Battery and inverter compatibility

Two questions come up more than any others when someone adds storage to an existing system: will the battery talk to my inverter, and can I mix it with what I already have.

Inverter brands the BMS supports

Development of our BMS was completed in August 2021, which added a further five inverter brands to the list. The BMS now covers Victron, Voltronic and Voltacon, Solis Hybrid, Goodwe, Megarevo, Deye, Studer, KeLong, Growatt, Luxpower, Afore, SRNE, SMT and Schneider Electric.

Selecting the right protocol is a physical operation rather than a software one: four switches on the lithium battery set which inverter the BMS expects to talk to.

The same BMS is used in both the 50Ah 48V 2.4kWh battery, built with Pylontech cells, and the 100Ah 48V 5.124kWh Li-5124.

The Pylontech US5000C

The US5000C replaces the US5000. The difference is the C rate, which describes how quickly a battery charges or discharges relative to its capacity: at 1C it discharges in an hour, at 0.5C it takes two. A higher C rate means the battery can deliver its energy faster.

With upgraded BMS software the US5000C gives a better discharge rate, and it remains fully compatible with the original US5000.

One thing to watch when extending an older system. If you bought a US5000 before April 2024 and are adding a US5000C, the new battery has to be set as the master in the BMS, not the old one. Voltacon Solar now supplies the new version exclusively.