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Yes I've seen very little about lead acid batteries for solar storage. Considering that home installments are almost never weight constrains and often size is n
by cycomanic 4y ago
Yes I've seen very little about lead acid batteries for solar storage. Considering that home installments are almost never weight constrains and often size is not a big issue either, they seem like a perfect solution. I wonder if there is some important bit of information missing that makes them unsuitable?
- wongarsu 4y agoThe cheap lead-acid batteries you find in your car don't handle deep discharge very well, let it go empty a couple times and you have to replace it (at least they can be recycled easily). There are variants that can handle that better, but they cost easily twice as much. If you charge them too much they start venting hydrogen, which could build up to dangerous levels in buildings. I think that was discussed as a cause in the OVH datacenter fire. So they do have some problems, but still almost all battery backup is done with lead acid (with lithium-iron catching up as a good replacement). I think most of these li-ion backup batteries are more about using surplus production when you scale your battery production faster than vehicle sales.
- realreality 4y agoLead acid batteries are commonly used for solar storage. They require more physical maintenance than lithium ion, and they have more specific charging requirements.
- yencabulator 4y agoThere is really nothing "perfect" about lead acid. They let out fire-hazard gases when they charge. You need to maintain their internal water levels. They tend to spew acid on their surfaces. Their voltage droops as you use them. They can't tolerate deep discharge at all, and in general wear out quite quickly when heavily used. LiFePO4 is a huge improvement over lead acid.