LifePO4 power stations as UPS

[stanlawj]

For those interested in using those giant LiFePO4 power banks/stations as UPS alternatives given that they offer AC pass-through with automatic switchover to battery backup.



Ecoflow's three latest power stations with 10ms UPS function with customizable max battery state-of-charge limits (to avoid 100% SoC on standby) are:
1. River 3 (Max) Plus - 600W
2. Delta 3 Max Plus - 3000W (note: it is totally different from Delta 3 Max and Delta 3 Plus)
3. Delta 3 Ultra Plus - 3600W

 

[stanlawj]

LiFePO4 power stations are purely battery backup, no voltage correction or regulation or surge protection at all for the AC mains pass-through.

If you are ok or just need battery backup upon AC mains failure, this is cheapest pure sine-wave alternative to the very expensive double-conversion LiFePO4 UPS designed for servers. Even majority of the cheap lead-acid UPS (including Ubiquiti's UPS) are producing simulated sine-wave (square-wave), not pure sine-wave.

Some of the more reputable ones like Ecoflow provides a smartphone app to connect the power station to home WIFI for remote monitoring and individual switch control of power outputs.

For DC output, those power stations with USB-C PD outputs can be used with additional USB-C step-down voltage adapters for small appliances (network switch etc) for max efficiency (can avoid using less efficient 12V AC adapter bricks).

One of the outstanding feature of these LiFePO4 power stations is the very low idle power consumption on standby, much lower than the cheap lead-acid UPS. This is because LiFePO4 batteries do not need a constant float charge and the power stations use modern switched mode power supplies since there is no need to regulate the AC supply from input to the output. (brown-outs do not occur in Singapore).

Over the long-run, the energy bill savings from the low standby power consumption will far exceed the extra cost over the lead-acid UPS, not to mention the much longer run-time on LiFePO4 battery.

 

[stanlawj]

Recently, UGreen released a 12V lithium-powered UPS for their 12V powered NAS.
These are suitable for small network appliances (NAS, switch) that are too far away from the main UPS.
The Ugreen NAS UPS only integrates with their own NAS for auto shutdown and restart-up feature.



I hope we'll see more innovation in this area, leading to bigger lithium UPS capacities but not too big, eg for Mini-PC.

 

[stanlawj]

I just learnt about Ecoflow's Power Manager software for desktop computer which enables automatic shutdown on AC power loss. MacOS is also supported.

https://manuals.ecoflow.com/eu/product/power-manager?lang=en_US&source=desktop

Currently supported models: River 3 Plus, Delta 3 Plus.
Note: Do not get the Delta 3 Plus. The newer model is Delta 3 Max Plus and Delta 3 Ultra Plus, which have upgraded hardware that fixed the bugs in Delta 3 Plus.

 

[keenklee]

IMHO.
I was actually planning to have a UPS to have 1x ipcam during a blackout.
These power stations seems more useful because of bigger battery?

 

[stanlawj]

IMHO.
I was actually planning to have a UPS to have 1x ipcam during a blackout.
These power stations seems more useful because of bigger battery?

Yes. I have River 3 Max Plus for my fridge, and now I realised that this thing is a UPS beast. There is no need for AC line-interactive regulation because Singapore grid is very steady, so no need to have the conventional UPS. Lead-acid batteries are not designed for deep discharge during long-duration battery backup power.

 

[keenklee]

Yes. I have River 3 Plus for my fridge, and now I realised that this thing is a UPS beast. There is no need for AC line-interactive regulation because Singapore grid is very steady, so no need to have the conventional UPS. Lead-acid batteries are not designed for deep discharge during long-duration battery backup power.

IMHO.
Lead acid also lower energy density per kg.
Estimate 1 kWh - lead acid 57kg LiFePo4 8 kg

 

[stanlawj]

IMHO.
Lead acid also lower energy density per kg.
Estimate 1 kWh - lead acid 57kg LiFePo4 8 kg

I updated my earlier post about Delta 3 Plus is an older model, the newer model is Delta 3 Max Plus and Delta 3 Ultra Plus (both not yet available in Singapore).

 

[iamnagel]

Can use these on those portable computer cart like those in the hospitals?
How long can the battery last if it power a desktop computer?

 

[stanlawj]

Can use these on those portable computer cart like those in the hospitals?
How long can the battery last if it power a desktop computer?

Maybe about 9 hours with Ecoflow River 3 Max Plus.

Capacity: 850W-hr = usable about 700W-hr at 80% efficiency.
PC use about 50W to 100W, so average about 70W.
700W-hr / 70W = 10 hours starting from full charge state.

But take note, you don't want to discharge to 0% and permanently destroy the battery, so realistically, about 9 hours at most, leaving a few % charge left.