2.8 kWh LifePO4 Battery

[Saeed Zubair]

Hi guys, I'm making a simulation based off a real system that uses a 2.8 kWh LifePO4 Battery which is a lithium iron phosphate battery. this battery isn't on PVsyst so i need to create it manually but PVSyst also only has Lead acid and lithium-ion batteries. Are there any batteries on PVSyst or in general that I can use to replace the 2.8 kWh LifePO4 battery. The battery is manufactured by PRIME

[André Mermoud]

The batterie LifePO4  are indeed Li-ion batteries ... 

Defining a new battery model in PVsyst is not easy, and you can do some erroneous definitions. 

If you don't find your battery model in the database, you can always use the "Universal" battery, for which you specify the Voltage and Capacity as you like. The "Universal battery" will adapt its parameters, and behaves in the same way as other LiFePo4 batteries of the database. 

NB: For batteries not present in the database, you can send the datasheets to support@pvsyst.com, and we will see for implementing it in the database of a next version.

 

[Gracejin]

I recently bought 4 pcs of 280Ah LiFePO4 battery cells locally in Poland to DIY a 12.8V energy storage system, and I ran into several unexpected challenges.

First, balancing the cells properly took more effort than I expected. Even though the supplier claimed they were well-matched, I still had to manually top-balance them to ensure they stayed in sync during charging and discharging.

Second, my BMS setup required careful tuning. I initially had issues with overvoltage protection kicking in too early, and the low-voltage cutoff settings needed adjusting to prevent premature shutdowns. Your concern about the 3.0V cutoff is valid—it’s a narrow range, and LiFePO4 cells can become unbalanced if discharged too low. You might need a BMS with customizable settings to fine-tune the cutoff points.

Lastly, the actual performance of the cells didn’t fully match the rated specs. Some had slightly higher internal resistance than expected, which caused small imbalances over time. Regular monitoring is key to catching these issues early.

[André Mermoud]

Thank your for sharing this very interesting experience of the real world when using batteries.

However this is not really related to the simulation of systems by PVsyst.