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diy solar

Delta 2 usage and charging

flkayak

New Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2021
Messages
6
Greetings all,

The solar stuff is all new to me, I have used a 100 watt panel to run a small evaporative cooling tower for yard work breaks and poolside use, but not delved into storage batteries before.

Recently purchased a Delta 2 and will be getting the extra battery tomorrow. My plan is to use the system to run my main fridge daily with the extra battery, take the unit and the 220 watt panel camping, and have back up for power failures.

Specs say 3000 cycles from 100% capacity to complete discharge. IS there a sweet zone to maximize the battery life? i.e charge to 80% or 90 % and stop discharge at 30% capacity? And when the spare battery arrives, should I connect both, charge to 100%, discharge to 0% and recharge to balance the batteries.
Thanks for any insight. Was hoping Will would have done a Delta 2 review by now to discuss some of these questions cause it seems perfect for camping and household use.
 
Greetings all,

The solar stuff is all new to me, I have used a 100 watt panel to run a small evaporative cooling tower for yard work breaks and poolside use, but not delved into storage batteries before.

Recently purchased a Delta 2 and will be getting the extra battery tomorrow. My plan is to use the system to run my main fridge daily with the extra battery, take the unit and the 220 watt panel camping, and have back up for power failures.

Specs say 3000 cycles from 100% capacity to complete discharge. IS there a sweet zone to maximize the battery life? i.e charge to 80% or 90 % and stop discharge at 30% capacity? And when the spare battery arrives, should I connect both, charge to 100%, discharge to 0% and recharge to balance the batteries.
Thanks for any insight. Was hoping Will would have done a Delta 2 review by now to discuss some of these questions cause it seems perfect for camping and household use.
See my post. It comes directly from the D2 (Delta 2) manual. I am curious what tests you performed with this unit. I have the D1 (1st generation without the lifepo4 battery) and like it due to size and portability. This may very well be my next purchase. Could you please post how long you ran your regular house fridge along with info on fridge like is it energy star compliant, age and is it a standard basic fridge, or does it have an ice maker in door or in freezer? Is it one with a computer screen on front etc. All those things matter for run time. For an example, see my EB200 thread on this section for solar generators. Most people are going to be interested in how long they can run their fridge and maybe a chest freezer, pedestal and/or box fans, cpap machine and maybe a small window A/C unit.
 
I am familiar with the criteria for storage, but I plan on using he Delta 2 daily and curious on whether charging to 80% and discharging to 30 % was best for the chemistry of battery. Weather has not been good for testing. Yesterday it rained while I was building a 360 watt suitcase to charge the D2. I will be posting my findings when I can, along with specs of the fridge. I will say, impressed with the 220 watt bifacial producing watts while it was drizzling and when completely overcast....not much but 50 is better than zero.
 
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