What to do with spare ER batteries - Buy the matching truck?

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Single cells? The lightning is pouch cells.
Maybe disassemble to packs and work with those as an option,
But the easier way with solar is use the full 380VDC as an alternate "PV input" since the inverter will only draw what it needs, and typical Inverter input can handle any DC voltage between 200-500VDC. Use the original battery charging sustem for recharging the battery and everything will work and balance as designed.

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[ZSC100]

Single cells? The lightning is pouch cells.
Maybe disassemble to packs and work with those as an option,
But the easier way with solar is use the full 380VDC as an alternate "PV input" since the inverter will only draw what it needs, and typical Inverter input can handle any DC voltage between 200-500VDC. Use the original battery charging sustem for recharging the battery and everything will work and balance as designed.

I have a project going on right now (independent of charge while driving) that allows a Lightning or MachE pack to be used an alternate battery storage stand alone. The current design will be a small HMI solution, the battery and one of the on board chargers That's it. I will post on this forum when it progresses a bit farther, it's a design project for EE students at a local university and we are going to make everything open source.

 

[RLXXI]

Single cells? The lightning is pouch cells.
Maybe disassemble to packs and work with those as an option,
But the easier way with solar is use the full 380VDC as an alternate "PV input" since the inverter will only draw what it needs, and typical Inverter input can handle any DC voltage between 200-500VDC. Use the original battery charging sustem for recharging the battery and everything will work and balance as designed.

I did state "If possible". I have no idea how these battery cells are made, Tesla wraps their own single cells into packs, I figured knowing that and the fact I've built batteries from single cells, it would be doable, perhaps not.

If they are in multi packs of single cells, it would be even easier to add them to my solar system. I have extra PV inputs (dual mppt's) in the inverter.

 

[ZSC100]

I did state "If possible". I have no idea how these battery cells are made, Tesla wraps their own single cells into packs, I figured knowing that and the fact I've built batteries from single cells, it would be doable, perhaps not.

If they are in multi packs of single cells, it would be even easier to add them to my solar system. I have extra PV inputs (dual mppt's) in the inverter.

It would not make sense to break down the Lightning's battery into anything smaller than the modules, which are around 40v each. Unless you are in the aftermarket business of repairing them.

 

[RLXXI]

It would not make sense to break down the Lightning's battery into anything smaller than the modules, which are around 40v each. Unless you are in the aftermarket business of repairing them.

I was thinking closer to 51.2v but 40 would work.

 

[tearitupsports]

I have a project going on right now (independent of charge while driving) that allows a Lightning or MachE pack to be used an alternate battery storage stand alone. The current design will be a small HMI solution, the battery and one of the on board chargers That's it. I will post on this forum when it progresses a bit farther, it's a design project for EE students at a local university and we are going to make everything open source.

If you could just package the battery, BMS, and charge port into some housing, and make it a great deal economically, you could just hook it up to the commercial bi-directional chargers that already have all the software and hard stuff worked out. I am not sure how big of a cooling system you would need because your max rate would be 25 kW, which is a lot lower than what a vehicle would do. I would be interested in looking into a MachE LFP pack for that purpose.
As of right now I could buy the whole vehicle for 20k, but would want to cut that in half if possible.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

I did state "If possible". I have no idea how these battery cells are made, Tesla wraps their own single cells into packs, I figured knowing that and the fact I've built batteries from single cells, it would be doable, perhaps not.

If they are in multi packs of single cells, it would be even easier to add them to my solar system. I have extra PV inputs (dual mppt's) in the inverter.

I do not recommend it.
I have experience with prismatic cells - my home/business solar ESS is currently 147kWh built from LiFePO4 cells in 16s sets, with room to expand to 300kWh storage. - meaning I know a few things about building cells into 51.2v packs using LiFePO4 cells, programing the BMS's and balancing the system.

