Battery upgrades? Yes we do!

Not all batteries are made the same. Some are designed for maximum current (car batteries). Some are designed for long life. And some are designed to cycle. And they can be even made designed with a couple of these ideas in mind.

Lead Acid batteries are not dead. In the right application, they are far more cost effective than any lithium battery. What application? Long life back up power. If you cycle the batteries less than 100 times per year, a good quality VRLA (Valve Regulated Lead Acid) AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) work great.

If you are going to LIVE off-grid, or you are traveling a lot (RV & Trailer), a LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) is a much better battery and even at today’s prices, will be more cost effective.

But back on VRLA AGM, just before Hurricanes Marco and Imelda entered the Gulf of Mexico, one of out clients contacted us to upgrade their batteries. The UB-4D is not a great battery for standby storage. The posts are made of lead. The always seem to leak and they have high resistance in heavy draw.

The C&D TEL12-210F is an excellent upgrade. Side by side, the UB-4D has a capacity of 200AH, while the TEL12 has a capacity of 230 AH. This is a 15% increase!

My customer had a nominal 19.2 kWh of storage. But increasing the batteries from 8 to 12, and upgrading to the TEL12, they now have 33 kWh of storage. 33 kWh will run their 4 ton air conditioner about 15 hours. They have 17 kW of solar, so they produce about 100 kWh during the day. They should have enough power to run everything when the power fails, day or night.