On 4/9/25 08:30, Vasilenko Eduard wrote:
I hope you would agree that it is a clumsy patch to add BMS between the UPS/Inverter and the battery. But we have no choice.
I think you meant "balancer", as the BMS always ships with pre-built batteries. If you are having to add a BMS to your cells, that is already a clumsy patch, as most people don't usually do that. Balancers are usually part of any well-built battery pack. They are only usually necessary for 12V systems. 24V and 48V systems will come with balancers built in.
Why has the industry stopped innovating?
Inverter technology is very stable and reliable, as is LFP and NMC Li-Ion technology. The BMS used to be the most fragile component of a self-generation power system, and even that is now very reliable. In 2025, it often really doesn't matter whether you buy American, European or Chinese for the inverters, as the reliability is that good. Li-Ion cells are primarily made in China, even for battery brands built in Europe or America. So there isn't much to gain there. The only thing left to innovate is battery chemistry, and looking at options that no longer rely on existing Li-Ion technologies. Things like Sodium-Ion, Lithium-Sulfur, Iron-Air, Zinc-Ion, e.t.c., is where innovation is happening. The idea is to find a battery technology that will allow them to be smaller, charge faster, run hotter and last longer.
I recently searched for inverters and/or UPSes, specifically looking for LFP support - I have found nothing. Why do we need to customize it ourselves?
Inverters are built for multiple chemistries, typically LA, AGM and Li-Ion. For Li-Ion, inverters do not generally distinguish between the different chemistries there. That comes down to the actual BMS in the battery. That said, it is not uncommon for inverters to run an LA charging profile for Li-Ion batteries where battery CAN bus communication does not exist.
I would not believe that product managers in APC (and many other vendors) have missed the existence of LFP.
They haven't. They just don't want to have to deal with the increased thermal management and charging profile risk that comes with Li-Ion vs. LA. Also, LA batteries require more frequent replacement. That is a good source of recurring revenue for UPS vendors.
I did assume that any vendor not supporting LFP our days should go out of the market very fast.
While Li-Ion battery deployment is growing rapidly (even when you remove EV's from the equation), the majority of battery deployments are still LA.
It looks like vendors are not developing anything because they are preparing for an inevitable shutdown (losing market to well-known competitors). IMHO: vendors are accelerating their death in this way.
Not really. The self-generation market is a commodity market. Solar panels, inverters and Li-Ion batteries do not cost an arm & a leg anymore. What you really pay for now is a quality engineer, a quality installation and quality support. There is a much larger premium on those things than the actual kit itself. Mark.