These are the batteries I am looking at. I have used Deka for years on my boats and trust this company. Has anyone here used them? Solar Batteries: The Deka Solar Battery Series for Renewable Energy Applications Kingfish
Hi Kingfish , nope, never used them and nobody around here with hundreds of solar powered homes use them to my knowledge. Rolls, Trojen and a couple of other. Fork lift batteries or deep cycle for the most part. On anything for solar or solar related. For the most part, a nice sticker saying "solar" seems to make people think that whatever the product is , it must be special as it says Solar. Keep that in mind
I second Nadjas comment... "Solar" is a Marketing Dream for suckers..... Batteries for Inverter/Charger/Solar systems are one thing that haven't changed much in the last decade. there are a few basic types that are USED. Flooded Lead/Acid, GELL, AGM, Nicad, and if you have more money than Brains Lithium Ion. 90% of the systems will be using Flooded Lead/Acid, simply because they are the most common. They come in ALL Sizes, shapes, configurations, and AmpHour Capacities. There are a few AGM Batteries around, but these are MUCH MORE as expensive, and usually come from exGovernment or exTelecom grade outs, because most folks can't afford them. Gells don't usually have enough AmpHour capacity for big Inverter/Charger systems. Nicad usually are exNavy, grade outs. Lithium Ion are expensive to the extreme, but are the highest Power Density of ANY Battery system. Just like "Solar" is a Marketing Term, so is "Depp Cycle" and a few others...
Used them as my first set, until I ran up on the telecom AGM battery I have now.....sold the Deka's to another alt E guy locally to use in his wind system. ( and Bruce is off a bit in the price.....new, a set of 1200amp/hr like I bought is about 15 grand ! I got mine for scrap price thru a 'buddy deal' when their cell company was selling out and he was told to sell out the warehouse ) Put them in the system we put on my buddies off grid cabin, thread is on down this forum. Their L-16 is a good battery for the money....better than golf cart batteries, not as good as Rolls, I'm sure.....but since we have a local dealer, shipping isn't an issue, which can be REALLY high on batteries. I'll agree with Bruce on the "solar" label. When I bought mine, they didn't do that....the L-16's were typically sold for big electric powered floor scrubbers.
Yes, L-16s are then best Consumer Battery on the Market, for Solar and Backup Power. The Absolyte IIs are a Telecom Battery, and considerably MORE expensive, as are Electric Forklift, Traction Batteries.
I said "It's a good battery for the money".....meaning, it will serve the purpose and not break your wallet. These will last 5-7 years ( maybe a bit more...or LESS if you don't keep them watered and "fed".....keep them undercharged consistently ) on average, and, for the money, they may still be the best buy out there come replacement time.....or something else might be the trick. IF you happen to luck up on a deal like Bruce and I have on Absolyte AGM's, I'd would ( and did ) switch to them, as they are maintenance free, and have a 20 year design life......but I sure wouldn't pay new price for a set. If I WAS gonna spend some big bucks on batteries, I'd probably go with the Edison battery.....a nickel-iron based battery, that they claim is good for 100 years. China has been the only source of these ( Ironic, huh ? Edison invented them, and you couldn't buy one here ) until recently, when a company in Montana started up a factory. The Chinese Imports The Montana Version
The cost of those Montana batteries is way more then we can afford. I would have to take out a mortage to buy them. KF
If Thomas Edison could build the things using 18th century technology why could we not build some? The batteries are simply a series of plates on a common lead to the posts-right? A plastic bucket(square container) and solution should do it? Getting too old to mess with it myself but a young enterprising gent should be able to power up most anything.
Yesterday, while polishing my petrified wood, I went into my solar room and decided to check on my batteries a little early. Usually I check them the first of the month. Anyway, found them to be very low on water/acid. Did an emergancy fill up. Sometimes you get so used to doing things on a schedule that you can overlook simple little things like this. Also found a cable that was beginning to loosen up. Batteries can do this low water thing slowly or very fast, depending on the amount of usage and charging they receive. The cables however can be a problem when never really checked out. The elec. traveling down the wires all the time tends to wear them down a little at a time. It actually makes them loosen up in their ends. To find out if your inter-connect cables on your batteries are bad, simply wrap you paw around each one. If you find one slightly warmer then the others or even to the point of being hot, you have a bad cable. On incoming cables etc, simply give them a good pull or tug and look for any movement in the ends. If it moves in the copper end or lug, you have a loose fitting there. This is the time to be checking out all of these little things and stocking up on distilled water. One last little thing, make sure you never use any water other then distilled in your batteries or you will surely shorten their usefullness by a bunch. Not good.
Just a NOTE, here: The Edison Battery was a Nickel/Iron Battery that used Potassium Hydroxide as an electrolyte.
