Solar Power - Storage

Cupie · Guru

Solar Power - Storage

SnowT · Guru

Waste of Money....

Check out the fact's of Cycle Life on the batteries....

If it does not last more that 5-10yr's.. then it just going to cost you ....

Juergen

Reed · Senior Member

The price is about half of what we paid for LFP batteries two years ago. I believe the Teslas are LiCo which have a bit higher energy density than LFP which means less weight on the rig.
Reed Cundiff (just back from 12 weeks from travel around Ecuador and Peru/left the rig in New Mexico)

hako · Guru

I have a B.I.L who lives on a town block with no power, sewerage or water in town in the Burnett region and gets all his power needs from 200 watts of solar panels which feed into a dozen or so old car or truck batteries scrounged from the local tip (unpatrolled!). He has a 1000watt inverter to power a frig, tuckerbox freezer, fans, led lights,computer etc. He sources everything from the tip. Even has a couple of old generators for when there is no sun.
In his street there are a half dozen other blokes with similar outlooks. They are all 'normal'....just are appalled at what we throw away and so try to make good use of our waste.
At zero cost, dumped batteries ressurected are the best deal you'll ever get for storing solar power. (but not in a van!). However, they'll never be popular as there is no profit in it.
Good Luck.

Ondabeach · Senior Member

I love what Tesla are doing with their cars... but 'announcing' Lithium Ion batteries to the world is something of a wank as they're been around for years. If you've got a cordless drill or mobile phone that was made in the last 10 years... it's got a Li-Ion battery.

You can buy Li-Ion batts for RV use now, but they're much dearer than lead acid batts... much, much dearer. The good news, and what we should thank Tesla and other electric/hybrid car manufacturers for, is that the more they make, the more the prices will come down. I'd say that probably within about 5 years, Li-Ion batts will get down to the prices you now pay for lead acid ones.

Li-Ion batteries are far superior to lead acid. They're lighter and can be cycled many more times, so they last a lot longer. Probably the biggest advantage for RV use is that you can use 90% of their capacity,as opposed to 50% with today's deep cycle lead acid AGM batts, which makes the weight to 'usable' amp hours ratio far better.

They also charge much faster than lead acid, and can deliver more current.

None of that means squat until the prices come down though :(

Cupie · Guru

hako wrote:
I have a B.I.L who lives on a town block with no power, sewerage or water in town in the Burnett region and gets all his power needs from 200 watts of solar panels which feed into a dozen or so old car or truck batteries scrounged from the local tip (unpatrolled!). He has a 1000watt inverter to power a frig, tuckerbox freezer, fans, led lights,computer etc. He sources everything from the tip. Even has a couple of old generators for when there is no sun.
In his street there are a half dozen other blokes with similar outlooks. They are all 'normal'....just are appalled at what we throw away and so try to make good use of our waste.
At zero cost, dumped batteries ressurected are the best deal you'll ever get for storing solar power. (but not in a van!). However, they'll never be popular as there is no profit in it.
Good Luck.

Yes, it's marvelous what you can make do with.

I remember in my Trainee days in the 60's when we couldn't afford new batteries for our old cars.

When they 'died' we would just empty the electrolite down the drain & give them a good flush out with a hose. Next step was to take a couple of hydrometer sucks of acid out of several of the monster Telephone Exchange open top batteries and refill the car battery. Being nice guys (perhaps covering our tracks) we would top them up with distilled water of course.

A couple of good gassing charges for the 'reconditioned' car battery & ...

And away we went .. for a while anyway.

edit ...

A friend if mine was getting all of his solar panels from a relo who had the job of replacing 'faulty' panels on fishing trawlers. The usual problem was only a bit of corrosion from the salt water. Saved them from the dump. Trawlers wouldn't take the risk of 'repaired' panels failing it seems.

-- Edited by Cupie on Wednesday 6th of May 2015 10:33:46 PM