Conext Bridge for XW+ Li-ions from LG and Hoppecke announced for 2nd half 2017

twistedtree · June 2017

It must be a limit in the BMS, because if you parallel battery packs, each will see roughly 1/2 the charge/discharge current.

I must say this is all very encouraging and timely. My Surrette battery bank is nearing EOL and I would really like to switch to LiFePO, but also want to limit how much of a science project I take on at this point. The Bridge looks quite promising.

I have an XW6048, so load-wise it's a reasonable match for the RESU10. I just need to think through how much storage capacity I want/need.

Dave Angelini · June 2017

I would say it is the limit of the design. Everything is logged internally for warranty. The battery in use is indicated on the RESU plus combiner. The two batteries are not on at the same time. Tesla does this also although I really do not know much about their latest as they keep changing. The LG has been in use in Australia for nearly 3 years now. I have client begging for the Bridge there.

twistedtree · June 2017

Oh, now I get it. It all makes sense if they cycle through one battery at a time. And that's a good way to minimize leaving them at a constant high state of charge.

Dave Angelini · June 2017

You can always lower the solar charge voltage. In the plot below I am set for 97% Soc but I will lower it with summer. The problem is we are not there yet with rain yesterday in the plot. The red current is just into battery, there is a 1 kw heating/reefer/stuff load that does not show on this plot. The red spikes are clouds....

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/cc/91kneprj09jr.png

gbaig · June 2017

Dave Excellent info. I am struggling to access my combos remotely. Could you please refer me to the configurations steps. I live about 2 thousand miles away from home. Visit every 2 months but system is on and export energy to the grid.

Dave Angelini · June 2017

Search the forum here. There is plenty. If you contact me thru my e-mail I will bill you, but you do get value I add for clients only.
There is also a quick start guide for combox on the Schneider site. Below is the Conext Insight Web Portal. System data from Combox.
http://solar.schneider-electric.com/product/conext-combox/

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/6m/2ya7tbpjxw1p.png

gbaig · June 2017

Let me have your email

BB. · June 2017

In Dave's signature.

- Bill

Dave Angelini · June 2017

We are far enough in the testing that I installed the Bridge from the test bench up to the wall. The old XW 1,100 AH system on the left will free up some room when it is re-purposed.

Lumisol · June 2017

Reminds me of the 'power room' in the vault from Fallout.

Estragon · June 2017

I wish my room was as big or as neat :-)

Dave Angelini · June 2017

Estragon said:

I wish my room was as big or as neat :-)

I once said that to the ship captain of the engineering spaces I was working on. He said to me "they are all small on the ocean"
Thank-you for the kind words, and thanks also Horsefly

Dave Angelini · June 2017

I promised a few folks I would show the upgrade from an XW to an XW+ to work with the Bridge. It is on the Schneider site and I will place a link here when the time gets closer to release. The final manual is done and I am starting to see the LG chem RESU series starting to get in the market. No US pricing yet though. Having an extremely accurate State of charge is really nice with the 100F weather we are having. It makes the cooling runs overnight very easy to judge.

Lumisol · June 2017

This was from 2015... http://solar.schneider-electric.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/conext-xw-technical-note-compatibility-976-0316-01-01_rev-b_eng.pdf

Dave Angelini · July 2017

Below is a pix of the newer "mini PDP" for any XW. It smaller and cheaper than the full size power distrib panel. It comes with a Bussbar to DC distribution that will fit all XW's (+) & (-) terminals, a 250 DC breaker, space for (2) 100 A or less breakers, The AC bypass switching& wiring, a Gen or grid breaker. and space to fit the conext bridge on the right below. It has cover in the second pix that keeps it secure. Really fast to install. A couple 100A breakers and 12KW of solar from 2 mppt-80-600s would make it easy build a compact system.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/4b/edy9pavy1qa7.jpg

bennyspoon · July 2017

Greetings, I am in Australia and the bridge is not as yet released here. The resu has been available for a while now, so we have the opposite supply issue to you guys. I have spoken with tech support at lg chem regarding the resu being used off grid with the bridge and was told that they wouldn't warranty the resu as they had had issues with inrush current damaging the bms. I imagine that this is one of the things that the bridge is there to prevent from happening?
Would the battery charge setpoints be something that is settable on the charge controller or something that is contained within the firmware and is not adjustable?

