A New Battery

 As most of you know we are on solar power at the lake

There is a back up propane generator but most of the time we exist totally on what shines from the skies.  Our lifestyle there is not compromised, although perhaps not exactly what we have in the city.  For instance we do not have A/C, dishwasher or laundry.  On the other hand I use a hair dryer and a vacuum cleaner, and all measure of other stuff including and electric fridge with no worries.

old battery

So far we have been managing with a biggish (technical term) lead acid battery.  Think similar to one that might be used on an electric fork truck.  That is our old battery above.  

This has worked well for us over the years but is a bit of a science project.  Some of the shortcomings with the lead acid were issues around the amount of water it liked to drink and issues around the state of charge vs freezing temperatures in the winter (plus all sorts of checking of this and that regularly during the good weather).

Neither I, nor our kids, have the interest to do the monitoring, tweaking and fiddling   We are attempting, to the extent possible, to sort out stuff to be easy to manage and maintain.  Hobbies are fine and all, but I prefer to garden.

We (and by that I mean my husband) noticed that the price of newer technologies was coming down.  In particular he (OK – in all cases it actually was he not we) noticed those batteries made of lithium iron phosphate.  Around here most people buy their solar systems from specialist companies who will come, install panels, batteries, management systems, etc, etc – all for a princely sum.  Most people have no choice, but not my intrepid, deal seeking husband.  He did a bunch of thinking and researching ended up configuring his own battery out of 24 individual cells.  Because of the difference in the battery type and how low it can be discharged to, plus a very slight increase in size, the effective capacity is now about twice the old one.  Which means we can potentially last more cloudy days without needing to fire up the generator.  All good.

The individual cells all fit into the front trunk space of a vintage Porsche

He also ended up with a new skill set – which was sourcing specific technical items from China.  These included the cells themselves plus all manner of bits and pieces that I look at and have no idea what they are for.  All delivered to our home during the pandemic.   All in he figures that the price was 1/3 of what we would have paid going to a local supplier.  Good value – plus the added benefit of keeping the old noggin functioning.

 

This is what the new system looks like hanging on the wall at the back of the garage.  Don't worry - all dangerous bits are now safely behind protective covers.  Kinda cool looking.

And hey – now with all that extra power – we can get new cool stuff right ?

 P.S. - we have indeed bought cool new stuff.  Stay tuned