Battery repowering for SMA off-grid systems

Repwering Sunny Island 5048

Over 800 million people in the world have no access to an electricity supply. A sustainable solution is available in the form of off-grid systems. These produce renewable energy from sun, wind or water in the exact places where it is needed. SMA off-grid systems are extremely robust and can therefore be modernized, even when the batterie´s lifecycle ends. Replacing old lead-acid batteries now with modern lithium-ion technology increases the efficiency and service life of the off-grid system.

Electrification of remote regions of the world is a major challenge. Established solutions based on renewable energies can make a decisive contribution to increased supply reliability. Stand-alone grids produce electricity from local renewable sources such as the sun or wind and make the electricity available directly on-site.

A core component in the SMA off-grid system is the Sunny Island battery inverter. This automatically regulates the balance between generated and consumed energy. It possesses a battery, generator and load control for this purpose. It can thus stave off generation and load peaks at any time and ensure a continuous energy supply.

Why it pays to replace lead-acid batteries

Thanks to its robust design, off-grid systems operate very stably with Sunny Island 5048. Many systems have a service life of 20 years or more. This is longer than a battery’s normal service life. The special battery management of the Sunny Island 5048 allows the battery’s state of charge to be determined accurately, optimizes the charge cycles and thus lengthens battery life. In the past, off-grid systems were mainly equipped with lead-acid batteries. These reach the end of their service life after around six to ten years, or end up in an efficient state in which the battery can no longer charge or discharge completely. For this reason, lithium batteries with higher cycle lives are now state of the art as they have higher energy density and a longer service life.

Reliable and efficient batteries are what make the difference

Sunny Island-5048 SMA

Simply replacing the battery lengthens the system’s service life and optimizes its performance at the same time. Thanks to the modular design, existing off-grid systems can be converted to lithium batteries quickly and easily with Sunny Island battery inverters. For this purpose, SMA has collaborated with its partners Tesvolt and Asantys Systems to develop a package solution that makes existing systems ready for the future.

Existing off-grid systems with SMA Sunny Island 5048 are modernized with the Tesvolt TS48 lithium storage device and the monitoring tool from Asantys. This tool makes it possible to monitor the overall system remotely from anywhere in the world. It visualizes system power and monitors the individual components.

Benefits of the repowering package

  • Higher system efficiency
  • Customized battery monitoring from Tesvolt
  • Implementation of next-generation technologies on the basis of tried-and-tested components
  • Remote diagnostics and controlling of existing systems through the integration of a new battery type
  • Three highly capable partners pooling their expertise

Do you have an off-grid system with Sunny Island 5048 and a lead-acid battery? If so, take a look at your modernization options and write to:

nicolas.rohrer@asantys.com,
Subject: Repower5048

 

Reliable electricity supply without utility grid

According to European Union estimates, approximately 840 million people worldwide live without access to an electrical energy supply.

According to Energy Progress Report 2019 of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UN Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), around 650 million people worldwide will still have no access to electricity in 2030. Self-sufficient storage solutions from SMA enable a sustainable and reliable electricity supply completely independently from the utility grid. Stand-alone grids supply electricity generated from renewable energies to off-grid private homes, farms, commercial enterprises, and even entire towns in remote regions:

– A reliable electricity supply, even without grid access
– No dependence on fossil fuels
– Different energy sources (wind, solar, water) can be combined

In our planning guide you can find everything you need to know about planning stand-alone grids.

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This article was published in 2020. As we are constantly developing our solutions, there may be newer or additional options for the tips and techniques in this article.

16 Comments
  1. Mohamed
    Mohamed says:

    Hi,
    Are SMA SI 5048 Sunny Island inverters (5kW) and SMA Si 8.0H-12 Sunny (6kW) compatible with Lithium Leisure Battery LiFePO4 ?
    If no, is there any alternative solution rather than a full replacement of the inverter system?

    Reply
    • Anke Baars
      Anke Baars says:

      Hi Mohamed,
      Thank you for your request.
      Sunny Island battery inverters SI 4.4, 6.0 and SI 8.0 -11/-12/-13 as well as SI 4548-US and SI 6048-US are compatible with many lithium batteries, but unfortunately not with Leisure Battery LiFePO4. In this document you can find the approved batteries.
      Please note: battery inverters Sunny Island 5048 are only compatible with lead-acid batteries, so you maybe need to replace your SI 5048 devices with Sunny Island-12/-13.

      Kind regards,
      Anke

      Reply
    • Christiane Keim
      Christiane Keim says:

      Hi Marju,

      The difference lies in certain country-specific restrictions.

      Sunny regards
      Christiane

      Reply
  2. Jeff Nielsen
    Jeff Nielsen says:

    Hi
    We have a sunny island 5048 unit. Backup power inverter controls batteries when the main power goes out. Been dead for a couple years. Displays nothing. Tech came out and said it was bad and out of warranty. Installed summer of 2017 and worked until
    About 2021. Seems like a short period of time for this unit to go bad. Funny thing is since it has been installed it has never even been used since we have never lost power from the grid.
    Big waste and frustrating.
    USA-Utah

    Reply
    • Christiane Keim
      Christiane Keim says:

      Hello Jeff,

      Sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with our Sunny Island at all.
      In case of a failure, it is always necessary to get back to SMA as soon as possible to settle things out.
      Please consider also that our products are equipped with a factory warranty but we need a customer’s feedback as soon as possible.

      For further support, please contact our SMA Service delivering further technical details.
      Alternatively, you can also get back to our colleagues from SMA America.

      Sunny regards
      Christiane

      Reply
  3. oil-toys
    oil-toys says:

    are these batteries made with renewable energy or do we still need to burn oil to make them? in other words: if the oil stops tomorrow can i still get a replacement battery?
    the worst are batteries made with nuclear energy input?

    Reply
    • Christiane Keim
      Christiane Keim says:

      Hello oil-toys,

      Please contact your manufacturers with questions regarding environmentally friendly and sustainable production.

      Sunny regards
      Christiane

      Reply
  4. Alberto
    Alberto says:

    Hi. According to SMA, 5048US is compatible with Lithium battery, but 5048 no, what’s the difference? Have a solution for 5048-non-US?

    Reply
    • Christiane Keim
      Christiane Keim says:

      Hello Alberto,

      Thanks for your interest. I have passed on your inquiry to our sales team.
      They will get back to you.

      Best regards

      Christiane

      Reply
      • Christiane Keim
        Christiane Keim says:

        Hello Robert,

        Please let us know your home country so that we can forward your inquiry to our local SMA sales team.

        Best regards
        Christiane

      • Alberto
        Alberto says:

        No. I have not found a solution from SMA for old No-US equipment.
        I hope that SMA can find a solution and more equipment can be reused. There may be a technical reason that was not explained to me why this is not possible.

  5. Heribert J M Geib
    Heribert J M Geib says:

    Very nice solution and versatile in many places. The Amazon and neighboring states, such as Roraima, urgently need these systems.

    Reply

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