Dave Angelini · July 2017

LG Chem is just finishing their certification for the Offgrid use & Grid support use of the the Schneider Electric Bridge. To use an LG battery as you said with warranty, LG needs to approve its use. The Inverter charger and the mppts have a heartbeat signal from the LG BMS that must be there. It is fairly automatic but as always there is some leeway. I need that and do insist on it living offgrid.

I have looked at Victron and SMA and they are definitely not close to being approved for Offgrid or back-up. The LG is really well thought out and the testing of the lower priced CSW 4048 is moving forward and I will get my hands on one for my LG / Bridge test site soon. Schneider is very focused on Australia with a test site there, I would bet you should see this in September. More options also from others!

Have a gooday Mate! What part of Australia? Beautiful country!

Solray · July 2017

I used to go to Australia to play with some local bands there in the winter here (summer) and just to get away for a few months a year. The coastal areas and for a few miles inland are nice country, the rest, meh.

bennyspoon · July 2017

That's great to hear Dave, very encouraging stuff indeed.G'day back to you. We are in the Huon valley southern Tassie, last municipality before the south pole! The sun is making occasional appearances but the rains haven't started yet so no hydro.

The old lister is paying for himself yet again! Solray must never have come here, it's beautiful inland here on my island.

Dave Angelini · July 2017

We spent a season off the boat driving around in an old cruiser van and got to Tassie, loved it! and the islands wow!

We are fighting major as you say "bush fires" and trying to smile when the big planes come in. DC10's 30 meters off the roof tonight and the fire is really close. The fire pump is charged and we are ready. Nice to have a reliable and efficient battery. We may need it tomorrow as the skies go to a dark winter day in the middle of summer. 3/4 inch ash snowflakes and burned leaves coming down. One of the firefighters was on the radio saying that " the guy who started it was in a 150K$ motor home that had an oven/range inside better than the one in most peoples homes. Did he really have to have a cooking fire?"

bennyspoon · July 2017

Woah, we have the same problems here in summer. The scariest time of year. Go well and stay safe.

karrak · July 2017

All the best with the fire Dave. Sounds like you are well prepared. We went through the "Yarloop fire" eighteen months ago.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/9k/dql1syk9i89o.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/e4/lxoudo0skga6.jpg

It was fortunate we supply all our own power as it took weeks to get the grid fixed up in the rest of the district.

Simon

Dave Angelini · July 2017

Thank-you so much Simon!

It means alot to us!

Tonight and tomorrow am will tell the story. It is out of control and the air resources were sent to other fires nearby. Still have DSL but the cell keeps dropping. All the power in town is out as they are trying to convince people to evacuate. I might send my SO out with the Sheriff but I will fight it. Cheers!

karrak · July 2017

FWIW We had one days warning about the fire which was invaluable in giving time to clean up around the house and seal up any gaps where embers could get into the building and check that all our equipment was functioning. It was somewhat nerve wracking seeing the fire getting closer but we were kept busy.

We were fortunate that the wind had died down when the fire came through at night and the fire near our house was started by a burning ember that had traveled about 1km (0.6 mile) from the main fire front. We let the fire burn up to a containment line close to the building that we had decided to defend to. This gave us a burnt buffer when the main fire front came through. It took two of us around seven hours of hard work to get to the point where we had a burnt buffer around all the infrastructure we wanted to save. It was invaluable having two people in wireless contact with each other looking after each other's backs. I wouldn't like to fight a fire by myself. You never know what might go wrong. We have a pretty fireproof room with aluminum shutters on the windows that we could retreat to if things really got bad.

We spent the next few days putting out flare ups. We slept in shifts to make sure that someone was always on duty.

With large out of control fires you cannot rely on getting help from the fire brigades, especially at night. You have to be self sufficient.

One of the most important things we found was having confidence in ourselves, our equipment and our preparation. Was helped by the fact that we are members of the local fire brigade so had some idea what to expect.

We will be thinking of you.

Simon

mike95490 · July 2017

Dave Angelini said:

Thank-you so much Simon!

It means alot to us!

Tonight and tomorrow am will tell the story. It is out of control and the air resources were sent to other fires nearby. Still have DSL but the cell keeps dropping. All the power in town is out as they are trying to convince people to evacuate. I might send my SO out with the Sheriff but I will fight it. Cheers!

