4 ms·
Lithium ion is so cheap these days I'm stunned this project resorted to using inefficient and out-dated lead acid batteries.
by algaeontoast 7y ago
Lithium ion is so cheap these days I'm stunned this project resorted to using inefficient and out-dated lead acid batteries.
- pi-rat 7y agoEven if you can manage to find li-ion cheaper, you would need to build a pack of 6+ 18650 cells for comparative capacity. A single Pb is much simpler. Bam, $18, done, a single unit, 80Wh ready to go, super simple to charge too. It's not like the size or weight matters to him, and it seems his panel is big enough to avoid deep cycling it too often.
- konstruktors 7y agoExactly. And I haven't found cheap charge controllers that support the voltage range of Li-ion packs (like 12.6V for a 3S pack or 16.8V for a 4S pack).
- algaeontoast 7y agoThere are actually quite a few well-developed IC's specifically intended for this application. They act both as buck converters for the output device, BMS for the lithium cell / cells, and a charge controller for the cells. Andreas Spies has a great video on comparing some modern IC's for this -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaiQDS9jObY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaiQDS9jObY