question

ali-paul avatar image
ali-paul asked

Charging a 48V lithium battery from a 12V battery.

Hi all. My currently solar setup on my campervan is as follows:

250W PV > 30A charge controller > 12V leisure battery.

I have just bought an E-bike which runs off a 48V lithium battery that I would like to be able to charge from both the solar panel and the 12V leisure battery (when charging overnight). My current charge controller can only charge a 12/24V battery so am looking at buying the Victron 100|20 controller that can charge a 48V battery.

- If my solar panel is only pulling in 30V, will my 48V lithium battery still charge?
- Can I charge my 48V battery from the 12V leisure battery without using an inverter? If so, what do I need to do it safely?

Many thanks.


Lithium Battery48v battery
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2 Answers
Alexandra avatar image
Alexandra answered ·

@ali-paul

The 100/20 cannot charge 48v batteries. And no the 48v battery will not charge if the pv is not at least 5v above battery voltage.

So look more at the 150v range of mppts.

There are currently no products in the victron range to charge 48v from 12v. There arent any products that i know that will do that voltage conversion.

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Vance Mitchell avatar image Vance Mitchell commented ·

The 100/20 can charge a 48v battery, but as stated you will require Voc to be at least 54v.

Ideally you would want Voc of your panel string to be higher (think 70-90v) to charge a 48v battery.

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solardude avatar image
solardude answered ·

You could use a small inverter then use a AC input battery charger. Not as efficient as DC-DC but might be your only option

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