Everyone says go lithium, they are the future, the new era and all that bullshyte. Some manufacturers are sort of getting it right.

Looking at the Sunsynk battery, the 5.3 kwh is suppose to be the best 1 C rated lithium battery, I wouldn't buy one if it was given to me at half the cost of the Sunsynk 5.1 kwh IP 65 battery. I only install the IP 65 5.1 battery, why because I dont need to keep going to site to plug in my laptop so that I can do firmware updates, the IP 65 battery details down to the cell voltage, number of cycles and all the other important info is displayed on the inverter. One 5.3 kwh battery firmware was so old that we had to first upgrade the firmware so that we could get the new firmware to see it.

I can rack mount the IP 65 without taking up an entire wall to make sure the spacing is correct, I dont have to install a fuse disconnect for every battery, because of the cascade connection on the rack (like the high voltage batteries) I just install one fuse disconnect rated for the max charge current of the inverter they are connected, I save the customer time, space and material costs.

I am told by the supplier that the 5.3kwh battery has better cells than the ip 65 battery, I would like to see real evidence on that comment, just like I am told that they have to be installed with the correct spacing, yeah right it seems the warranty is only compromised if done by a DIYers, you just have to open any social media group and you will notice product spacing isnt a factor. It could be that once you have installed a certain amount you automatically qualify for warranties.

Lets not even start with the locations and the list of regs thrown at us when location is mentioned, yet the manufacturer's home page picture has a pic of a system installed under a stairwell



Beware of the hype, I know, as I am learning more and more about lithium technology and the benefits, there are still many companies which have not got it right, however they are still flooding the market place with batteries and promises.

I am not going to mention any names, but I am sure there are a few of you who have already had experiences with these companies and been bitten, we not just talking about the bigger batteries.

The smaller 7 and 18 amp/hr market is also being flooded with lithium batteries, offering drop in replacements, some even offering fast charger to speed up charging times in gates, electric fence sand alarm systems.

I have got caught in the hype, went out and replaced all my customers batteries with the new better, faster, better backup times due to the lower DOD capabilities and I paying school fees.

Let this be a warning, dont rush out and throw your old FLA battery, until this technology improves.

Like LED lights, in the beginning, I refused to replace the old energy saving lamps with LED, why because the LED technology was not ready for the market, it was more of a lets see if it works, even today there is promises of 50 000 hours, until you try claim under warranty. Even if you write the date of installation on the lamp, The sad state of the power grid is SA is used to cloud over your hopes of a claim.

It cost me a ton of cash to go around and replace all the lithium batteries and fast chargers, which are now also failing. Rather get a FLA fast charger, they might not be the best option but, could extend the life of the FLA battery up to stage 4 load shedding. anything past stage 4, will require a better solution like, solar panels and an inverter.