Hello,
I’ve been running a MultiPlus 5000 GX with three US2000s for, I think, 5–6 years now. Prices were very different back then. So far, I haven’t had any real problems, and I’ve been considering adding more storage for quite some time.
At the moment, I could get a US5000 for €750. That’s incredible when you consider that I once paid €1,200 for a US2000.
Would you upgrade the system and stick with the Pylontech setup, or switch completely?
If so, I’d be interested to hear your reasons.
Hi, I added a DIY 15S (16 LF280K cells bought from Better ESS) with a case and JK BMS for €1,300, in parallel with three Pylon batteries; the DIY battery doesn’t communicate with the Cerbo GX, so the Pylon is still the one in control.
With the calculator from Akkudokter, you can work out whether it will be profitable.
Other batteries have 16 rather than 15 cells, resulting in a higher pack voltage and lower currents. In addition, more powerful active balancers are now often installed.
The question is whether you need all of that.
That’s a good tip to start with. I’ll take a look.
With so much choice, I’m finding it really hard to decide what to do.
At the moment, I’m leaning more towards upgrading.
But I’ve completely lost track of developments and the current state of batteries 
Pylontech is specifically supported by Victron. If the BMSs are reasonably up to date, you can even update them via VRM.
Unfortunately, the balancer only kicks in relatively late, or at a fairly high voltage, and it isn’t particularly powerful. Probably 200 mA passive. But I’m not entirely sure about that.
Pylontech is one of the few BMSs that regulate the CVL downwards.
JK-BMS is widely used, but its SoC is inaccurate.