The capacity rate is directly related to the size of the battery. You will to have to remember that the temperature is critical factor where the batteries are stored as this is the main reason that the batteries performance gets affected.

The performance of the battery will be only 75% capacity at 40 degrees and at zero degree it will be only 50% capacity. The battery which does not get affected is the one known as Concorde PVX. This battery has been designed in a manner to withstand the temperature differences.

If your batteries are stored outdoor, you must use sealed gel type battery. You must keep the place well insulated even if the batteries are temperature resistant.

To determine the number of battery needed you’re your home Photovoltaic (PV) system, first you must calculate the total consumption of wattage hours in your home or office. This can be done easily by looking at the wattage rating of the electrical appliances of your home.

Here is a word of caution, if you are using an appliance with large wattage consumption, it will drain the battery reserve very fast. The best thing is those appliances which have wattage of 1500 watts or more should not be included.

Once you done that, add all the appliances wattage and you must do it separately for each day, you must multiply it by three, so that in case you use these appliances for three days you will come to know the size which would suffice your power needs.

To find the capacity of the battery, multiply daily watt hours by two, meaning you are actually using 50% of the battery capacity. The size of the battery bank in hours can be determined by dividing the total watt hours by size of the battery system you are using, it could be 12, 24, 48 volts.

If you have a 25,200 watt hours requirement, 25,200 / 12 volts = 2100 mps hours then divide by whatever is the battery amp hour rating and you can calculate how many battery unit you actually require for the system. You may require 12 volt system, for the consumption of 25,200 watt hours a total of 20 batteries.

The number will go on changing with the size of the batteries you use in your system. You must hook the batteries properly by making sure positive is connected to positive and negative to negative. This will increase the efficiency of your batteries. You can also wire your batteries in series to enhance the battery ampere capacity.

One thing is for certain, energy is only going to continue to become more expensive as the years go by. People are always looking at different ways to reduce their home monthly bills, and one way is to generate energy from solar panels.

Renewable energy projects at home can be expensive. The time recouping these costs can take quite a while but the end result is cheap energy. A major expense in the process of solar energy panel installation is the storage battery bank.

The battery bank will be used when the sun is not shining. It is possible to find cheap deep cycle battery storage and if you follow the 5 points outlined below, you will be able to keep the costs of purchasing the batteries relatively low.

1. Free or cheap.

The types of battery used in the storage bank are lead-acid deep cycle batteries. These batteries are designed to recharge and discharge quite frequently. These types of batteries are very expensive when bought brand new. There is a way that you may be able to pick up cheap ones, or even free ones.

You can find these types of batteries used on electric golf carts, wheelchairs, and even boats. Golf clubs or boat yards will often times have discarded batteries and in many cases be glad to get the batteries off of their hands.

2. Testing.

The first thing you will have to do once you have procured your batteries is to test them. There are certain issues or faults that will make them useless. Testing them is quite simple. All you have to do is connect them to a charger and charge them. As soon as you have charged them, you will need to take a measurement of the voltage with a multi-meter.

The meter should have a reading near 12 volts. If your reading is a lot lower than 12 volts, it could be an indication that there is a bad cell or bad cells. Mark it and put it to the side to test further later. You will want to focus your priorities on the batteries that reach the 12 volt reading.

3. Cleaning the plates.

The lead plates that are located inside the cells are more than likely to be contaminated. This is a result of a process called sulfation.

Sulfation is when the lead plates have a layer of lead sulfate crystals on them even when the unit is fully charged. This process of sulfation is what prevents the batteries from holding a charge. You will then need to remove the contamination by using a different charger.

This special charger is sends a high current pulse out to the battery that will break down the crystals, thus reducing the contamination. I know there is concern about the cost of the charger, but the money you will save on new batteries will make up for the initial investment for the charger and locating cheap or free batteries.

4. Renewing the electrolyte.

Next you will have to renew the electrolyte inside of the cells. The electrolyte is the fluid that is located in the case between the lead plates.

Deionzed water should be used for this step. This water should be refilled to cover the lead plates located inside the battery cell. An electrolyte conditioner may also be added to the cells. This conditioner can be found online or at a local auto parts store.

