200Ah gel vs 100Ah LifePo4

[Zee786GP]

Good Day

im currently at a cross road and i cant decide whether i should get a 200Ah Gel battery or a 100Ah Lithium, the price for the Gel - South Africa (R3000) and Lithium R4600
- Current amount in Dollars: 204-gel and 314 Lithium

looking forward to your advise

Regards

 

[Charlie Woods]

It depends on your application.

 

[Zee786GP]

It depends on your application.

Bigger batteries require less wiring and provide lower cost per Amp Hour, but they are more difficult to move around for servicing, and if one goes bad, it's a bigger loss.

My current setup is a 2000w inverter which supports both solar and grid inputs for charging the battery but im using for on grid only where it acts more of a ups type of solution so when the power cuts it automatically kicks in, ill be running my home office of it and such would be 1 Desktop PC that has a 750w PSU, my lap top, it will also be powering 3 LED/LCD monitors, 1x router, 1x ONT and a 48port POE switch

not sure the power ratings of all that but i assume it will be under 2000w 30amps, inverter/ups will be constantly charging the battery and will only kick in when the grid fails,

would 1 say that a 200AH GEL battery would be better for this application or a 100AH lithium that's a little more expensive, taking in account the max Drain usage and life cycle.

Regards

 

[DJSmiley]

Is weight or size a concern? -> LiFePO4.

Lifespan? Much higher with LFP. Lead acid approx 500 cycles at 50% SOC.

Capacity: 200Ah GEL = approx 100Ah usable maximum (with decreased lifespan). LFP: approx 80Ah usable capacity

Plenty of time to charge: Doesn't matter which you choose
Limited time: LFP can charge more, since the charging current is higher, whereas with lead the charging rate highly decreases if the battery gets at a higher SOC. (LPF only drops at the end)

Environment: LFP can't be charged at <0 celcius. At 5 celcius, they can be charged, but not recommended to do high charge rates. Leadacid can handle freezing temperatures better.


So yes, it all depends on the application. In general I prefer LFP, but there are some cases where it's better to use lead.

Note: A 2000W inverter can't generally be run at full power with a fet-based BMS, they generally max-out at 120-150A. For higher currents you need a contactor based BMS, or rewire the inverter to run directly from the cells (bypassing the BMS), and only using the BMS to remote control the inverter so it still shutdown upon cell issues

 

[Zee786GP]

Is weight or size a concern? -> LiFePO4.

Lifespan? Much higher with LFP. Lead acid approx 500 cycles at 50% SOC.

Capacity: 200Ah GEL = approx 100Ah usable maximum (with decreased lifespan). LFP: approx 80Ah usable capacity

Plenty of time to charge: Doesn't matter which you choose
Limited time: LFP can charge more, since the charging current is higher, whereas with lead the charging rate highly decreases if the battery gets at a higher SOC. (LPF only drops at the end)

Environment: LFP can't be charged at <0 celcius. At 5 celcius, they can be charged, but not recommended to do high charge rates. Leadacid can handle freezing temperatures better.


So yes, it all depends on the application. In general I prefer LFP, but there are some cases where it's better to use lead.

Note: A 2000W inverter can't generally be run at full power with a fet-based BMS, they generally max-out at 120-150A. For higher currents you need a contactor based BMS, or rewire the inverter to run directly from the cells (bypassing the BMS), and only using the BMS to remote control the inverter so it still shutdown upon cell issues

thank you so much

summary
Gel ill get about 100Ah usage and LFP- 80AH
LFP- Faster charging time (not really a issue if its on charge all the time and hardly used)
Life cycle - i read up i should get about 5 to 6 yeas on Gel and about double on LFP? think i read it degrades about 20% in 12 to 15 years?
temp not really a concern temps don't ever go in the minuses here so that's fine

My mind leaning towards LFP because of the life span and 20Ah isn't that major of deference

what would you choose in my situation?

 

[pollenface]

I went with AGM because I didn't know that much about Lifepo4 when I built my bank.

Knowing what I know now, I'd go with Lifepo4 the next time around and would recommend you to do the same if you can afford it and willing to learn about battery building with this the help of this forum (it's an excellent resource).

 

[Zee786GP]

thanks everyone for all the info and help

i think i made up my mind, think Lithium is the way

heres the one im considering for the price, will go and pick it up in the week

https://www.electromannsa.com/produ..._content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic

 

[Alphacarina]

Life cycle - i read up i should get about 5 to 6 yeas on Gel and about double on LFP? think i read it degrades about 20% in 12 to 15 years?

I think you were wise to go with the lithium. You would need to treat the gel battery very well for it to last 6 years - The lithium should outlast the gel by 3 to 1, so if longevity is a consideration at all, it's a no brainer to go with lithium

Don

 

[Bossrox]

That's a pretty easy answer. The lithium is better. The 200 amp gel you won't want to drain more than 50%, less would be better for lifespan & the lithium you can drain about 95% which gives you roughly the same usable a/hrs but lithiums lifespan will be 4x or more longer, off setting the extra expense

 

[crossy]

I would think that unless your "UPS" is running every day down to 20% SOC the life of a lithium pack would be effectively "infinite".

 

[Zee786GP]

Thank you every one for the Info

picked up my battery, attached is my current setup, not the neatest but hey at least i don't have to worry about any off gasses from the Battery and everything is running well.