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New solar install battery selection

3K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  travlin-easy 
#1 ·
We are installing a 250W panel on our Yamaha 30;

HES-250// 250Wp // 60-Cell Poly-Crystalline Solar Module

Morningstar's Remote Meter (RM-1)

Morningstar's SunSaver MPPT solar controller TrakStar

Our starting battery is 2008 and our cabin battery is 2002. What is the advantage of buying the
HTML:
http://www.wegosolar.com/products.php?product=Deka-8A27-Absorbed-Glass-Matt-92-AHr-Solar-Battery
for the cabin circuit, over a regular deep cycle battery for half the price?
:confused: :laugher

Thanks
 
#6 ·
Unless the battery will be in a spot that is hard to get to, so you can't check the water on a regular basis, or it has to be installed at some sort of weird angle, I would get a flooded cell bank. I prefer using 6V golf cart batteries wired in series, just because they are easier to manhandle into place than the equivalent 12V batteries. A well-cared for bank of GC batteries will last as long, or longer, as just about any other reasonably priced option.
 
#8 ·
Compared to wet acid, which is the cheapest battery.

AGM can't spill acid, eat your clothes or anything else. Car upholstery or carpets.
AGM has a much lower self-discharge rate.
AGM can be a 30-50% price premium.
But if you cook an AGM battery, there's no way to "add water" and restore it.

Gel is similar to AGM, offers the most charge cycles, but is most easily ruined by overcharging, and needs different lower charging voltages as well.
 
#10 ·
I second the 6volt series setup if you have the room I'm trying to find the height for this battery Dyno Battery - Premium Quality Battery Manufacturing - Made in the USA and at 315 ah with a 180 min reserve at 75 amp draw but would take a heck of a solar charging setup to recharge waiting on he company to tell me how big a loan I will need for a total of 4
 
#11 ·
Looks to be almost midway between a T-105 (220 AH) and an L-16 (370 AH)



I've never understood the theory that it will take longer to recharge really. As long as your daily use is the same the recharge time will be similar. The advantage of a larger bank is you will be using a smaller percentage of it and therefore will experience a much greater number of cycles before battery replacement. You will gain economically as the gain in cycles will more than offset the additional cost.

Due to this one of the best things you can do to a battery bank is increase its size.
 
#12 · (Edited)
It is the 4h I was trying to find the 5h like the dead ones I was given as salvage same footprint but almost twice as tall looks like the fisheries l16 unit is the 5h unit I want but personally I would rather go factory direct they are made a few miles away from my marina
 
#16 ·
That's the reason for charge controllers and if you have that much of an excess of power generation add a dump load like a 12 volt water heater element to use the excess power generated they make them as small as 100 watt
 
#18 ·
I use 4 T-105s as a house battery setup, keep them charged with a 100-watt Grape solar panel I purchased from Home Depot. It is mounted on the stern rail using Bimini fittings and a couple short lengths of 3/4-inch stainless tubing. I run my fridge on the batteries 25/7 while cruising and there's always enough sunlight to recharge the batteries during a normal day. On rare occasions, I'll have to fire up the A4 and top off the batteries, which with a 100 amp alternator, doesn't take very long.

Cheers,

Gary :cool:
 
#19 ·
Gary how did you hook up the grape solar panels? they had the same at pricemart down south for cheap price controller included but I beleive they are positive ground panels no?

anything special or different about your install?

thanks
 
#21 ·
There is no grounding to the frame of the solar panel. If it were, I would have experienced one hell of a short circuit with a positive ground. Just two wires coming out of the panel, which I connected to an inexpensive regulator ($39). The batteries are rigged in a series parallel connection, which makes it a 12-volt DC system. All four batteries get charged at the same rate at the same time. Never had a problem with this setup.

Gary :cool:
 
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