power demands we are over batteried which is no problem with LFP04. They are filled daily in the winter** and rarely drop below 50%. There has been no noticeable change in performance over 4 years. There is no maintenance - not even to connections. Every few months I see them in the crouch space so I know they are still there.

As for warranty or customer service I've had zero contact or need to do so. As for setup I've stayed in contact with Raysun on the Outback Forum though we diverged on charging practices for a time. He has a really good relationship with some engineers at PHI and is kind of my PHI encyclopedia.

So Dave - I think you are asking about the B&S buy out or is it the batteries themselves? I tried to answer both within my experience.

** We are 85-100% dependent on generator charging in the winter so I adjust my charging practices to fill the PHIs to 100% SOC in case of a generator hiccup. That way I can easily run on batteries well into the 2nd day while I deal with any problem. During the long days of summer I dial back the charge voltage to ~90% SOC as I don't need the storage. I believe it will benefit me over time (I do a balancing full charge monthly when at the lower charge voltage).

I hope these batteries will outlive me. That was the reason I watched and watched before I took the massive $ leap. It was well worth it. If something happens to me the most maintenance intensive (and dangerous) part of an off grid system is the batteries. That subject is off the table. Whatever charging practice is in place when I choke the wife will have no problem continuing. Sound fatalistic and gross? I don't think people give this topic enough attention.

Dave Angelini

Thanks JR !  Just wanted to know as a client is considering them. The newer model is closed loop with Schneider and they liked the San Diego office.  I think you are very intelligent to think of what your wife will inherit should the big guy want you up there before you are ready. Lots of sad stories I can tell.

JRHill

And so, so many undocumented systems with no history. And a person assumes it, whether they are technical or not. What a mess. Especially for the family running blow driers.

JRHill

Dave Angelini said:

Thanks JR !  Just wanted to know as a client is considering them. The newer model is closed loop with Schneider and they liked the San Diego office.  I think you are very intelligent to think of what your wife will inherit should the big guy want you up there before you are ready. Lots of sad stories I can tell.

My four year old PHIs are dumb, as the Battery Monitoring System is concerned. each battery does what it does. The BMS is sufficient to protect the battery. Things have progressed in the years. So I am at a loss to speak to new product offerings.

Dave Angelini

It would not matter for you as Outback never made closed loop a priority.  They said they would but then got bought out.

The model after your battery was a light color and it had a network that the BMS of one battery would let the other batteries BMS follow its lead. It also outputs all data and makes it available to a monitoring program like Schneider Insight. Optics was suppose to do this if, Outback had done what they said they would.

JRHill

JRHill said:

Dave Angelini said:

Thanks JR !  Just wanted to know as a client is considering them. The newer model is closed loop with Schneider and they liked the San Diego office.  I think you are very intelligent to think of what your wife will inherit should the big guy want you up there before you are ready. Lots of sad stories I can tell.

My four year old PHIs are dumb, as the Battery Monitoring System is concerned. each battery does what it does. The BMS is sufficient to protect the battery. Things have progressed in the years. So I am at a loss to speak to new product offerings.

Yes, yes. If, then. real soon now. A closed loop system would be really cool. But it wasn't an option four years ago. But with a system that is under control and consistent I could not be happier. But it would be three steps forward to the person who had to use hair dryers. Maybe AI will zap a person's hair saying you shouldn't run this or your airfryer,

Dave Angelini

Or someone who just wanted to easily see all of the data below on their cell