[john10001]

Just wondering what prices you can now get Lithium batteries for over in the States? I am hoping to get a small battery for my BOB and maybe a small low wattage solar panel for that as well.

Also looking at deep cycle batteries for home use, in case of emergencies and power outages etc. Lithium's seem quite expensive still but slowly coming down in price. Have been investigating ones that are used in Golf Carts, Motorbikes and similar but not so sure how suitable they are. I think for deep cycle battery I may have to go traditional lead acid maybe sealed AGM battery or one I can also use with a electric outboard for a small boat (dual use). I enjoy fishing and plan doing some more on lakes and reservoirs.

Plan on having up to 100 or 200w solar panels at home that I will use to keep the battery topped up and will pass through that and any extra energy I will put back into the system with a grid tie inverter which should knock a small percentage off my electricity bills.

Portable solar power is really quite expensive for the flexible roll up panels. Small wattage regular panels I'm not sure how small you can go to fit one in a BOB but keep weight to a minimum, they are not lightweight the regular panels. I have been watching videos on You Tube for people making their own panels just from buying the solar cells cheaply. It seems you would be able to make some sort of solution this way that is cost effective, light weight and portable, and also a lot cheaper even accounting for any cells you accidentally damage and waste in the process.

Finally, just wondered if anyone has a hand crank that they use for power in emergency situations and where you can buy them? I don't see much mention of this or pedal power solutions for a SHTF situation. It may be something to consider though if you want to avoid detection and having your e.g. wind generator, solar panels taken by TPTB or anyone else for that matter.

 

[Montana Rancher]

I'm not sure what your point is...

If you have 100w of solar panels, what are you planning to do with that pathetic amount of power? maybe charge your Ipod or keep your headlamp going???

Grid Tie systems need to be at least 2K or they will not be worth the investment, fortunately with some good batteries and a decent charge controller you can also plan on running refrigerators and freezers. Just plan on spending $15000 doing it.

 

[pastornator]

Right now it seems more cost effective to utilize 6-volt golf-cart batteries as they have close to 200 amp-hours of capacity and sell for under $100 US.

I also ran into some AGM batteries for UPS at a local REMY battery store. They carry about a 110 amp-hour capacity and sell for $57 each. Nice thing with these are they are 12V and sealed. Of course, it would take a bank wired together to make enough amp-hours to actually run an inverter for any length of time.

 

[paraquack]

My motorhome uses golf cart batteries for the battery bank and has a solar panel to maintain them. My batteries are over 12 years old and will have to be replaced this year. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, flooded cell golf cart batteries get my vote. one of the first things to do is determine exactly how much power you can live with out. I knew one guy who thought he could run a whole house on batteries because the battery system he wanted to put together was rated at 240 amp hour and his house only had a 100 amp service coming from the power pole. I explained that if inverters were 100% efficient, it would take 10 times the battery power (in watts or amps) to run a house hold appliance. He did the math and found his refrigerator needing 8 amps to run would require 80+ amps out of his battery bank per hour of run time. Even though a fridge might run only a total of 3 hours a day, his batteries would be DEAD. You need to add up the wattage or amps required to run the absolutely most important items in the house and go from there. Don't be surprised if it adds up quickly, we as a nation are addicted to electricity too.

 

[budgetprepp-n]

I'm on a budget and I have been using two dual purpose lead acid deep cycle batteries like a boat trolling motor
would use. There rated @ 114 hrs @ 1 amp and I use the low amp draw SMD bulbs and that seems to work out
fine. I don't have my solar panels up yet (working on that now) but I do have the lights in every room and wired
up to the battery for electric outages and I use them all the time and they seem to last a long time and don't
loose any power from setting around until needed. One or two of these batteries will run low amp draw lights
and a few other things for a long time. And I would think a 100 watt panel would charge them up and keep them
topped off. It would be nice to have them ready in case of an emergency.
Go to eBay and check on the 12 volt SMD bulbs (no converter needed that way)
charging up AA batteries is no problem ,, Just pick up some yard lights they some come with rechargeable
AA batteries and they do a nice job keeping them charged. I have an old one I use to charge my AA for a Led flashlight

And I don't think that a 100 watt solar panel is pathetic that's 100 solar watts more than 99% of what most people have. Welcome to the 1% club