windsor-tg Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 I had solar system installed at my house in April. I have a 5kW SunSynk inverter and 2 x 5.12kW SunSync batteries installed in my garage. With winter not too far away, I was looking at ways on how best to insulate the batteries during the cold winter days. The batteries are attached on the garage wall. From what I understand, the cold weather affects the charging & discharging performance of the batteries. Can anyone advise here? I’ve attached a photo of my batteries in my garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 (edited) Do you know the performance hit for cold batteries. It may not be worth the bother. Below is the minimum temperature distribution for Heathrow, which is close to you. 0°C and below accounts for 6% of the total time, but remember that it will not be a contiguous string of time. Edited October 1, 2023 by SteamyTea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 A quick Google search shows their operation range, is down to -20 degC. So do you need to do anything? Insulated batteries isn't really a good thing, they generate heat while charging and discharging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windsor-tg Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 21 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Do you know the performance hit for cold batteries. It may not be worth the bother. Below is the minimum temperature distribution for Heathrow, which is close to you. 0°C and below accounts for 6% of the total time, but remember that it will not be a contiguous string of time. Someone who has the same type of batteries that I have mentioned that keeping the batteries warm allows then to charge and discharge at full 2500w power. Below 12c, SunSynk batteries halve it to 1250w and approaching zero they turn off altogether. If this is not the case, then I’m happy not to add any insulation to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 1 hour ago, windsor-tg said: Someone who has the same type of batteries that I have mentioned that keeping the batteries warm allows then to charge and discharge at full 2500w power. Below 12c, SunSynk batteries halve it to 1250w and approaching zero they turn off altogether. If this is not the case, then I’m happy not to add any insulation to them. If they're in a garage and regularly charging and discharging, it's possible that the temperature inside the case may rarely if ever fall below 12°C. In our garage, the air temperature rarely falls below around 5 or 6 degrees, even during a long period of very cold weather. Also, is your garage attached to the house? If so, there'll be some heating from the house through the common wall. And finally, I'd try and find written confirmation of what you were told. At the moment you just have someone's say-so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windsor-tg Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 5 hours ago, jack said: Also, is your garage attached to the house? If so, there'll be some heating from the house through the common wall. Even though the garage is attached, the batteries are installed on the opposite side of a single brick wall. I would think that it the winter, there’s probably a good chance of the temp in the garage hitting single figures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 https://www.sunsynk.org/lithium-batteries Shows a charging min temp of 0⁰C and a non derating discharge temp of -20⁰C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windsor-tg Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 Thanks @SteamyTea. Does this mean that if the temp falls below 0C, the batteries will not charge, or charge very slowly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 47 minutes ago, windsor-tg said: Thanks @SteamyTea. Does this mean that if the temp falls below 0C, the batteries will not charge, or charge very slowly? No idea to be honest. Best send them an email and ask. It may well be that there are restrictions in the small print that invalidates the warrantee/guarantee. As a sanity check, worth asking yourself if they would sell them in the UK if they could not perform within the expected temperatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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