5. Recharging the battery.

The lasts step is to recharge the recently restored battery and then test the voltage again. After you have done the reconditioning process, the second hand should be able to hold the electric charge from the Photovoltaic (PV) panels.

The 5 steps above may seem tedious, nonetheless, doing so will save you a lot of money when you are setting up a home battery storage bank. This is how you will be able to find a cheap or free battery cell for your own personal home solar power plant.

Following these steps you will be able to make renewable energy a much more viable option. It will also make the process more of a cost effective idea. By finding these deep cycle batteries cheap, you will reduce the initial investment and shorten the time it takes for you to notice the savings that using a renewable, green energy such as solar power.

There are few things we can be sure of besides death and taxes, and that include the rising cost of electricity. One potential solution that could be utilized is a self-generated solar power system.

Although costs associated with setting up such a project seem impractical, the long-term returns are more than worth it. A large chunk of the setup costs comes from the storage battery bank, which supplements the power supply under less-than-optimal sunlight conditions.

Cheap solar deep cycle battery storage is an attainable prospect nowadays. Here are 5 ways to minimize such costs:

1. Affordable or free batteries.

A bank of lead-acid deep cycle batteries store energy derived from solar power. These batteries are specifically created for frequent recharge and discharges, as opposed to the ones found in automobiles. Although a brand new battery is pricey, low-cost or even free ones can be obtained if you look hard enough. These can be found in golf carts, wheelchairs and boat generators.

In essence, golf clubs and boat yards are potential gold mines for discarded batteries, and have a good chance of procuring one for free.

2. Evaluation.

The next step that comes after acquiring a battery would be to make sure that they work well enough for reconditioning. Testing these batteries is as simple as connecting them to a charger and waiting for them to charge.

After that is complete, you will need to measure the voltage output, which should be within the region of 12 volts. Faulty cells are suspect if the voltage is noticeably lower than this.

These should be put aside for further evaluation, and you should look specifically for those that achieve the 12 volt mark.

3. Clean plates.

Sulfation could affect the cell’s lead plates by coating them with a layer of lead sulfate crystals and reducing their effectiveness, even on a full charge. This would affect your battery’s charge retention.

Fortunately, this could be remedied via a specially designed charger. Investing in one would be prudent, as restoring old batteries could save you from actually purchasing costly new ones.

4. Replenish electrolyte.

Following that, the electrolyte has to be replenished. This is the liquid that fills the gaps between the lead plates.

First, inspect the electrolyte level, and top up with deionized water until it begins to cover the plates. Electrolyte conditioners can be used as well, and they are easily obtainable from specialized stores.

5. Recharge the battery.

Once again, recharge the reconditioned battery and test its voltage output. You can now feel proud of yourself for coming up with a virtually free solution for your solar project. The cost-effective reconditioned rechargeable battery makes the project extra viable and will shorten the time it takes for you to enjoy the savings gained via this environmentally-friendly energy source.

Now, you can store power generated by your home solar power system even when the sun is not shining or the generator is not running, with the help of batteries. This post describes the 4 basic types of batteries which you can choose as your solar system battery bank. The post also contains guides on the care and maintenance of your batteries and on enhancing their performance and life.

1) Marine and golf cart battery.

Marine type batteries are suitable only for very small systems like boats and campers. They are not really capable for continuous service with many cycles of charge or discharge for years.

Golf cart battery is the very popular battery for small systems. Though they are a bit costlier than the deep cycle recreational batteries, for small systems on budget these are probably the least expensive ones.

The following 3 types are heavier industrial grade batteries. They are also considered deep cycles but are usually lead acid types. They have much thicker internal plates capable of withstanding many deep energy cycles. They are designed for alternative energy system such as solar or wind power.

2) Flooded type battery.

These are lead acid batteries with caps to add water. Though many manufacturers are making these batteries for solar energy use, Trojan, Surrette, Deka are probably the most popular ones. They are reasonably priced and very durable.

The flooded batteries should not be used indoors as they release gas when charged. In case they are to be installed indoors, a venting system should be used to vent out the explosive gases.

3) Gel type battery.

