Back in 2008 I set up a smaller stand alone solar system 10000W with a small generac propane burner generator backing it up. Powers stuff like barn lights, electric fence, well pumps my beer fridges, my office and other fairly light duty stuff. I went to the battery dealer I used back then looking for decent new batteries that would work for the system and ended up buying 6 matched used batteries that were 2 years old and out of a Cell towers base where they were the emergency power backup. SO ended up with 3000AHs worth of basically unused batteries. (500AH per) for $600 for the lot. At one time I had the spec sheets on the batteries but they were among many things that burned in 2012 when lightning hit a tree next to my office and managed to catch it on fire. Anyway all I know is they are sealed 12 volt 500AH Deep Cycle batteries and the only markings on the casing are MADE IN SOUTH KOREA and the suckers weigh a bit over 150 pounds each. SO here we are 12 years later and the batteries are starting to peter out. They at peak would run all of the things listed above for 5-6 days with nothing going in and now are down 1- 1 1/2 days of no input reserve power. So I am replacing the old batteries and would like to replace them with something oh identical as batteries that last me 12 years are far and few between. Problem is I hav no idea who makes/made these, the battery guy I used to used died and his shop closed and is some smoothy shack or something now days.... so no asking him The battery outfit I use now days is less than inspiring in the realm of knowledge but they sell batteries. SO any Monkies know what brand these are and if they or anything like them is still manufactured? Anything more modern that is lighter and would offer the same years of service and dependability that would be a better option? I have a dozen crown 12v 1200AH for storage on the main solar system, despite 2 of them malfunctioning over the last 24 months since going with them I am overall mostly kind of happy with them. They have a lot more storage capacity than these old ones and are 20-30 pounds lighter each. If I remember right they were not Gawd awful expensive at around $530 per. Would I be better off just going with 3 of the Crowns instead of 6 of the half of the capacity batteries. I am a bit out of date on battery tech and what is out there now days and whether the new is better than the old or if it is just new. LOL Be nice to just slip new batteries in jump them and reconnect the charge controller Forgive the filth on them LOL they have sat for 12 years in what amounts to a metal outhouse with a combiner box, charge controller, inverter and breaker box and get their monthly light wipe off, test and inspection. And that anti corrosion goop I use on them collects every particle of anything that gets within 10 feet of the post Oh yeah is what I took out this afternoon.
Yeah winter always let's you know when you batteries are getting old. A lot of your charge controllers are going to be MPPT. PWM charge controllers for the destitute and for backup. A decade ago MPPT was the cool new thing with the cool new toy price. Now every has them. You will find that MPPT gives you substantially more power from your panels. It will kick on earlier and run later. Perfect for winter.
I am not too sure knowing the mfr means anything other than (in this case) they made a good product. Used cell tower backup batteries will not be el cheapos when new. That said, if you know the ratings, any given brand will do the job; it then becomes a matter of determining good from not so good. That all out of the way, there are newer tech batteries that may not behave like the older ones, and there, I'm up the creek. BTPost, TNAndy and Cruising sloth will eventually chime in, and my guess is that they have the best info.
T5R. you need to find an outfit that sells Traction Batteries... Electric Forklift, and the like,,, Yes, They are expensive, but they are designed for high current discharges without warping the internal Plates, as well as long life and reasonably short reCharge Times... you got a Deal on your previous bank, but they are much harder to come by these days as Cell Site backup systems, are not as robust these days, due to Propane or Diesel Genset as backups, and the batteries only need to hold up the system up for a few hours, just enough time to get a Tech to the site, if the Genset does’t start and pick up the load... All these sites have Alarm Panels and Remote Site Controls that can fix most issues remotely from the Network Operations Center...
I watched a video a year or 2 back about rebuilding truck batteries. Think it was filmed in Afghanistan or maybe Pakistan. Always wanted to see how it was done and even if it was possible. It was fascinating how they could completely disassemble a battery including separating all the lead plates. Everything was cleaned. Plates were repaired where they had to be cut apart. New material to go between the plates. They used a big heated bolt to melt the connecting points on the plates back together. Had some molds to cast new terminal posts. Slid it all back in the case and melted the seam around the top back on. Damn fascinating. Not that any of this can help you but still. Very cool.
Nope they would not have been cheap batteries even back in 2008. Took one to town to the battery shop that is allegedly the best within a 75 mile radius and they were like, WOW never seen anything like those Good Luck finding replacements. Yep I miss the old battery shop owner Yep pretty much what the cell tower tech told me last Month when they were out doing the regular inspection and maint on the tower. Said my batteries come from a time when there was a cabinet with 8 of them in it that would keep the critical systems running for 4-5 days in the event of of wide spread power outages. Been wondering if it would be feasible or worthwhile to try and integrate the refurbished EV battery modules into a solar system. Seeing a whole lot of Prius refurb battery modules out there ranging from $1200-$2000 per unit.
Do not know about the Prius Battery technology, however if they are used, then you are back in the same boat, with the same issues... Cell site batteries have.minimum life cycles on them where used Prius teries have been “Road hard & Put away wet”
Odds on bet that the voltage on Prius (or other EV car) batteries isn't exactly solar friendly; there would need to be some plain and fancy hardware needed to make those batts and solar play nice. I do NOT know this, just suspicious of it. One thing you can figure, EV batts will be tolerant of pretty high currents for short times at least.
Used and refurbished not just used LOL I would not touch EV used batteries. Guess the Crown1 Batteries on the main system are traction batteries of a sort. Wishing I had taken the time to educate myself on that system past the combiner boxes and charge controller and DIY it instead of hiring one of the solar guys to install from the Charge Controller to the breaker box. LOL it is one thing to understand the principles of the system another thing to understand the individual components that make up the system. It seems those batteries would work with the pannels just fine but old morningstar charge controller would not work well making the bridge from combiner box to these types of batteries. Advice I got from the solar guy this morning is to go with Deep Cycle RV and Marine Batteries in the 200-210AH range and leave the big storage capacity to the main system. LOL he called my old batteries high capacity fossils from another time.
Those Prius battery of cells are for each cell ,7.2Vdc Nmh type on the gen 2 style battery Problem is that they are low in amp hrs . I do use them in solar as they cost me 200$ per used battery . You must take it real safe to dismantle as the voltage is well over 200 VDC ! I wired up a set in S-P of my extra help pack . 4 in series is 28 Vdc and parallel them to add Ahs . This is on a remote off grid setup , running sensors . Here is what i would use
