Silicate Salt Battery VS. Li-on

[Crash]

Hi everyone,
I am buying my first set of batteries and trying to stay on a budget. I ordered the SOK 100ahr batteries but they have been on backorder forever. I talked with the folks over at Watts 24/7 and they recommend their Silicate Salt Battery. It is a 150 ahr and 1.8kw. They say it does not require balancing or a BMS. the only downside is the weight, 100lbs each. Does anyone have any experience with this type of battery?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Sparky]

Well, i found this:

Silicone Batteries

Green Battery Technology

www.siliconebatteries.ca

Silicone Rechargeable Battery

Ymmv, buyer beware, etc. I claim no expertise - I don't even know whether these are the kind you're talking about.

I'm interested though.

 

[Crash]

Sparky,

Thanks, the first one is the one I am considering and the second one I will get more info on. I'll post what I find.

Best wishes

 

[Hedges]

Thumbing through the pages I reached:

Silicone Rechargeable Battery

"High Corrosion Resistance Performance: PbCa multi-alloy grid"
"Silicate compound"
"No Acid, Maintenance Free" (I don't believe the first part of that)

I would refer to that as a Lead-acid Gel Cel

Now that you know what the chemistry is, shop the leading brands and decide what price/performance/lifespan tradeoff you want to make.

"Furthermore; unlike the lead-acid battery and gel-acid battery, there is no acid mist generated during the silicone battery production. At the end of the life-cycle of the silicone battery, the electrolyte is neutral and can be used as a high grade organic fertilizer and the rest of the housing recycled."

Don't try this at home, kids!

 

[JAS]

I found a few references to this type of battery going back several years. With only 1 person (on a different solar forum) actually having used them and reported on them. He was very happy with them (after only about 6 months of use. So who knows how long they last)

I really want to believe the claims as it would work really well at my hunting cabin during the winter months. But, I suppose if they were the real deal (over the long term), we would hear a lot more about them... IDK ?‍

 

[pjones]

Buy once, cry once. If this is your first set of batteries, you may want to stick with something that is in common use, so if you have some questions, there is someone here that can help. If you are just relying on the vendors, you may be left disappointed--they have your money already.

 

[Crash]

Thanks all, good advice decided to go with 4 - VMAX AGM 125a. simple, cheep...

 

[Hedges]

Thanks all, good advice decided to go with 4 - VMAX AGM 125a. simple, cheep...

Here's the brand I bought:

Sun Xtender Solar Batteries - Photovoltaic Battery

The Sun Xtender Battery line consists of specialty lead-acid solar, photovoltaic batteries, and renewable energy storage batteries manufactured by Concorde Battery Corporation.

sunxtender.com

Compared to the links I found searching what you mentioned (may or may not be the brand you're considering)

VMAX SLR125 12 Volt 125Ah AGM Deep Cycle Hi Performance Battery

www.bargainshore.com

SunXtender is a bit more expensive, and claims more cycles for a given DoD.

 

[NMNeil]

Sparky,

Thanks, the first one is the one I am considering and the second one I will get more info on. I'll post what I find.

Best wishes

I checked on the second one and here's the web page of the company.

GLOBAL NRG STORAGE

Note the lack of address, country, e-mail, phone numbers?

 

[copec]

Drive by from googling, more information here: https://www.genezenenergy.com/bolt-ultra

and vendor here: https://watts247.com/product-category/batteries/

I recently bought my Growatt inverter from that vendor, and they are totally solid. He said his neighbors are using the batteries with good success so far.

I have a battery with second life leaf modules, but am more interested in not self-rolling a battery for a replacement and so am researching future replacements.

 

[Crash]

An update - I have been using the 4 - VMAX AGM 125a batteries for about a month and they are working great. I have the system connected to a spare refrigerator (25cubic inch) and have excess power during daylight hours from my 1,000 watts of solar panels. I have been using the extra power to run a dehydrator at about 1,200 watts for 6 hours.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Silicate Salt batteries have some neat traits.

Life cycle, initial price and cost-over-time are midway between AGM and Lithium technologies. They have ridiculously low self-discharge rates - you can leave them sit all year without losing much charge. They can operate in both extreme cold (-40 F) and extreme heat (150 F). Peukert effect is similar to AGM, but they're capable of 100% depth-of-discharge (although that will shorten life cycle, just as it does any battery). Cold cranking amps are better than AGM. They're capable of quick-charging, up to 3C. They're extremely safe, no risk of fire or explosion, and completely recyclable.

Here is a good source of both info and batteries: https://www.genezenenergy.com/bolt-ultra

I'm seriously considering getting one as emergency backup for my LiFePO4's in extreme cold conditions. During the winter, it's possible I'll be facing as low as -30 F temperatures. If my heat fails then so do my LiFePO4's, and I need something to fall back on. The fact that I can "charge it and forget it" until I need it is a huge plus.

 

[NMNeil]

Let us know how they perform.
Looking at the link they seem to be a modification on the Aquion battery, which despite being funded in part by Bill Gates unfortunately failed at market, but is now being sold by BlueSky as the Greenrock battery.
It's about time that lithium was challenged, and if they are proven to work, I'll defiantly buy a few

US8298701B2 - Aqueous electrolyte energy storage device - Google Patents

An electrochemical device including a housing and a stack of electrochemical cells in the housing. Each electrochemical cell includes an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, a separator located between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode and an electrolyte. The electrochemical device...

patents.google.com

Did a bit of digging and Genezen offer a complete package.

Home | Offgrid Backup Power / Emergency Backup Power / Solar Backup Power

We offer an off-grid backup power system that is simple, affordable and allows you to run your fridge, freezer and other appliances during a power outage. We use safe and green Silicate Salt Batteries (Silicone Gel) instead of lead acid or lithium batteries.

www.offgridbackuppower.com

 

[RustyOldVan]

I'm very curious about these as well. Looking for batteries for an off-grid cabin in northern Maine. I've used Trojan AGMs for 8 years and they started having problems for the first time this winter.

 

[Axleman27]

I put 4 of the 150AH Bolt Ultra batteries in my 5th wheel recently as part of a solar upgrade. I'm no battery testing expert, but I'm willing to answer any questions that I can.

 

[JAS]

Watt247 carries them and speaks highly of them. However, the shipping across the US is $$$. So for the price/AH, LifePO4 still wins for me (even with having to deal with low temp charging)

 

[PerryB67]

Is a Silicate Salt Battery another term for Lead Crystal or SiO2?

 

[aurfalien]

I put 4 of the 150AH Bolt Ultra batteries in my 5th wheel recently as part of a solar upgrade. I'm no battery testing expert, but I'm willing to answer any questions that I can.

Hello,
I was curious how your experience has been with these batteries?

 

[Axleman27]

Other than weight, I don't have any complaints. They seem to perform as advertised. I have not fully discharged them yet, but I have taken them down to 10% SOC a couple of times. They bounce right back and readily accept as much charge as my system is capable of feeding them (about .5C is as much as I've seen so far, Multiplus + SCC).

 

[Hedges]

I have not fully discharged them yet ...

I don't think you should ever discharge to 0% SoC.
These appear to be lead-acid batteries; it can't be good for them.
I suggest you set a low-voltage disconnect of inverter so that can't happen.
Even the 10% SoC you've done would likely result in lower Ah total of cycling over life of the battery, and something not as deep would give more use per dollar.