Take a look at it, does much more, provides extremely detailed results, and use powerful databases, down to integrating the influence of mountain's shadows. Anyhow here in Germany, the previsions for days with empty batteries were fairly accurate.
I design unattended off grid instruments. Running a generator is not an option.
For that usage, being discharged every night, there is no alternative to LiFePO4.
I know the RV world fairly well. Despite the documented 10% or 13% charge rate, most RV'ers consider 30% of C20 the max charge rate for LAB.
That's interesting. Why?
Just speaking for myself, the difference in delivered price between the FLA and the LiFePO4 paid for the rest of my system. If I was rich I'd have looked at it differently... maybe.
At parity with what? Seriously I could have had 986Ah @ 48V delivered to my rural location with California sales taxes paid for less than $5000? I had no Earthly idea. Please point me to deals like that.
diysolarforum.com
Because I place my instruments on other's property I can't dig a concrete basement. I need the weight for stability to hold the panel.
How do you deal with -30C and LiFePo?
My Powerhouse / Pumphouse (14'x6') is highly insulated on a Frost Protected Concrete Slab. Because it is also my Pumphouse and has te 50Gal pressure tank in it, I heat it. I use a recovered Suburban-NT20S RV Furnace ($300 out of a 2 year old wreck, including all hookups, regulator & thermostat) with 2 30LB LPG tanks for fuel. Furnace is only 12V, direct vent and has it's own 12V battery & Solar Panel just for it. I keep the powerhouse at 10C/50F or a little higher but not much.
@HighTechLab, I re-watched your videos on the testing and addition of the CALB cells to your system, and its obvious that you must have made a significant investment in lead acid cells at some point in the past but I couldn't find anything other than a few comments about them in the video on the trailer conversion. It would be great if you could give a breakdown of your experiences running the system on lead acid. Perhaps cost / benefit if you have that information, or a narrative on the ownership experience and performance of the batteries.
Down to $37,960 (Battleborn) I see! Wow! I'll never live (4th cancer at stage 4) to see the price in my range.All kinds of wrong there in my book - but then my life depends on my battery.
1)Nothing in my system is made in China, I can pick up a phone and call Kevin, the owner of the long-established battery company here in California who personally extended my battery's warranty to 10 years.
2)Free shipping to where? Not here I'd bet as 90% of all US carriers can't/won't even deliver west of the Trinity Alps.
3)Alibaba - nothing my charity ordered from Alibaba, or Aliexpress ever arrived. Half we got notice that they were stuck in customs, the rest never came - fun fact your credit card (or PayPal) protections don't apply when you try to ship from China.
4)Parts, service, warranty? I have had 4 Chinese junque diesel generators come thru my shop - three seemed to be the same generator with different labels glued on - all the US contacts were fake, and none of the companies even trade on Alibaba anymore even though all these generators had been purchased in 2019 - parts are unobtanium. One of those generators lasted a whopping 70 hours - sure, they were half the price of an Onan, Cummins, Kubota etc... so what, they are expensive boat anchors.
5)You can have somebody import a Happy Funtime A37 (automobile) but unless GM starts importing them you are totally on your own, and even then if you bought before. Hell, I imported an Alfa Romeo from Italy while they weren't being sold here and do you know what the guy at the Fiat Chrysler Alfa Romeo parts counter tells me? I bet you can guess...
You guys can be cutting edge... I'm going to keep the lights on.
PS: I guess a year makes a difference - in 2019 I was quoted $38,499 plus tax ($3079) and shipping ($2800) for 1000Ah @ 48V LiFePO4 (with a warranty and support) which made my decision to go FLA a no brainer.
) For instance, looking at the warranty disclaimers on the 24-125-11 Monterey Industrial 'Big Sur' 986Ah 48V battery, it says that it is limited to one cycle per day, no more than 80% discharged, full recharge before a subsequent discharge, charged only with a charger with the appropriate limits for the battery, electrolyte dissolved solids less than 50 ppm, never run low on water, and average electrolyte temperature between 50° F and 115° F. I'm not saying that this is better or worse than lithium, just that you kind of pick your poison when you pick your battery storage. Sounds like you were able to negotiate a better warranty, which is terrific.
LOL, well yeah! First plumbing, then paint, then shot, then fishing weights... batteries are about all they have left, I think.The 'big lead' industry has hidden agenda...
