12 volt in series or 24 volt batteries for 24 volt system?

[adkroot]

I currently have a 24 volt system with 8 Trojan L16RE batteries which are due for relacement. I plan on replacing the bank with LiFePo4 batteries.

I see that the lithium batteries are offered in 12 and 24 volt options. Is there any reason to use 12v batteries in series if there's a 24v battery option?

Thanks, Daniel

 

[rmaddy]

Ideally you should use a 24V battery for a 24V system. It's usually cheaper, lighter, simpler, and less prone to issues.

Some reasons to use 12V batteries in series:
- You might want to repurpose the batteries into another system at some point that happens to be 12V.
- It may be physically easier to fit 2 12V batteries than the 24V battery into a space.
- Sometimes the 24V battery is out of stock so you buy the 12V batteries.