Use of Car Batteries in Solar Application

[shella]

For people living in countries like USA ,Australia most of Europe its hard to understand whypeople dont do the accepted"normal" thing. Like using deep cycle batteries.
I use "truck" batteries myself.dont care if they dont last as long or need every few days watter topping up. THEY ARE PRACTICAL.
Why? In Philippines like all third world countries some things are almost impossible to do.In the west you just go on net or on phone and order what you need and using credit card pay for it and an effecient transport company will deliver the goods in mabe 2 days.Ok ? Or you can go to a good battery supplier and buy the items you need and take with you. , Great huh?And what the west accepts as normal.
Now for 80% of the world all that is not possible. Usually only major multinational stores accept credit cards and only in person. In all other towns credit cards are not accepted at all.
Battery stores only exist in a small way in major cities and you need to go in person and pay cash, then somehow try to arrange a bus line to take them to your town. then you still have to get them home ..
You see some problems ???
Now truck batteries are available "everywhere" as every truck and bus uses them. In 3rd word countries they are cheap,usually about half the price compared to western countries. {the sales person and the battery facttory worker mabe each earns about $200 a MONTH.
You only have to go to mabe 2 to 4 hardware stores to get enough "identical " batteries.
A local bus will home deliver them.for very low cost. At home you have some worker check them every few days for you if you are not there cost mabe $1 for each weeks topping up.
I find if you only use the first 20% of the charge they last over 2 years and you get about 50% trade in on the next lot.

There is no such thing as one type fits all. I have done some systems using Lithium ion phosphate cells and they need no maintainance and in use over 3 yrs now andcharged using PWM charger. but they cost a lot more than truck batteries and would be very expensive for a big system.

at last someone who think along the same lines as me
i live in the UK i have just got into solar in a big way i have posted on here and don't get why you can't use scrounged parts
yes they won't last long but at least you have some power in an emergency
i would like to make my system out of as much scrap material as possible i am in the frame of mind of having lights and something from stopping the kids from climbing the walls

its all about what your priority's are like if you want to power your microwave or cooker then solar isn't for you
wow needed to vent thank you for keeping it real

[bill von novak]

i live in the UK i have just got into solar in a big way i have posted on here and don't get why you can't use scrounged parts

I don't think of the UK as very third world. I suspect you could get T105's pretty easily; they are common batteries worldwide.

yes they won't last long but at least you have some power in an emergency

All too often such banks are dead by the time you want to use them - especially with used (unmatched, different age) batteries.

i would like to make my system out of as much scrap material as possible i am in the frame of mind of having lights and something from stopping the kids from climbing the walls

I'd suggest a small generator would be a much better use of your money. But if you really want to just try stuff then there's nothing wrong with using car batteries - provided you treat them with respect (like any other battery) and don't expect too much from them.

As some background if you are wondering what the big fuss is - Anyone who works with renewable energy hears the same things pretty often. "I bought a big solar panel and I want to run JUST the air conditioner in my apartment." "I would get decent batteries but it's too hard and the auto parts store is right down the street." "So I got a battery and a solar panel! What do I hook together!" These questions make people cringe for several reasons:

1) Any big battery is dangerous. A simple mistake will lead to at least burns and destroyed batteries if not a fire. Thus someone who has a bunch of batteries, solar panels and alligator clips makes people very nervous, because a) they don't want to give people advice that leads to them getting hurt and b) having solar get a reputation as a big fire risk is not good for anyone.

2) There are lots of ways to connect a solar power system that seem to work OK but are actually pretty bad in terms of safety, efficiency and/or run time. Web sites like this try to help people do it safely, but the lower the experience level of the person doing the connecting, the more likely they are to not know basic electrical safety and design principles, and the more likely they are not to worry about such things. Thus when people hear "I don't want to be bothered going down to the battery supplier" they may worry that that will lead to "nor do I want to be bothered getting adequate gauge cables; I'll just use a lot of paralleled speaker cord."

3) Most people here want to try to help other people be happy with their solar power systems, and experience has shown that most people just aren't happy with car batteries. Even if it's "just in case the power goes out" and "I won't discharge them that much" etc etc.

[shella]

I don't think of the UK as very third world. I suspect you could get T105's pretty easily; they are common batteries worldwide.



All too often such banks are dead by the time you want to use them - especially with used (unmatched, different age) batteries.



I'd suggest a small generator would be a much better use of your money. But if you really want to just try stuff then there's nothing wrong with using car batteries - provided you treat them with respect (like any other battery) and don't expect too much from them.

As some background if you are wondering what the big fuss is - Anyone who works with renewable energy hears the same things pretty often. "I bought a big solar panel and I want to run JUST the air conditioner in my apartment." "I would get decent batteries but it's too hard and the auto parts store is right down the street." "So I got a battery and a solar panel! What do I hook together!" These questions make people cringe for several reasons:

1) Any big battery is dangerous. A simple mistake will lead to at least burns and destroyed batteries if not a fire. Thus someone who has a bunch of batteries, solar panels and alligator clips makes people very nervous, because a) they don't want to give people advice that leads to them getting hurt and b) having solar get a reputation as a big fire risk is not good for anyone.

2) There are lots of ways to connect a solar power system that seem to work OK but are actually pretty bad in terms of safety, efficiency and/or run time. Web sites like this try to help people do it safely, but the lower the experience level of the person doing the connecting, the more likely they are to not know basic electrical safety and design principles, and the more likely they are not to worry about such things. Thus when people hear "I don't want to be bothered going down to the battery supplier" they may worry that that will lead to "nor do I want to be bothered getting adequate gauge cables; I'll just use a lot of paralleled speaker cord."

3) Most people here want to try to help other people be happy with their solar power systems, and experience has shown that most people just aren't happy with car batteries. Even if it's "just in case the power goes out" and "I won't discharge them that much" etc etc.

i totally understand where your coming from and i don't see the UK as a third world country but that does not mean we all have that kind of money i am not saying to go into solar blindly i have done a lot of research and know its time to ask questions. in my area we get blackouts quite often not for a long time but when you have been spoilt buy having power you kind of get used to having lights when you want it not when you need it.
i am tying this as an experiment i can understand you steering a total newbie in the right directions as i am a newbie. yes we live in the land of plenty but i still believe that solar power should be for all people not just for the people that have the money to buy the expensive stuff. we all have to start somewhere and if someone has to start with car battery's and they have been the information it is up to that person to decide.
i have read a lot of posts on this forum and am loving it and i know the different type of battery's and why deep cycle battery's are best for solar application.
i don't mind that you have to look after car battery's more and check the levels i do that anyway but that is my choice. in third world county's they use what they have and scrounge and make do with what they have and get on with it i have the same mentality but i want to be safe course i don't know what i am doing. don't make me feel bad for not having the money to buy the expensive equipment. as i have seen some of the prices. i just think that it is OK to start small and work your way up thats why i am on this forum too learn and ask questions. i too thought that you could power a lot things on solar power i know now what is possible it has not put me off just changed the way i think.
hope this made sense