Solar Stik 21-0202317, Operator And Maintenance Manual, Page: 20 / 37

Operator and Maintenance Manual for the 24VDC Li ESM 2000
April 2022 | Solar Stik® Inc. 20 |
Internal Battery Heater
Lithium-Ion batteries allow maximum charge and discharge at warmer temperatures. To maintain
optimal internal temperatures, the ESM 2000 internal battery is equipped with heaters that
automatically keep the internal battery temperature at 20°C when the ESM is operating in cold
temperatures. The heaters themselves consume ~640 W when operating. The heater is either on at
full power or off, drawing no power. The power required by the heaters may be supplied by the ESM
internal battery and/or a charging source such as a PRO-Verter. The battery will stop heating when
the cells are warm enough to support maximum loads, or if the BMS determines that the heaters
alone are discharging the battery to the point of being overdischarged. In such a case, the BMS will
turn off the heaters to prevent critical overdischarge.
There is a five-(5) second delay after the Main POWER switch is turned on prevent the heaters from
turning on unintentionally during start-up. During this time, the Battery Status Indicator will report
zero (0) A current. The only exception to this is if there is a charge current greater than 50 A. This
exception prevents damage to the cells by charging at too high of a rate in very cold temperatures.
If the ESM Battery Status Indicator reports a negative current value (~20 A) with no other load
drawing current from the ESM, this is an indication that the heater is operating.
Storage Mode
When the ESM POWER switch toggled to OFF, the BMS software disconnects the ESM 2000 power
terminals from the battery cells and enters a low-power state. While the ESM in is in Storage Mode,
the BMS does not communicate with the Battery Status Indicator because the circuitry is powered
down to extend battery shelf life. (Note: The ESM may also enter Storage Mode, without toggling the
POWER switch to OFF, after 60 minutes in Protected Mode. See Protected Mode below)
Operational Mode
When the ESM POWER switch is toggled to ON the BMS software performs a series of self-tests
referred to as Power-up Built-In-Test (PBIT). If the PBIT is passed, the BMS enables charging and
discharging of the ESM and transfer of information from the BMS to the Battery Status Indicator. The
ESM will remain in Operational Mode as long as the POWER switch is toggled to ON UNLESS a fault
occurs. See
Protected Mode
If a critical fault or other potentially unsafe condition within the ESM is detected, the BMS will
disconnect the ESM power terminals from the internal battery cells (Protected Mode) even with the
ESM POWER switch in the ON position. The BMS will continue to communicate with the Battery
Status Indicator for up to 60 minutes while the ESM is in Protected mode allowing the Operator to
diagnose and correct the fault. The ESM internal battery will enter Storage mode after 60 minutes
(even with the ESM POWER switch in the ON position) so that the battery does not discharge itself
to the point of irreversible cell damage. If the fault condition that caused the ESM to enter Protected
mode clears on it’s own, the ESM will automatically return to Operational Mode.
ESM Modes
Battery Faults and Troubleshooting
The Battery Status Indicator will report the word “FAULT” on the Home Screen. Details of the fault
are reported on the second screen (Diagnostic Screen) of the Battery Status Indicator. Information on
how to identify and correct faults is found on page 25 and subsequent sections.