eddie1261
Solar Enthusiast
This is probably gong to ruffle some feathers, but that's okay. I do that every day everywhere.
I read a lot of posts here and not bothered engaging in them about money. The primary topic is how lithum batteries are too expensive. Really?
While you may see the initial outlay for lithium as too high, let me ask you this. Do you plan on having your solar system for a year? Two? Three? Isn't this kind of something you go into for the long haul? When making that kind of decision it is important to project that cost of a higher performing, lighter weight lithium battery against possibly as many as 3 sets of any kind of lead battery. Everybody seems to know a guy who knows a guy who ran his 2 6v golf cart batteries wired in series for 19 years or more. And if that guy truly exists, okay, for that guy it worked out. But why not lay out $629 dollars for a Ruixu lithium now that will likely last 8 or more years and can be discharged down to 20%, install it once, and never worry abut it again? The charge cycle numbers get tossed around like when people talk about how many millions a lottery is worth. One guy told me that "You MAY get 3000 charge cycles out of that battery." Okay. That is 8 years and 4 months. That takes me to age 76. And I can go to that same (rumored) guy who says he got 5000 charge cycles out of his lithium battery. That is 13 years and 10 months. That takes me to 78. Am I still going to be running around in a trailer at 78? (THAT guy I would doubt, because I don't know that there were affordable lithium batteries in 2006 for him to have had it for 13 years already.)
Point being is that cheap is about quality. Inexpensive is about price. If my battery lasts me those 4000 cycles, that means it cost me $78 per year to have it, and that I ran around with 30 pounds of battery in my trailer instead of 180.
I did a gig once selling hardware. My company came up with a bolt that had locking threads on the backside of the threads. That bolt was so expensive it almost needed a mortgage. However, I walked into a client's garage who had huge problems with the bolts that held the compressor motor on his cement mixer trucks. 6 bolts held it in. Typically the vibration would back them out and he would get trucks coming in that had 3 missing and 2 of the remaining 3 broken, meaning he had to tap those out and put in new bolts. He would replace them with more grade 5 bolts that cost like 89 cents each. One day I sat him down and asked him "How much money do those trucks make your company when they are sitting on the lot because of that bolt problem?" The answer of course was "Zero." I then handed him 6 of those locking bolts and told him "These bolts, the right size for that application, cost $3,99 each. You take these 6, and put them on ONE truck. Then track the performance of that truck for 90 days and we'll talk again." 90 days later, all 6 of those bolts were still in place, and at torque, so they had not moved a bit. He then ordered 300 pieces of that bolt so he could put them on every truck. So he invested $1200 for bolts and NEVER had a problem with that issue again.
Cheap vs inexpensive.
Moral of the story, spend the money, build your system right, with quality products, set it and forget it. It will cost you less in the long run.
This is strictly my perspective, and you are of course free to disagree with the idea. As it pertains to batteries, refer to Will's video where he did the math.
I read a lot of posts here and not bothered engaging in them about money. The primary topic is how lithum batteries are too expensive. Really?
While you may see the initial outlay for lithium as too high, let me ask you this. Do you plan on having your solar system for a year? Two? Three? Isn't this kind of something you go into for the long haul? When making that kind of decision it is important to project that cost of a higher performing, lighter weight lithium battery against possibly as many as 3 sets of any kind of lead battery. Everybody seems to know a guy who knows a guy who ran his 2 6v golf cart batteries wired in series for 19 years or more. And if that guy truly exists, okay, for that guy it worked out. But why not lay out $629 dollars for a Ruixu lithium now that will likely last 8 or more years and can be discharged down to 20%, install it once, and never worry abut it again? The charge cycle numbers get tossed around like when people talk about how many millions a lottery is worth. One guy told me that "You MAY get 3000 charge cycles out of that battery." Okay. That is 8 years and 4 months. That takes me to age 76. And I can go to that same (rumored) guy who says he got 5000 charge cycles out of his lithium battery. That is 13 years and 10 months. That takes me to 78. Am I still going to be running around in a trailer at 78? (THAT guy I would doubt, because I don't know that there were affordable lithium batteries in 2006 for him to have had it for 13 years already.)
Point being is that cheap is about quality. Inexpensive is about price. If my battery lasts me those 4000 cycles, that means it cost me $78 per year to have it, and that I ran around with 30 pounds of battery in my trailer instead of 180.
I did a gig once selling hardware. My company came up with a bolt that had locking threads on the backside of the threads. That bolt was so expensive it almost needed a mortgage. However, I walked into a client's garage who had huge problems with the bolts that held the compressor motor on his cement mixer trucks. 6 bolts held it in. Typically the vibration would back them out and he would get trucks coming in that had 3 missing and 2 of the remaining 3 broken, meaning he had to tap those out and put in new bolts. He would replace them with more grade 5 bolts that cost like 89 cents each. One day I sat him down and asked him "How much money do those trucks make your company when they are sitting on the lot because of that bolt problem?" The answer of course was "Zero." I then handed him 6 of those locking bolts and told him "These bolts, the right size for that application, cost $3,99 each. You take these 6, and put them on ONE truck. Then track the performance of that truck for 90 days and we'll talk again." 90 days later, all 6 of those bolts were still in place, and at torque, so they had not moved a bit. He then ordered 300 pieces of that bolt so he could put them on every truck. So he invested $1200 for bolts and NEVER had a problem with that issue again.
Cheap vs inexpensive.
Moral of the story, spend the money, build your system right, with quality products, set it and forget it. It will cost you less in the long run.
This is strictly my perspective, and you are of course free to disagree with the idea. As it pertains to batteries, refer to Will's video where he did the math.
