DIY ESS - Follow its activity with 3 Wattson units

See my ESS in action at home with 3 Wattson units, displaying Home Usage, Generation (from Solar + ESS) and Net Usage

Mostly shot during the evening diner cooking with a rice cooker on (400W),  a stove (1500W on and off), some lights, etc

A good example of peak shaving & smoothing, done at home :-)

and the Power graph shows this activity in the evening (peak)

and the Energy graph

Close up / Focus on this period: The Usage is almost completely covered by the Generation (Solar & ESS mostly), and Energy required from the Grid pretty small 

3rd Wattson arrives - Set up and Display

I just got my 3rd Wattson in the mail :-)
Another one, what for ? Well, at 40 EUR, 1/3rd of its value, I could not resist and get it ...


Here it is:
It is a UK version, because there is a UK to European plug adaptor
The transmitter has some splashes of what looks like renovation work, cleaned with a wet cloth
Transmitter batteries show sign of leakage, read 0.15V and one is negative, but it does not matter to me really, they will go to recycle right away

I plug it in right away and it does not read anything, which is normal since it is paired with this transmitter; I push a pin through the middle top hole of the display unit, put my home transmitter in pairing mode (pushing its button for 10 seconds), and it shows 'PAIRING', and few seconds later displays my home Usage ... Easy :-)

I tilt it, and it shows the Money / Spending in GBP, original unchanged settings from the factory; It does not show GENERATION, or NET USAGE, because this option has to be changed in the settings, through the Holmes Software (free download on Energeno / ex DiyKyoto website)

But for now, I just bring it downstairs to place it on the left with the others, so we now have from left to right: Usage, Generation (Solar & ESS), and Net Usage ( = Usage - Generation)

Interesting, isn't it ? Here are a few shots of this new set up while the Solar panels are still producing at bit in the evening

After a while, I turn on my netbook to change the 3rd Wattson settings

Holmes software loading

Drivers installing by themselves

Communication with the Wattson display unit is ready to work

Holmes proposes to download the 28 days of latest Wattson usage records held in its memory, but I skip that part

Now in the Settings / Options tab, I check 'Enable generated logging': by doing this, the display unit will offer the GENERATION & NET USAGE to be displayed

Save & Apply, and that's it

Now if I tilt Wattson, I get the GENERATION

and NET USAGE

Tesla Motors gaat vanuit Tilburg elektrische auto's leveren in Europa

Tesla Motors opens a Final Assembly Facility in the Netherlands to sell the Model S in Europe



"Onder massale belangstelling van autojournalisten heeft het Amerikaanse bedrijf Tesla Motors donderdag zijn Europees distributiecentrum in Tilburg officieel geopend."

"Under massive interest from automotive journalists, the American company Tesla Motors Thursday officially opened its European distribution center in Tilburg."


Tiburg Facility

Model S coming out out a shipping container

Model S on a lift 

The Euopean Mennekes / Type 2 outlet will be installed here (?)

Final charging before customer delivery

New - Bottom Balancer Rental : 19.90€ / week - Why buy and own one when you need it only once ?

After building my DIY ESS, I realized that my DIY Bottom Balancer was not being used anymore; Of course, Bottom Balancing of individual LiFePO4 cells has to be performed only once before connecting the cells into the desired voltage string for use - before the first charge actually -

Same thing, if you want to build an ESS, convert your Vectrix from NiMH to LiFePO4 - many do that themselves -, or any other LiFePO4 based project, you will need to go through this step - see why below -





You will do the Bottom Balancing of all your cells and then, never gain ... So why buy and own an expensive piece of equipment for nothing ?

That is why I decided to provide a new service: The Bottom Balancer Rental, for 19.90€ / week, excluding shipping period, so you have a full week of use of it, plenty of time to empty your cells, then return the device to me


Why is Bottom Balancing mandatory ?

Read : LiFePO4 Battery Charging Method - Don't Ruin your Expensive Cells !


Bottom Balancing the DIY ESS CALB CA180FI Cells

Bottom Balancer video



Does it work ?

Yes, I have used this device on 3 different LiFePO4 Battery packs, with 2 different cells brands



How do I use it ?

I will provide a PDF documentation by email to the persons renting it



Interested ?

Start renting my Bottom Balancer Now:

Options

1 Week - €19,90 EUR 2 Weeks (20% off) - €31,90 EUR 3 Weeks (30% off) - €41,90 EUR

NB: Shipping costs not included

NB: To prevent problems, I will charge an extra 100 EUR as a security deposit, refunded when the Bottom Balancer comes back to me

LiFePO4 Battery Charge Method - Updated with video proofs

I just updated the most popular post of the blog, on LiFePO4 Battery Charging, with the 3 videos showing the cells voltages, always in balance - at the same level -, performed in March, May and July 2013

Take a look at the very bottom of the post here : LiFePO4 Battery Charging Method - Don't Ruin your Expensive Cells !

=> Conclusion: It works: All the cells are still perfectly in balance after 6 months ...

Electric VW Transporter Episode 8

The good work continues ...


"In this episode we install the heater, instrumentation, and throttle control"

More info on his website: www.EV4Unow.com