Fogstar Home Batteries (Domestic <30kWh ... etc)

Solarchaser

Chris_Type_R said:

Wouldn't this single 15.2kWh Fogstar battery make sense - https://www.fogstar.co.uk/collections/lifepo4/products/seplos-mason-280l-and-x16-grade-b-envision-305ah-battery-bundle (there are Eve bundles too).

I'm thinking of one myself if I can sell off my 5.3kWj recently acquired Sunsynk battery. It would suit me in terms of the foot print and space. 

ETA: Ignoring the obvious requirement to build the behemoth. 

Hi, I seen Zeupater speak about this thread in relation to fogstar so thought id share my initial thoughts.
I've quoted Chris here as this is the setup I went for in November,  bought two of them... well kinda, bought one and then bought another 16 cells for £100/cell and joined them in parallel to run from the same BMS.

I have 9 pylontechs on one inverter and this arrangement on the other.
This is the cells just set out to run a couple of cycles with the cells vertical to get rid of any bubbles in their membranes, before mounting them horizontally in a box.

Yes, 3 months later they are still sitting like this, but I'll get round to putting them in the box soon...

In terms of building them into the box, id say anyone with a bit of DIY skill will be able to make the box up in 3-4  hours for the first one (instructions and help from fogstar is non existent,  I used seplos videos on youtube) and then probably around 2 hours for any after that.

It's Chinese, so some of the holes for threads are not great, and the bolts and screws they send have maybe a 10% failure rate, but they do send lots of extra, so honestly it's not a major problem. 
They are obviously made in kits by hand as of the 3 I've bought (1 in November plus extra cells and then 2 in January) they all had some screws in them but number and placement are very much varied.

The cells are 5.5kg each and the box is around 20, so I lugged them up to the loft separately and assembled when in place (kinda).

The pylontech are a 15 cell 3.2v in series system so run around the 48V mark, and the seplos are a 16 cell 3.2v in series system and so run around the 51V mark, which means a little bit more power out of the lux, but also means the lux favours the seplos cells for discharge.

I have the V2 BMS and am pretty happy with it, as after initial cycles it has returned a maximum cell variation of less than 10mv, which is pretty impressive. 
It does passive balancing usually on full charge, vs the newer V3 BMS which does active balancing, which I didn't want.

Erm I've prattled on for a bit here, but not sure if I've answered the question,  so feel free to ask anything I've missed and I'll answer as best I can for 3 months of use.

Netexporter

I notice that Fogstar have sold all their latest shipment of 30kWh rack mounted batteries within a week or two of them arriving. Hopefully the next lot will benefit from the drop in battery cell prices.

zeupater

Netexporter said:

I notice that Fogstar have sold all their latest shipment of 30kWh rack mounted batteries within a week or two of them arriving. Hopefully the next lot will benefit from the drop in battery cell prices.

Hi

Really depends on what their business model is going forward ... (a) follow the typical UK business approach to chase margins & earnings ? -or- (b) to establish market position? ...

Effectively, if (a) then they'll fail due to scale and if (b) they'd need to be very careful of not falling into the business growth trap else they're also likely to fail .... which boils down to them needing investors with deep pockets -or- plan for growth within the context of earnings ...

HTH - Z

theboylard

Just to update Z and anyone else interested:

Solaredge 3680 with 4kw of panels on the roof, under FiT.

I have just had fitted a Sunsynk 5kw ecco Hybrid inverter, with 15kWh of Fogstar batteries, connected on the AC side as I didn't want to mess with the SolarEdge install (due to FiT).

Sunsynk 5kw as didn't want to limited to 3.6kw on the home use side, plus I want to be able to add further panels at some point in the future.

Took an age to get them installed, but they are running now and are starting to earn their keep.

I paid £4k last year for the batteries (3x 5.12kWh), which came with a cabinet.

Same product (batts and cab) is now £3k retail

https://www.fogstar.co.uk/collections/solar-battery-storage/products/fogstar-energy-48v-15kwh-rack-battery-bundle

The batteries are self heating if the temp drops, so I have them in the garage with the inverters.

They also now offer a much neater, 15kWh solution, that is even cheaper at £2.5k

https://www.fogstar.co.uk/collections/solar-battery-storage/products/fogstar-energy-48v-15kwh-rack-battery-bundle

It is almost a complete no brainer in my opinion, they are compatible with the pylontech protocol, so any inverter that supports that will work with the batteries.

A bit of fiddling with the Sunsynk inverter on the daily at the moment, maximising solar usage and trying to minimise any import - have got a Home Assistant install up but not done much with it currently as still reaidng about the

That took an awful lot of cross reading lots of posts on different forums to figure out what I was doing, I may not be correct in what I'm doing but its working for me!

My installer had to travel lots miles to me and was with me for over 12 hours on the day, I'll name them after a get my G99, as they are still helping with that, but I'm very happy with what they've done and the follow up support.

Will post screnshots and answer any questions anyone wants to ask.

Netexporter

Thanks for the update. That has given me more confidence that the SunSynk/Fogstar route is the right one for me.

Have you had an islanding contactor installed, to give you power cut protection?

theboylard

Netexporter said:

Thanks for the update. That has given me more confidence that the SunSynk/Fogstar route is the right one for me.

Have you had an islanding contactor installed, to give you power cut protection?

To be honest, with the stable supply we have around here - 1 power cut for 4 hours in the last 18 months, that didn't really factor into my choice?

I went with the Sunsynk as it seemed to offer most of what I wanted - multiple input sources (wind/solar/hydro/grid/etc) for future expansion plans and the 5-5.5kw output would support 95% of use cases.

The Sunsynk software is quirky, not naturally logical (to my mind!), and my installer made sure I have full access to fiddle (their words exactly!!) so if I break anythng, its on me! Funnily enough, I have more access remotely than I do at the actual inverter itself?!

As its' AC side I do get transmission losses (ac/dc into the battery, then dc/ac back out) but I can charge the battery to as much as I want from solar, even with the inclement weather we've been having lately.

gefnew

Superior Fogstar Energy 15.5kWh 48V Battery, Only £2375.00 at Fogstar | hotukdeals
Just seen this today.

Netexporter

Price is still showing as £2500 on the Fogstar site, although you only have to pay a 10% reservation, there. Perhaps this deal is for paying the whole lot up-front. Next shipment isn't due in until the end of May.

Chris_Type_R

Netexporter said:

Price is still showing as £2500 on the Fogstar site, although you only have to pay a 10% reservation, there. Perhaps this deal is for paying the whole lot up-front. Next shipment isn't due in until the end of May.

If you navigate through the pre-order workflow you can use the code GET5OFF to reduce the shipping balance by £124.99.

My finger is hovering over the order button.....

Netexporter

Chris_Type_R said:

Netexporter said:

Price is still showing as £2500 on the Fogstar site, although you only have to pay a 10% reservation, there. Perhaps this deal is for paying the whole lot up-front. Next shipment isn't due in until the end of May.

If you navigate through the pre-order workflow you can use the code GET5OFF to reduce the shipping balance by £124.99.

My finger is hovering over the order button.....

Thanks for that. Now it is a race between us to press the button!