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Where did you get the automotive cells?

I got them from Battry Hookup[1] late last year. I wasn't ready to do the full build yet, I've since built a "shed" that is way overbuilt and more of an kff-grid tiny house to store all of our solar equipment.

That site is pretty hit or miss with stock since it is all repurposed equipment, but if you happen to catch the right equipment going by you can get a really good deal for anything DIY.

[1] https://batteryhookup.com/

You were not kidding. On the front page of this moment is "14,000 3v Lithium CR2032 Coin Batteries" held in two barrels with a weight of 200 pounds. A tremendous bargain, if you can snatch it at the current bid of $20.

Hah, yeah just be careful with those tiny batteries if that's the way you choose to go. Different chemestries have very different outcomes and I've never been comfortable with scaling tiny batteries up to a whole-home use.

I was about to order a pallet of new lithium cells from one of the US resellers when the batch of repurposed automotive cells popped up. When I was pricing them out I could get the cells and a DIY BMS for around half the price as rack batteries often used by DIYers today. There's more work involved in putting the cells together yourself, but it is nice knowing how it works and how to fix it should a cell fail.

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