I also know the Lightning packs are Li-NMC and are pouch cells. These are arranged into packs, and the packs are set into a large metal protective assembly with integrated liquid heating/cooling systems, and their own appropriate BMS controls. The packs are removable as units but are not the correct voltage for most solar energy applications. Furthermore, if you have built a solar energy storage (SESS) using LiFePO4 cells, it is not a simple matter to mix in Li-NMC in parallel with these.

As noted earlier - most solar inverters will accept the 380v DC (nominal) the Lightning battery can supply, this can feed a PV input so there is no need to break the battery down to use it. The lightning battery can act as a DC source to an inverter in the case of needed energy during low/no sun.
To recharge a lightning battery (in this application as a back up to a solar battery system) the original charging system from the truck is the most practical solution.

 

[RLXXI]

I do not recommend it.
I have experience with prismatic cells - my home/business solar ESS is currently 147kWh built from LiFePO4 cells in 16s sets, with room to expand to 300kWh storage. - meaning I know a few things about building cells into 51.2v packs using LiFePO4 cells, programing the BMS's and balancing the system.

I also know the Lightning packs are Li-NMC and are pouch cells. These are arranged into packs, and the packs are set into a large metal protective assembly with integrated liquid heating/cooling systems, and their own appropriate BMS controls. The packs are removable as units but are not the correct voltage for most solar energy applications. Furthermore, if you have built a solar energy storage (SESS) using LiFePO4 cells, it is not a simple matter to mix in Li-NMC in parallel with these.

As noted earlier - most solar inverters will accept the 380v DC (nominal) the Lightning battery can supply, this can feed a PV input so there is no need to break the battery down to use it. The lightning battery can act as a DC source to an inverter in the case of needed energy during low/no sun.
To recharge a lightning battery (in this application as a back up to a solar battery system) the original charging system from the truck is the most practical solution.

Sounds like we have similar experience. The only concern or should I say obstacle, is the cooling part. Forgot all about that. I'll stick with my LFP arrangement.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

If you consider how the Lightning battery is used in the truck - ie you could deplete the battery from 100% SOC down to 20% in three hours Hwy driving in Hot weather: but compare to using it in a solar battery back up situation - where the same battery might power your home for 2-3 days (48 - 72 hours) so active cooling may not required.
I plan to drive the truck for 8-10 years or so (hope to see better battery tech by then) and after that pull and re-use the truck battery as a back up system: even if the 98kWh pack is down to 70-80kWh usable that is still worth having.
Connect to a PV DC input (that is designed for over 400v) via solenoid switch, control the switch remotely, use solar or cheap overnight rate utility to recharge the truck battery via the original charger, keep the truck battery BMS system intact.
In effect the lightning battery would act like 'artificial solar' source to the PV inputs on the main system and would just re-charge the main 51.2 volt battery from the lightning battery when needed.

 

[RLXXI]

If you consider how the Lightning battery is used in the truck - ie you could deplete the battery from 100% SOC down to 20% in three hours Hwy driving in Hot weather: but compare to using it in a solar battery back up situation - where the same battery might power your home for 2-3 days (48 - 72 hours) so active cooling may not required.
I plan to drive the truck for 8-10 years or so (hope to see better battery tech by then) and after that pull and re-use the truck battery as a back up system: even if the 98kWh pack is down to 70-80kWh usable that is still worth having.
Connect to a PV DC input (that is designed for over 400v) via solenoid switch, control the switch remotely, use solar or cheap overnight rate utility to recharge the truck battery via the original charger, keep the truck battery BMS system intact.
In effect the lightning battery would act like 'artificial solar' source to the PV inputs on the main system and would just re-charge the main 51.2 volt battery from the lightning battery when needed.

I do have twin mopt's in my inverter and only using one right now but do plan to use it with a 2nd set of tracker arrays. Also have 2 more inverters I could use but I'm saving those as backup.

I wouldn't want to use that type of battery without cooling. Mean time I use the 240v outlet as generator input on the inverter.

More work involved than I'm willing to expend at this time.

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