Solar power panels continue to drop in costs but the batteries that can store the power they produce are NOT coming down at the same rate. Most of us do not have unlimited cash to purchase batteries with.
Here are a couple of ideas for batteries taht are not the run of the mill ways to buy them. First, look at automotive salvage yards. Hybrids get wreaked too, and when that happens youy can buy a single battery that will run your entire house, at salvage rates! Local salvage yards are the most cost effective, and some will not want to fool with unfamiliar technologies. So start there, then try some online salvage sources. Here is one I have found, that I know almost nothing about, except they willsort by which is closest to you by zipcode!
Image from this web page
http://www.car-part.com/
I found a Chevy Volt battery a hundred miles away on this site, sso this is a good option. If you find others, post them here. I have no affiliations with this website or business.
http://www.car-part.com/
But try it, it is always free to look, LOL!
The second source is your local computer repair store. Go in and buy up the failed battery packs for recycle prices. Bring them home, and open them and recover the good LiIon cells from the packs. They are 10 watts apiece, and I have purchased 85 good cells for $10; this give fourteen 24 Volt batteries at 850 watts (35 amps) for $10. The computer stores will be happy to see you, as recycling battery packs is a pain for them.
Note: LiIon batteries can burn when you mess with them, so keep a metal gallon can half full of sand close when you work with the (in case you short out a battery) as a safety bucket, in case one does ignite.
If you build your own, there are Battery Management System (BMS) on Ebay that will bring professional design to you DIY battery system. I am using this second method myself, it is less expensive, but more labor intensive. You can stack cells inside plastic plumbing pipes to make any voltage you want to work with. Cells are 4 volts each, so you can design from there
https://www.ebay.com/itm/PCB-Charger-for-4-Packs-3-7V-Li-ion-Li-Lithium-18650-Battery-Rechargeable-2-3A/261191600168?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
The battery packs do take a little work to open, but each one has a free thermistor in the battery pack, you should save. Batteries that show no voltage can usually be recovered by reaching into the empty hole on top, and pushing down the built in thermodisk. When it snaps, the battery will be usable again.
Here is a picture of a batch of recovered cells from failed laptop battery packs:
)
Here was my first tube battery prototype:
I have fun and think outside the box. You may be rewarded for the good battery system for your alternate energy power systems!
Since lead acid batteries are good for about 5 years, and Lithium-ion batteries are good for about 30 years, this makes a lot of good sense!
Good stuff though fiddly and if you have the time can be a cheap way to do it.
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Repairing the house on the lake property we bought, is taking time! I have collected 8000 watts of LiIon cells so far. I will put 24,000 watts of 24 volt batteries in for main house power. There will be a power wall, with inverters to supply my house, including AC and Heat.
I will also run the lighting directly from the 24 volt with LED lights. I am designing those right now, and I will use to old AC vents for wiring conduit for rge 24 volt system.
They will be charged from 2.5kw of solar panels and 1.5 KW of wind power to allow me to not connect to the Grid.
Not bad for scrap batteries, ROFLOL!
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I did similar 11 years ago though using lead acid battery bank with 3kw of solar panels. My system is 12v.
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Off grid is good! 12 volt is the most normal and 3000 watts is nice....
I went to 24 volts because I just wanted to half my current loading, to reduce the copper size, since I am wiring the entire house with 24 Volts.
How did the lead acid work for you? I may need to use some myself initially, if I don't have the full bank of LiIon that I want when we need to move in.
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So far it has been perfect as I only use about 10% off the top of the charge so they don't have much depth of discharge. They have been going 11 years now. I had thought about going 24 and even 48v system for less amps for the wireing and switches etc. 12v was much easier to do years ago.
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12 volts is definitely a lot easier because the car voltage has a lot of goodies running on it. That does make it a good choice! I am just hard headed, LOL!
I plan on a lot deeper cycle, which is hard on lead acid. We will run AC, heating, refrigeration and lights from this battery. I found a nice pair of AC/ Heat pump units that draw a total of 1800 watts for two tons of AC (24,000 BTU)
I found a refrigerator that draws 65 watts at 24 volts too; so we are getting there, LOL!
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Yes things like fridges, AC units and LED lighting are much more efficient than what I could get 11 years ago :-)
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Tech marches on for sure! I helped build one of the first ground heat AC systems (longer ago that I like to admit, LOL) and we even published in a peer review Journal. We had a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER) of almost 8! That got a lot of attention back then....
This new unit is a SEER of 22, that makes the system I worked on a Joke today, but back then it brought in the Feds! :)
This new refrigerator is a thousand dollars, so it is still pretty cutting edge.
I am an Electrical Engineer, so all the lighting will be my own design, including the dimmers.
I may run a parallel 12 volt system just to run my ham radio.
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sir smithlabs! solar is over rated. Batteries are over rated. Much tadoo about nothing. Now putting in nuclear for your house, THAT would be something!
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When I get my generator that uses Magnets for fuel running, I will send you pictures.
Then I will not need the batteries or panels....
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oh I've heard about that motor, are you buying one or building one?
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Oh I've heard about
That motor, are you buying
One or building one?
- janton
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
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Nice haiku, LOL!
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Building it. NASA rejected the concept, because it depokarizes the magnets in about 30 years, so it will not work for satellites.
30 years is better than atomic, since the refuel time is much better.
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how are the satellites powered, solar power? Satellites last longer than 30 years?
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Mostly solar on the long term units.
Voyager 1 and 2 are over four decades outbound and have left the Solar System, and are still reporting today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artificial_objects_leaving_the_Solar_System
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holy cow and they're powered by what?
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Solar, but as they leave the solar system that will become harder! Even atomic needs to be refueled eventually.
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STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
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Thanks for watching.
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You're welcome @smithlabs
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You do a lot of good work, with I suspect little thanks. I appreciate the work you put in.
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Thank you for you're feedback :) @smithlabs
We are happy to help users.
Have a good day!
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You seldom reply (I know how busy you are) so it is good to talk.
Be Blessed.
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