Homebrewed Electricity > Storage
NiFe Batteries
scottsAI:
Chagrin,
Golf cart battery is 225 at 6v or near equal to the 122ah 12v.
Current report of golf cart battery cost is $67 (@sam's? Or Costco?
NiFe $840 / $67 = 12.5 sets of golf cart batteries.
Assuming golf cart battery last 7 years, for the same money have
Life of 12.5 * 7 = 87.5 years for the same money.
Anything past 50 years is no concern to me, don't expect to be here!
Golf cart battery life I hear is 3 to 7 and more years, depends on battery care.
Mine is 3 years old still going.
Charging efficiency for NiFe is low at 70%.
Lead acid is 91% when SOC blow 80% dropping down as SOC goes up.
Charging system must be 120% to place same charge in battery.
Solar this is very expensive, wind maybe no big deal?
Summery
NiFe is interesting, currently price and needs it's too expensive in several ways.
Have fun,
Scott.
independent:
I have a couple of sets of these. There are a few fieldlines users who have them. Some even have Edison cells (Iron-clad batteries).
My main sources of information about these batteries came from here (thanks everyone) and also from the ibiblio sites (primarily) who have text files from the 90's when homepower magazine did a lot of testing of these batteries as well as nicads.
The often quoted efficiency of %70 I am not too sure about. I have a Trimetric 2020 and intend to find out for sure their efficiency. What I am sure about is that they lose the uppermost of their charge very quickly (overnight). So, your 100% charge will no longer be so in the morning. The big plus is, of course, they can be completely discharged; as well as being stored in a discharged state. Also, they are fairly benign on the environment--so that's a plus.
I haven't got my battery going yet, I need a few things from ghurd to build a modified controller as well as my panels..
Have a google search of the site, there is plenty of good info on this site.
BigBreaker:
But lead acid can not handle 100% discharge cycles. The cost comparison gets much more reasonable when you impose a discharge floor on the lead acids. If that floor is 80% SoC than their cost per amp-hour just quintupled.
Part of being off-grid for many people on this board is independence and self-reliance. Lead-acid batteries are basically a consumable, so the permanence of ni-fe batteries are quite attractive and worth some premium.
I think batteries are going to get much better in the next ten years, so it might be worth burning through a set of lead-acids before a big purchase of ni-fe's. It is a big investment.
scottsAI:
BigBreaker,
Good point about 20% SOC, had to look up Quintupled: Five times as much in size, strength, number, or amount.
20% is hardly Quintupled!
NiFe Pricing 10x takes it off my list. With the 120% needed by solar panels would take it off my list just for that even if the price were the same. If the price were the same may consider a mixed system, charge NiFe with spare amps and keep for the dark days, get the benefits for both batteries types.
Yet, this year hear about newer solar panels claims of $1/watt etc, times are changing.
When I see them I will believe them. Been hearing these claims since the 70's.
Have fun,
Scott.
ghurd:
What good are they if the inverter kicks off at 14.9V and the battery bank is 15.1V?
Can the 0% DOD voltage be included if the inverter kicks off at 10.5V?
Will DC items such as CFL, stereo, TV, LED bulb... function at below 10.5V?
To me it sounds like comparing the total WH in a giant cap to a small battery.
I only give a hoot about power available between 11.0 and 14.8V.
A 12V system with 10KW of 10V available doesn't mean anything to me.
Scott,
Gas was $1/G then? PVs are $5/W now.
A basic marketing twist gives us <$1/W PVs! :-)
And a 1 terrabite HDD was how much in the 70'S? So now PVs are almost free!
I admit I didn't look at any charts. I am stressed at the moment.
G-
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