note: this post was written on December 6^th, posting was delayed for a number of reasons.

As promised before, I am posting about my experience with Trophy Battery…and purchasing the third battery in a bank of 4 batteries. The fourth battery will have to wait awhile…we just don’t have the money for it just yet, the third one was expensive enough. Bummer!

As I mentioned before, I researched a lot of battery options…watched numerous videos, read a ton of reviews, spoke to more than one manufacturer directly, and I even talked with a 20-year veteran of the solar business for advice. I looked at everything I could find about the different companies and their batteries. One thing was paramount…internal Battery Management System (BMS); and I wanted steel case, rack mount batteries from the very beginning. Oh, and no off-the-wall stuff like golf cart batteries.

I looked into, researched, evaluated the following batteries:

• EG4 LiFePOWER4
• SOK
• Jakiper
• Ampere Time

I eliminated right away the following batteries:

• FNS / Sacred Sun due to my prior experience with them.
• Storz due to their high price tag.
• Victron due to their high price tag.

Eventually I settled on Trophy Battery, the 220Ah beast to be exact. Their build was top notch, their capacity and voltages most closely matched my existing two batteries. I like the way they were designed, especially the built-in high current DC 175amp circuit breaker. I liked what I saw at every turn, more than any other battery or battery provider. Done…I would buy the Trophy Battery model 48V220C-1 48/51.2v, 220Ah.

I talked with a neighbor/friend who is also a DIY solar guy to get his opinion and he thought the batteries were awesome. He wanted to order as well after we had talked for about an hour. And I am helping out a close friend and his wife who are kinda stuck in their DIY solar journey, I agreed to help them out and build their system, they needed batteries as well. Their situation wasn’t all that unusual, their system would be in an unheated Conex container. Ahhhhhhh, Trophy batteries have built-in heaters to keep them functional (i.e. charging) at below freezing temperatures. They were in as well…they wanted model 48V110C-1 48/51.2v, 110Ah…3 of them.

At Trophy I spoke with Dan, the owner multiple times before placing the order. He was great and easy to work with and answered all my questions. I collected the money from the other two folks and placed the order. We did it together to save on shipping. Placing the order with Trophy was not without a minor issue. Their website locked my account and the cart would not function. Turned out to be a blessing…I placed the order directly with Dan and was pleased.

The batteries shipped the next day and are due for delivery in less than a week…1 week after the order was placed. They are coming FedEx freight to a friend’s business to help save money. It saves money to have them delivered to a business vs a residence. I received multiple emails from Trophy keeping me advised of the order/shipping process.

Some of the features I think are important to note:

• 16 x EVE Power 230Ah cells
• Heaters for charging in cold weather
• Sophisticated programmable 200amp Battery Management System (BMS)
• Soft start, automatic pre-charge of inverter capacitors to prevent damage
• High current DC built-in circuit breaker
• Front display screen for BMS
• US based 24/7 support
• 10-year non-prorated warranty
• An owner’s manual…in ENGLISH!!

That is a 220Ah, 11.3watt battery for $3595.00! That comes out to 32cents per watt. Compared to many popular comparative 100Ah batteries at 34cents per watt…but the cheaper battery comes without the heaters, without the 200amp BMS,and without the internal high current DC circuit breaker! And it would take two of the 100Ah batteries and it would still fall short by 10% of the overall Ah rating…with less features.

So far I am thrilled! I will keep you advised.

< click here to ope a PDF file with Trophy Battery – 220E Battery Info >

Related Articles –

• Our Solar System Upgrade
• Solar Power Home Page (new – central point for all things solar)
• TRAP: FNS / Sacred Sun LifePo4 3U & 5U Solar Batteries

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