These are actually not maintenance free batteries. Unlike flooded batteries these gel batteries have no vents to release gas during charging process. So they can be installed indoors without any venting provision. This is a big advantage as it allows the batteries to maintain a more constant temperature and perform better.

4) Absorbed glass mat (AGM).

The absorbed glass mat or commonly known as AGM batteries are the best available for solar power use, in my opinion. A woven glass mat is used between the plates to hold electrolyte. They are leak / spill proof, do not release gas while charging and they have superior performance.

They have all the advantages of the sealed gel types but are of higher quality. They maintain voltage better and last longer. The SunXtender series by Concorde Battery is an excellent example of AGM batteries.

They are more expensive but you get what you paid for. These types of batteries are used in airplanes, hospitals and remote telephone / cell tower installations.

As batteries get cool to a low temperature, their voltage drops and their performance suffers. This is one main reason that AGM batteries are preferable as they can be stored indoors where the temperature varies less.

Another important thing to consider is how deeply you discharge your batteries or DOD (Depth Of Discharge). In other words how low you let the voltage drop before your next charge cycle. Though most battery ratings talk about 50% or so, they will last longer if you keep them as charged as much as possible.

A normal 70% charge range on your battery should be okay. Lead acid batteries will last longer if you do not discharge deeply. This shallow cycling extends their life thus saving you money in the long term.

Build Your Own Solar Panel Guide

One of the best ways to save money on a residential solar power system is to build your own solar panel. If you are good with hand tools, you can make a Photovoltaic (PV) array for around $150. What you’ll need is a step by step instructional guide.

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With today’s modern deep cycle batteries and sophisticated charge controlling devices, total battery bank failure is rare but they do happen.

They following are 6 tips on how you can maintain the lifespan of a residential home solar energy battery bank.

1) Proper sizing.

When designing your home solar power system, make sure you size the battery bank properly. Here’s a rule of thumb, design the batteries to be able to handle at least 5 days of load.

It is always a good idea to size the battery larger than your home power demand. Reason being your power demand will increase after some time and the deep cycle batteries will lose it power output after a few years. Over designing the system will compensate for battery power loss and increased demand.

2) Invest in premium batteries.

The batteries basically supply all the power when the sun is out. If possible, invest in high-quality batteries. It costs more compared to normal grade batteries but it will worth your investment in the long run.

3) Cut down on parallel stringing.

When designing the battery bank, try not to have more than 3 parallel battery strings. Doing so, it system will lose its equalization thus resulting is rapid battery plates failure.

When you have a problem with the battery system, it is hard to pinpoint which faulty plate is stealing power from surrounding cells and the entire system will suffer.

4) Watch out for corrosion.

Corrosion on battery usually occurs on the terminals and cables. This can be a potential hazard and at the same time increases the resistance on the system.

It is not very difficult to prevent corrosion on battery. All you need to do is apply a non hardening sealant on all the metal parts before connecting them together. The sealant will prevent acid from coming into contact with the metal surface therefore preventing corrosion.

5) Controlling surrounding temperature.

A deep cycle battery will lose up to 25% of its charge capacity when kept in a low surrounding temperate of 30 degree Fahrenheit. When the temperature rises, the battery will deteriorate faster. Therefore, it is best to keep the batteries in an ideal temperature.

6) Compensate for temperature changes.

During winter time, the batteries are cold thus require a higher charge voltage limit in order to reach full charge. During summer, warm batteries require a lower voltage limit to prevent overcharging. This is known as temperature compensation.

The temperature compensation process can be done automatically by many charge controllers in the market. When buying a charge controller, get one with the temperature compensation feature.

DIY Home Solar Power System

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A residential solar power system consists main of 4 key components which are the solar panels, charge controller, battery bank and power inverter. There are other smaller solar parts that support the entire system such as voltage meter, amperage meter, cut off safety fuses, disconnect switch and copper cables.

For a home solar energy setup, you can’t use the power as when you needed it. Meaning, if you need solar power to run your television at night, you won’t be able to because there is no sunlight. The Photovoltaic (PV) cells can only work when the sun is out.

Therefore, the system has to be setup up to harness all the energy during the day and store it in a battery bank so it can be used later.