Good Fortune to you Dave.
The nasty secret, is that owner abandoned (evacuated) structures are left to burn, if the owner stays and fights, the FD will help 99% of the time.

Mangas · July 2017

We live with big wildfires too. Long periods of dry, low humidity and windy conditions waiting on serious moisture are unsettling times.

You're so right about owners being self sufficient and prepared as possible. Makes for some very long days (and nights) for all impacted.

Hopefully, you aren't under Type 1.

Stay safe Dave!

Aguarancher · July 2017

Dave, hope you and the family are all safe. I’ve seen the destruction fire can do as most of my family lives in Groveland (PML) and Sonora. They all went through their own personal hell with past fires. Was always in awe with the skills displayed by the borate bombers, helicopter and the spotter plane pilots who put their lives at risk for the safety of others. Please give us an update when possible. Gary

Dave Angelini · July 2017

Thanks Guys! The ISP just came up and so I have to get some updates out. These fires are just life and our place has burned twice already in the last decade. It is built to survive as Mike said, as long as someone stays to spray it down before, and go inside during, and then spray the spot fires after it goes by. The problem for the 50 homes that have burned is they ran out of gasoline, got too hot inside, and then left.

Among the heroes, I think, are the Dozer crews, they work 24 hours and at night when the air attack is on the ground they go down some really steep terrain, in the smoke, cutting and back burning.

My wife baked coffee cake for the 4 engines at the bottom of our road, they know we have water for their tanker, and they can come in the garage to get out of the smoke and sleep on cots. This will probably happen tonight. The red circle is us Simon, Mangas & Aguarancher.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/c2/cq5t2bl1x093.png

angas,

Now 80,000 acres and 13 % contained. The other pix is a house that also survived.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/wg/55o668y73vtj.png

westbranch · July 2017

Yes, hang in Dave, sad to say there isn't much showing on the Sat weather images for a break in weather down your way.

we had a little blow that day

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/s2/dr5spvn13c4b.jpg

pushed the fire closer to us, looking across our lake

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/or/wjoxdwh4z0kh.jpg

We were blessed overnight with some heavy deluges and next morning and afternoon softer steady rains.... the Rain source is a stagnant low pressure that was sitting just off BC's Vancouver Island for > 3 weeks and it also gave us some of the hottest weather in BC for 40 years+. It has now gone through and into Alberta.

went to next lake for a different perspective, to see just how bog and close it was...

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/wi/gyz4vd8dpbe5.jpg

There are > 37,000 Evacuated people in the province so far, hopefully this little bonus will slow down some of the blazes, 2 local fires are more than 125,000 Ha (285,000 acres) each and people have been evacuated from 6 small communities, 3 large villages and 2 cities, let alone the hundreds of ranchers and farmers that we know nothing about other than personal messages passed around each area...

We are at the lake and have been in a relatively safe area, only 2 fires ~ 5,000 ha each ( ~12,000 acres) and about 12 miles away, yet were served an ALERT Notice for potential Evacuation because of a high wind forecast... and DID it COME! S 25 km/h Gusts to 55 Km/h , it blew up like a bomb! The worst is the waiting through the night, waiting for a knock on the door and a serious individual telling us to get out...

Dave Angelini · July 2017

The Engineers at Schneider Burnaby were telling us about your neck of the woods Westbranch. Property near you!

They don't tell us to evacuate, as they know we won't leave and did not the last two times. They don't want that, unofficially.
The road (all feeders) out to the highway has been evacuated now for a week along with Utility power.

A Cal-fire Helios stopped up above us and parked for the night. We knew each other from back on the sailboats and he was telling me the Air attack is about 80K$ a pop and helios are 30K per run not counting the retardant.
The news from him was that there is a 747-400 that is for sale now that will drop a 1.5 mile fire block 600 feet wide. It is all atomized and so is will not hurt people or structures. It fills in 20 minutes with 20K Gals of water or retardant.

I am suppose to load new firmware for the Bridge project but I will wait this out as I have a list of homes to take care of for power.
I installed 3 nice propane generators this week (2 Kohlers and a Honda7000i) The Honda is so quiet... Paid my bills for quite some time

Cheers!

Conext Bridge for XW+ Li-ions from LG and Hoppecke announced for 2nd half 2017

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