WeCo battery balancing guide
Before commissioning a system, all individual WeCo battery modules must be equalised. Not equalising modules prior to commissioning will severely affect the performance of the BESS and the system will not be compatible with KanFLEX.
Equalising means individually fully charging each module to 100% SOC so that every module in every rack is at the same state of charge.
Why balancing matters
A system consists of 16 cells per module and 16 modules per rack, for a total of 256 individual cells. A voltage difference greater than 30 mV between any two cells will severely limit battery performance.
In theory, new batteries from the same batch that have not been in storage may not need balancing and can be commissioned immediately. However, balancing is always recommended unless the supply chain can be 100% verified.
Timing
Balancing can take several hours per module. Start charging the batteries as soon as the installation starts, before mounting inverters, pulling cables, or installing ventilation. If starting early, skip steps 2–5 and 18–20 below.
Contact KanEL support if specialised equipment is needed to speed up the process.
Equipment
Contact KanEL support to arrange pick-up of the balancing equipment. The equipment consists of:
Six white power supplies
Six grey charge controllers
One white control unit
Balancing procedure
Power-off sequence (steps 2–5)
1. Turn off HV boxes by turning the breaker from POWER ON to POWER OFF position
2. Power off the inverter by turning the grid breaker to OFF position
3. Disconnect power cables from the B+ and B− ports on the battery modules
Equipment setup (steps 6–14)
4. Place the power supply on top of the charge controller, ensuring the numbering matches (1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, etc.)
5. Connect the black and green cables with banana plugs from the charge controller to the black and green ports in the power supply
6. Connect the power cord to the control unit, the power supplies, and the charge controllers
7. If a wired connection is available, connect the cable marked INTERNET in the control unit to the customer's router or fibre modem
8. Connect the matching (colour) cables from the control unit to the charge controller
9. Connect the red and black power cable from the charge controller to the respective B+ and B− ports, and the control cable to the OPERATOR port, on the battery module
10. Ensure the battery module is turned on — the BMS flip switch on the front of the module must be in the ON position. If not, flip it to ON and hold the round button until it lights green
11. Turn on the switch at the back of the power supply, then press the on button on the front
12. Turn on the charge controller by flipping the switch on the back to the ON position
13. Balancing starts automatically once all equipment is correctly installed and powered on
WARNING: Do not push the force charge button — this overrides the balancing process and may be dangerous.
Completion
14. Once finished, the installer receives a notification. Alternatively, the LED indicator on the front of the unit will show 100%. The equipment can then be disconnected.
15. If adding new batteries, ensure they are running the correct firmware before proceeding
Power-on sequence (steps 18–20)
16. Re-connect power cables to the battery modules following installation guidelines for battery setup and configuration
17. Turn on the battery switch on the inverter
18. Power on the inverter by turning the grid breaker to ON position
19. Turn on the HV box by turning the breaker from POWER OFF to POWER ON position and pressing and holding START until the green light comes on
CAUTION: For safety reasons, do not deviate from the power-off and power-on procedures in steps 2–5 and 18–20. Not following the exact sequence can result in serious injury or death.