DIY Domestic Battery Bank

When you are building the battery bank, the best battery for the job is deep cycle type. This kind of battery is mainly found on electric golf carts. They are very durable and can be discharged to a very low level without damaging its internal plates.

One type of battery that I’ve seen to be suitable for a home solar power system is the 12 volt sealed battery from Advanced Gel Technology.

The battery has 105 amp hour which will run your electrical appliances throughout the night. It is made from Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) meaning it is sealed and would not have any spillage.

Size wise, the battery is 12” x 6.6” x 8.2”. The battery measurement is pretty standard. Durability wise, it will last for 3000 charge cycle if you were to use it at 15% Depth Of Discharge (DOD).

How many 12 volt batteries do you need for your home use?

The actual number will depend on your power requirement. If you have multiple electrical appliances connected to the solar power system, you may need 4 – 6 units wired in parallel to provide you all the juice you’ll need.

Because the Advanced Gel Technology is AGM, it costs more compared to other conventional deep cycle battery but it gives you a good level of convenience.

How much does it cost? The battery is selling at $249.99 per unit from Amazon.com with free shipping. To get your unit of the AGM battery from Amazon.com, click here.

DIY Home Solar Power Guide

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The kind of battery used for a residential solar power system is the deep cycle type or marine boat batteries. The number of battery needed will depend on your energy requirement.

Since you are going to spend substantial amount of money on the battery bank, it makes sense to take good care of them. One way of doing so is to regularly check the fluid in the battery. In order to do this, you will need to learn how to use a battery hydrometer.

How do you use the hydrometer?

The battery hydrometer is a glass tube with a suction bulb that draws the electrolyte from the battery into the tube. When that happens, the float inside the tube begins to rise.

On the float, you will see some markings on it. You can see a long red strip, a narrow white strip and then a little wider green strip.

How do the markings work?

Well, if it floats off and it’s in the green marking, that means the battery is in pretty good shape. When more of the float sticks out of the electrolyte in the glass tube, meaning the stronger the battery is.

If it floats up until the white strip, that means the battery is only in a fair shape. If the electrolyte goes up into the red strip marking, the battery really needs to be reconditioned.

When that happens, the charge controller may not be able to charge the battery to its full potential with the energy from the solar panel. You may have to pull out the battery and send it for servicing and to get a full recharge.

What will happen if you were leave the battery there?

If you were to do so, the battery will reached a critical level of discharge and it may damage the battery permanently. As a good practice, a battery should not be discharged beyond the 50% mark before recharge.

Although a deep cycle battery can handle deep level discharge, doing it too often will reduce its efficiency.

If you are looking for a battery hydrometer for your home solar system

battery bank, check out the Imperial 5991 Battery Test Hydrometer. You can get it cheaply from Amazon.com.

Related web pages:

1) Michael Harvey Earth 4 Energy Review – Reviewing top selling DIY home solar power system guide on the web.

Next, decide how many electrical appliances you want to connect to the solar power system. That figure will help you to decide how many deep cycle battery you will need for the battery bank.

The batteries can be arranged in different ways to get the voltage you’ll need for your power inverter. If you are using a 1000 watt at12 volt power inverter, you will need 2 units of 6 volts batteries connected in series to come up with the 12 volts.

The most dangerous part of this process is the liquid in the battery. The liquid is sulfuric acid that will seriously burn you. As a safety precocious, always have some baking soda nearby to neutralize the acid in case you spilled some on your body.

You can check the acid in the battery by using a hydrometer. A hydrometer is what you use to measure the actual specific gravity of the acid inside.

On the hydrometer, you can see several discs floating. For example, if you see 3 discs floating with one at the bottom, you’ll know the battery is about 75% charged.

Here’s another safety tip. The gasses that come off from the battery, hydrogen gas (H2), can be hazardous as well. It is highly flammable. Make sure you work with the batteries in an open space and no sparks or open flame nearby.

DIY Home Solar Power Guide

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The bank will be used to store the power generated by the solar panels. The number of battery needed will depend of your power requirement.

The type of battery most suitable for a residential solar power system is the deep cycle type. Since you will be investing a large amount of money on the battery, it makes sense to take good care of them.

