I currently have US2000B plus batteries and I’m looking to add a couple more batteries to my stack. The problem is, I can’t figure out what’s what with Pylontech’s current lineup in the 2.4kWh capacity.
Until recently I was convinced that the US2000C would be the one to get, assuming it is the replacement for the US2000B plus (which I also assumed would be discontinued in due course). However, now another two similar models have cropped up:
There’s the US2000B plus V2:
… and there’s also the seemingly new US2000C plus:
Does anyone know what the differences between these models are? Given that I currently have US2000B plus batteries, which should I get?
As far as I know they can go in parallel, you just need to make the new battery the master. And the type-C has a different cable pin-out, so you need to crimp a new CAN-BMS cable.
As far as I know, you can also parallel your older 2000B’s with a 3000C.
The console cable (RS232) also has a new pinout, so I would also have to make up a new cable to use BatteryView if I go for the US2000C.
Apparently there were firmware issues that affected the compatibility between the older and newer models at one point. Whether they are all sorted, and in which models, I don’t know.
I wish I could get my hands on the user manuals for the US2000B plus V2 and the US2000C plus. Unfortunately Pylontech’s website contains almost no useful information.
The question I always ask myself is based on the the DOD specification.
2000B+ = 80% DOD
2000C = 95% DOD
So I would assume you are limited to 80% DOD if you add a C to B’s? Which kind of defeats the objective of adding a C version. Surely using a C version as the master battery doesn’t suddenly change the B version 80% DOD value to 95%?
The US2000B plus supports 90% DOD according to the manual. A lot of websites list 80% DOD, but I believe that is outdated information (from an older model perhaps).
I expect that a US2000C would degrade slower if you only discharge it to 90% DOD every day. They’re all in the same ballpark price wise, so at the end of the day the C model might be better value.
I’ve found the specifications for the V2 online, and it lists the same low voltage cutoff as the other models. If the voltages are the same at the top and bottom, then I wonder if they’re not actually “cheating” by making the capacity of the newer batteries slightly larger than 50Ah and then reporting a wider charge percentage range: 100% at 52.5V and 5% at the same voltage where an older battery would report 10%.
If this is the case then you would get the full benefit of the new model when you parallel it with an older model.
And that’s my issue. Adding new batteries to significantly older models stops you using the full capacity of your new batteries. I may be better to sell the old and add a full bank of new and matching batteries.