Thanks, esteemed Wrenches,
I'm thinking that she would do fine with 440 A/hr of T105 REs. Jay
asked about her loads. I emailed her this earlier today:
Beverly,
Back when the batteries were still strong, if you ended a day's
charging at 100%, what would the percentage be when you awoke
the next morning? I'm looking for typical, in order to address a
question about your replacement batteries.
And she replied "probably in the 90s...I think..." She can live on
nothing if she has to. So it's either two strings of good golf carts
or two strings of non-high-capacity L16s.
And I like Jerry's suggestion to talk with my battery distributor.
And I like Jay's suggestion re the box - yes, it was sized for 8
L16s, so it's either L16s or smaller unless we rebuild it.
I too have respect for golf carts - way more respect for golf carts
than for L16s in general. Golf cart batteries have a greater
capacity for absurd abuse then anything else I have ever seen. I'd
give Beverly three strings if the box had room. With minimal care 5
years is safe, and she's not perfect but she's pretty good. So at
this point (unless Steve Higgins at Surrette talks me otherwise)
I'll go with 8 golf carts and save the rest for the next set, or for
more array.
Thank you!
Allan
Allan Sindelar
al...@sindelarsolar.com
NABCEP Certified PV
Installation Professional
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
Founder (Retired), Positive
Energy,
Inc.
505 780-2738 cell
On 10/23/2015 8:31 AM, Drake wrote:
Hi Allan and Jay,
I second the golf cart battery option. Trojan T-105s seem to be
the most
bang for the buck. An 800 W array wouldn't stir up the electrolyte
sufficiently in an L-16. Maybe the backup generator would. What
all is
she running?
Drake
At 06:40 PM 10/22/2015, you wrote:
Hi Allan,
A few questions.
how little energy? amp hrs night/avg. and
is mx something this person does or would like to do without?
But given what you’ve said, I wouldn’t go with wet cell
industrial as
you’ll never get the C rate you need. If the 8 x L-16’s have
done her well ( and probably the battery box is set up for that
form
factor) and with your budget I’d go with another set of L-16’s
flooded or sealed if the budget/want allows.
And if the need is really quite small, I”d consider golf cart.
Yea
yea,I hear all the laughs, but where I live, golf carts seem to
have the
life they always have, but L-16’s ( all brands) seem to have a
shorter
and shorter life for reasons I don’t understand.
jay, peltz power
On Oct 22, 2015, at
11:19 AM,
Allan Sindelar
<al...@sindelarsolar.com
> wrote:
I have a related question, please. One of my longtime off grid
clients is
a single woman who maintains a nonprofit sanctuary for about
30 rescue
dogs, both adoptable and not adoptable (curious?
www.bridgingtheworlds.org
). With that many animals, Beverly seldom leaves her remote
land and her
support and sustenance comes primarily from donations. Her
existing
system is a 18-year-old SW4024/Solar Boost SB50, with 800W of
old array
and eight L16s.
The L16s were takeouts from another job that I figured had
some life left
(used for two years in another contractor's Sunny Island GTBB
system
without telling the customer that he needed to add water
regularly). I
gave them to her at no cost and they lasted three years but
are now dying
fast.
At my suggestion she has been running a GoFundMe campaign that
has raised
$2900. I have already told her that I'll do the swapout at no
charge. I
told her that the choice of her next set of batteries would
depend on the
money she raised: we have another 24V set of 820A/hr Rolls
that I think
has some life left, or we can afford 8 L16s, or with the most
generous
donation total I'll order a set of HUPs and they'll last her
the rest of
her life (or maybe not - she's healthy, beautiful and
independent at 71
years).
So, my question: At $3,000 and 24V, what would you sell her?
This is
bound to bring varied opinions, but I want to look beyond what
I would
select based on price and get other Wrenches' suggestions.
I'll add that
while the array is small and old, she lives well on very
little energy,
and has a TriMetric and a backup generator.
Thank you for your opinions.
Allan
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