PV batteries

Spinning off from the thread on Public Consultation: PAS 63100, I was wondering about the type of battery which may be used with a PV array. Lithium ion ones seem to be on offer, but have the disadvantage of the possibility of igniting themselves.

I have an older vehicle which has a 110 Ah lead acid battery. If it really can deliver 110 A for 1 hour (or 1 A for 110 h) at 12 V, that is 1.32 kWh and half a dozen would be 8 kWh. The one that I bought last year cost about £200.

I appreciate that the characteristics of lead acid batteries for cars, boats, caravans, etc. are different, but lead acid seems to be significantly cheaper and safer than lithium ion. Am I missing something?

P.S. If you can run a submarine on a whole compartment of lead acid batteries, they cannot be that bad!

Parents
  • It's worth looking at the data sheets batteries, as the Ah rating varies with the rate of discharge, and often assumes a discharge rate of C/20 (where 'C' is capacity) - so, for your example, you would get 110Ah when discharging at 5.5A (and less when discharging at a higher rate).

Reply
  • It's worth looking at the data sheets batteries, as the Ah rating varies with the rate of discharge, and often assumes a discharge rate of C/20 (where 'C' is capacity) - so, for your example, you would get 110Ah when discharging at 5.5A (and less when discharging at a higher rate).

Children
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