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Sodium Ion batteries are starting to hit the market. They promise much cheaper per kw/Hr Than current Lithium Ion batteries. Much wider charging and discharging ranges ( from -40C to 55C), and higher charge/discharge rates. And literally bulletproof and firepro Has any testing been done with Victron equipment on the support of the voltage levels, charge rates, absorption, flat and bulk levels etc?
Almost all Victron products have a wide range for configuring the voltages.
Just take a look at the datasheets and use the feature of VE.config to simulate a device to see what you can do.
Yea I realize that I can go into expert mode on my MPPT and tweak things. But also I like that I can for instance select the "LiFePO4" setting for the battery as a starting point. Just curious if NaIon will be added to the list with the others already there.
I don't think it's reasonable to have equipment list every single type of chemistry. LTO has been around for some time, but I'm not seeing it included. 3.7V NCA/NMC/LMO chemistry isn't included either, and it's been around the longest.
While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with Victron's LFP settings, they aren't optimal for all cases. Different applications and desired outcomes may mandate altering presets. IMHO, no user/installer should simply rely on presets. They should know their battery/systems and make an informed decision.
If Na-Ion becomes the gold standard, sure... but that remains to be seen.
I have been checking voltages of victron multiplus II that go from 36 low and 56 top aprox so my view is that you cannot use properly sodium because this batteries go 2,4 low to 4 top so is not possible to make a sum of cells and be able to use the 100% of the battery. I am missing something?
According to the manual, 48V units go from 38-66V:
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/MultiPlus-II_3kVA_5kVA_120V/32424-MultiPlus-II___Quattro-II_120V-230V-pdf-en.pdf
16S would run 40-64V
Nope. VE.Bus 48V inverters can AC charge at 64V. The manual lists the defaults, not the maximum.
If you ever have a question about the operating limits of a Victron device, use the demo library in VictronConnect.
So 40v on the battery = 2.5v /16cells of sodium ion that's roughly 15% loss
Seems acceptable compared to lifepo4 where the outside 10-20% are best avoided anyway
The 15% loss on sodium ion are however never usable with lifepo4 you could drain to 0% if needed In emergency
While sodium based chemistries have a few big advantages, one of those is also it's biggest disadvantage. Due to the large voltage range over the SOC, the current will also vary over a large range with the same load. A MPII 5k at full load (4kW) will pull 62A when the battery is full and 105A when the battery is almost empty. You'll have to take that into account when designing your system. Not only cable diameters, but also the routing to be able to vent the heat away.
As with all batteries, it is recommended to cycle rather gently. It is good not to load the system to the maximum DC current. So it will also work with sodium batteries.
