Good morning y'all. Today I'm preparing to upgrade my battery bank as well as how it's hooked up to my solar charger and my inverter. I don't have all the proper pieces to this puzzle yet although the last couple will be here either today or tomorrow. I decided it was time to start getting cables ready so when the last of my parts do come I am ready.
Two years ago when I started this journey I bought a 12 volt system that consisted of a 40 Amp solar charge controller, two 200 watt solar panels, four 12 volt lead acid batteries and a 3000 watt inverter to run my AC electric devices. This initial set up was not very good for my requirements and I have since upgraded a few things and am now upgrading again.
My initial investment in lead acid batteries was a mistake for various reasons. But I listened to a friend who is resistant to change about such things and saved some money on the cost of those versus more efficient Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries at the time. This was 3 years ago and the price difference was significant. Now the price difference is not as significant as a result in the early spring of 2025 I changed over to 4 LiFePO4 batteries and just got 3 more yesterday with one more on the way. The upgrade is a result in about 20 Amp hours per battery as well as more efficient charging and a few other perks I'll get into later.
The other additions I'm making to my system this go round is I'm adding busbars. This will help in a more even distribution while charging and using my batteries. I'm also adding at least one automatic transfer switch. This will regulate the source of the electricity I am using without me having to manually switch plugs and things of that nature.
I'll be documenting this upgrade as I do it and either writing about it or making videos of my efforts. Maybe both.
I hope y'all have an amazing day!