Lithium Batteries

[Mountainbiker]

How much more 'off grid' will I get with 2x 150ah lithium batteries versus 2x 85ah gel batteries? - (175w solar panel) Hope you can help

 

[Guigsy]

Gel batteries can use about half their capacity before you start doing damage. So about 85Ah for the pair.

Lithium batteries can be safely discharged to about 10%. So the lithiums would give you about 270Ah.

Lithium also charges more efficiently as less is lost to heat. And it can change full speed until it's nearly full. So you'll yield a bit more out of your 175w panel.

 

[DavidCh]

2 x 150ah Lithium gives you about 280ah useable, so (for example) you could draw ten amps for 28 hours assuming they were fully charged. 2 x 85 gel batteries give you about 85ah useable so you could draw those ten amps for just eight and a half hours so massive difference in capacity. Solar has so many variables but, if you reckon in the summer of 175/2 * 8 you wont be far out so that is about 50 amps going in per day, much worse in winter.

Its all related to your useage, but if you are only going to be using the solar to charge and never top it up from driving or electric then you would have to be a very light user to get away with it, and there would be no point in having lithium. If however you want to park for a few days, then drive to a new site and/or top up from electric then lithium is the answer as it will easily cover the usage over a few days. 175w of solar is not much, we have 450 and I wish it was 900

 

[LesW]

Ideal if doing a bit of Arc Welding..

 

[Lenny HB]

Gel batteries can use about half their capacity before you start doing damage. So about 85Ah for the pair.

Wrong, Gels can be taken down to 20% SOC so 2x 85 would give 136 ah of use.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[cyberyacht]

The batteries almost double the usable capacity but ideally could do with a more solar to really get the best out of the setup.