🎁 Free diagrams: cleversolarpower.com/free-diagrams 📖 My best-selling book on Amazon: cleversolarpower.com/off-grid-solar-power-simplified 💵Use coupon code: clever6 to get 6% discount for Litime batteries: cleversolarpower.com/litime (cheaper than amazon)
My first battery bank of 12 volt flooded lead acid marine batteries lasted me right at 5 years in an off-grid system that was almost always fully charged up and run down to about 12.1v on a daily basis, sometimes a little lower, 11.8v was the lowest I ever saw I think. Doing the math that comes to around 1850 Cycles. Going to 6 volt sealed lead acid batteries and not going under 12.4 volts, usually 12.6, will possibly get me about 3,650 Cycles I think, which is a much more favorable comparison to the lithium batteries. I think I would need two of those 100 amp hour lithium batteries to do what I'm having my 6 volt batteries do and that would be a $600 Vs 439 comparison. Will be interesting to see how long these Mighty Max batteries last. I've got two years on my oldest set. I think around 1 year on another set, and maybe 6 months on a 3rd. I'd like to see how long these latest lithium batteries actually last and if there's any catastrophic failures. I'm old, I don't trust new technology. 😅
Lead acid is simpler than lithium indeed. If you don't have the need to replace the batteries then sticking with lead acid can be ok too. Otherwise there needs to be some changes to the system. But long term, lithium will always win.
So which do you recommend do an off grid set up? My lead acid batteries lasted barely 1 year! And that were 12 in total! Battery companies are a fraudm
@@CustomerService-fv4sn Now that lithium batteries have dropped dramatically in price for some reason I think you should use them. Something I learned about lithium batteries is they're about 95% efficient when you discharge them while lead acid batteries are about 50%, which makes a huge difference in the power you get out of them. I very recently bought some lithium batteries to play around with and realized just how much more superior they are to lead acid batteries. I think a 100 amp hour lithium battery would outperform 2 100 amp hour lead acid batteries.
One might reconsider the last cost comparison and instead divide efficiency cost by the expected life cycles which shows LiFePO4 batteries cost 9 cents (USD) per cycle where AGM Lead-Acid batteries cost 45 (USD) cents per cycle... cost/cycles=cost per cycle
You should do a comparison of industrial flooded lead acid compared to Lifepo4. Over 2000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge, over 4500 cycles at 50%. Much better for off grid applications
Exactly, and there are decades of data proving LA tec. How many 16 year old off grid lithium setups are there ? Electric vehicles are terminally failing much earlier than originally claimed. LA batteries are entirely recycled Lithium tec is much more difficult to mine, assemble, store, transport, and reclaim.
This is the best video on battery comparism , battery parameters in solar. I was trying to differentiate c rate and dod, but this video have clear it in simple clear language
Got a solar inverter with 1kw panels and lead-acid battery. Can I just drop-in replace lead-acid with 48v LiFePO4 battery ? Which all parameter of the inverter/charging unit should we look for for compatibility check ? Thanks
For deep cycle use running my 1500w inverter, the higher current draw over a longer period of time, the lithium battery wins over lead acid. The lead acid battery you can get a voltage drop with higher currents and the inverter then shuts down. I was amazed how good lithium performs for deep cycle use compared to lead acid. For smaller loads the lead acid can be fine though.
Actually a 12V 100Ah lead acid is only $20 cheaper than a 12V 100Ah lithium battery now. So for $20 extra, you get double the capacity. Buying lithium is a no-brainer.
Lifepo4 can't even compared with lead acid, i got 4 new lead acid in my solar system and after i put Lifepo4 i been much more happier and working very nice the system, not even close to lead acid.
The problem with the "up to 99% efficiency" in LiFePO batteries, is that it would be much more interesting to know the efficiency in an actual use case. When you charge a 51 V battery at 57.4 V, it makes me wonder where that missing 6 V is going. If your inverter uses 48 V, you have a 16% Voltage drop in your battery cycle. I have a feeling LiFePO is not more efficient than lead-acid in a real use case.
The 6V is not gone because power = voltage x current. The inverter doesn't use 48v, it's using the voltage within it's input range. Loss in a battery is heat, lithium batteries do not heat up during charge and discharge because they have such high c rate. Unlike lead acid.
@@cleversolarpower No, if you produce 57.4 V output voltage and a certain amount of amps at your charge controller, the battery will charge at 51.4 V and that same amount of amps. There is no inverter in between the charge controller and the battery. That 6 V is turned into heat. If Lithium batteries do not heat up due to charging and discharging then you should tell the car manufacturers that they are wasting time and resources putting liquid cooling into their lithium (incl. LFP) batteries.
Im starting to lean towards lithium as days go by. My clients hardly know how to maintain lead acid batteries. But they know how to use a smart phone and its easy to connect to the bms.