The following is a list of 5 tips to keep your deep cycle batteries in tip top condition.

1) Depth of discharge.

If possible, do not discharge the battery to a very low level. For example, a 100 percent discharge is when the battery is totally dead.

If the battery is discharged to 50 percent everyday it will last twice as long as it would if it’s cycled to 80 percent discharge.

2) Recharge the battery quickly.

The life expectancy of the battery is also depends on how soon a discharged battery is recharged. The sooner it is recharged the better.

This may be a challenge during cloudy days with a solar power system. A solution is to recharge the battery bank using power from the grid.

3) Avoid undercharging.

Undercharging is a result of the battery being repeatedly discharged and not fully recharged between cycles.

If a battery is not recharged the sulfate material that attaches to the discharged portions of the plates begins to harden into crystals.

Over time this sulfate cannot be converted back into active plate material and the battery is ruined.

Sulfation is the number one cause of battery failure.

4) Avoid overcharging.

Overcharging mean charging the batteries even thought it reached its maximum charged capacity. The result in severe water loss and plate corrosion.

5) Use a bigger battery bank.

When you are setting up a battery bank, have more battery units than what you’ll need. With a bigger battery bank, it will reduce the amount of power discharged before recharging.

If the weather at you home has more cloudy days, you may not have sufficient charging time. A large battery bank will provide sufficient power for your requirement.

Deep Cycle Battery Maintenance Guide

When you have invested a large amount of money on the battery bank for your residential solar power system, you want to make sure you spend some time maintaining it.

Not everyone knows how to maintain a battery properly. I did the research on the web and the best manual that I found on deep cycle battery care is the “Electric Golf Cart Battery Guide” from www.golfcartbatteryguide.info.

It also offers the best value for money. The e-book is selling for only $19.95!

If you are keen to know how to take care of your deep cycle battery bank, check out the manual from the link below.

==> Click here to visit the Electric Golf Cart Battery Guide now!

The batteries can be one of the most expensive components of your entire home solar power system!

So you want to pay close attention when building the battery bank. To help you in the construction process, here are 3 tips you can use.

1) Stay away from automotive battery.

When you are building a battery storage bank for your PV system, do not use car battery! If you use them, you will be wasting your money.

Automotive batteries are not designed for residential solar power system because they are not made for the deep cycle usage that occurs in PV systems.

Car batteries are used for short time interval when you need a large power surge, for example, the high voltage needed to start an engine.

It is then immediately recharged by the vehicle electric alternator.

It does not need to be discharged over a long period like batteries that are tied to a PV system.

Solar system needs battery to discharge small amount of power over a long period of them. The battery will then to be charged on an irregular basis because we can’t be sure if there’s a clear sunny day to charge the Photovoltaic cells.

An automotive battery under these conditions will die after only a couple of discharge and charging cycle.

2) Have more than you need.

The recommended energy discharge for a home solar system battery bank is about 50 percent. So when you have calculated the power requirement needed for the PV system, multiplied it by a factor of 2. Next, build the battery bank based on that figure.

You don’t want the batteries to discharge all its power just to keep up with your home power needs, therefore, have more battery units.

3) The lower rate of discharge the better.

If the batteries are properly sized and maintained, the life span for a PV system battery can be anywhere from 3 years to 10 years or longer. However, the life span will depend on how much you discharge the battery.

For example, if you have a battery that is being discharged at 30 percent of its discharge capacity versus another battery that is discharged at 80 percent, the battery with a higher discharge rate will die much sooner compared the one with lower discharge rate.

To solve this issue, again, it is best to have a larger battery bank than required by your PV system.

DIY Home Solar Power System Guide

Do you want to build your own home solar power system and start reducing your monthly electricity bill? If you do, you will need a DIY residential PV system guide.

For an easy to follow home renewable energy guide, check out the Earth 4 Energy program from Michael Harvey. The program comes with a step by step guide to building a homemade solar panel and 7 High Definition (HD) instructional videos.

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Related web pages:
1) Earth 4 Energy Scam – Is Michael Harvey’s Earth4Energy A Fraud?

2) Green DIY Energy Review – Reviewing the GreenDIYEnergy program