I have been using 12 6volt lead acid batteries til 2 of then died and I am currently still using 8 of them. I am looking to replace them with lifepo4 batteries and I think I am able to use just 4 lifepo4 batteries to do the same work .
Yes, 12V 100Ah lead acid is the same as 12V 50Ah lithium, but with more advantages. Check my video 'Replace Lead Acid Battery With Lithium' for a guide on how to exchange them.
LiFePo4 can be very, very expensive... Have you heard about thermal runaway? A small defect in one cell can burn down your complete house. Such fires ae extremely hot and can reach 2300 °C, which can easily destroy buildings with steel reinforced concrete. A lithium battery does NOT need oxygen to burn. LiFePo4 batteries can even burn while fully imerged in water, it already happened many times. In addition to that, LiFePo4 batteries emit very large amounts of hydrogen while in thermal runaway. This has already caused many explosions of cars and homes. In China, there are more than 20,000 cars with lithium battery that burn and/or explode every year! Lead-acid on the other hand are extremely safe.
@@cleversolarpower I know they're different. LiFePo4 have a much lower risk to catch fire, but they're much more prone to explosions because of the massive hydrogen degasing.
you have wrong facts. People use deep cycle lead acid batteries for solar. Which can be used way more than 50%. Also the lifespan and cycles. Lead is 3-5 years, Lithium is 9-13 years. its not 5x. Lithium is anywhere between 3x and 5x. But youre biased in your video and used examples of worst performing lead acid battery and a best performing well maintained lithium battery.
LiFePO4 batteries are as dangerous than any other lithium batteries. There is a an article from PV-magazine based on research in the UK that show the issue is more complex than often stated. Especially by advocates of Lithium batteries. I will never use those kind of batteries. I stick to Lead-acid.
@ There is an article on ScienceDirect about it. The matter is more complicated than that. Here a part of the conclusion (but I suggest you read the whole article): While NMC batteries release more gas than LFP, LFP batteries are significantly more toxic than NMC ones in absolute terms. Toxicity varies with SOC, for NMC batteries the contaminated volume doubles from 0% to 100% SOC while for LFP in halves. The composition of off-gas on average is very similar between NMC and LFP cells, but LFP batteries have greater H2 content while NMC batteries have a greater CO content. To assess the fire hazard the LFL limit of the off-gasses is compared. The LFL for LFP and NMC are 6.2% and 7.9% (in an inert atmosphere) respectively. Given the LFL and the median off-gas volumes produced, LFP cells breach the LFL in a volume 18% smaller than NMC batteries. Hence LFP presents a greater flammability hazard even though they show less occurrence of flames in cell TR tests.
No, you are mistaken. You are talking about Li-ion batteries which are found in phones and electric bikes/kick scooters. LiFePO4 swells when overcharged and does not produce a flame when punctured.
@@cleversolarpower I haven't heard any of this before, do you know why they don't put these non exploding lithium batteries in phones, scooters, electric cars, and such?
🎁 Free diagrams: cleversolarpower.com/free-diagrams
📖 My best-selling book on Amazon: cleversolarpower.com/off-grid-solar-power-simplified
💵Use coupon code: clever6 to get 6% discount for Litime batteries: cleversolarpower.com/litime (cheaper than amazon)
My first battery bank of 12 volt flooded lead acid marine batteries lasted me right at 5 years in an off-grid system that was almost always fully charged up and run down to about 12.1v on a daily basis, sometimes a little lower, 11.8v was the lowest I ever saw I think. Doing the math that comes to around 1850 Cycles. Going to 6 volt sealed lead acid batteries and not going under 12.4 volts, usually 12.6, will possibly get me about 3,650 Cycles I think, which is a much more favorable comparison to the lithium batteries. I think I would need two of those 100 amp hour lithium batteries to do what I'm having my 6 volt batteries do and that would be a $600 Vs 439 comparison. Will be interesting to see how long these Mighty Max batteries last. I've got two years on my oldest set. I think around 1 year on another set, and maybe 6 months on a 3rd. I'd like to see how long these latest lithium batteries actually last and if there's any catastrophic failures. I'm old, I don't trust new technology. 😅
Lead acid is simpler than lithium indeed. If you don't have the need to replace the batteries then sticking with lead acid can be ok too. Otherwise there needs to be some changes to the system. But long term, lithium will always win.
So which do you recommend do an off grid set up? My lead acid batteries lasted barely 1 year! And that were 12 in total! Battery companies are a fraudm
@@CustomerService-fv4sn Now that lithium batteries have dropped dramatically in price for some reason I think you should use them. Something I learned about lithium batteries is they're about 95% efficient when you discharge them while lead acid batteries are about 50%, which makes a huge difference in the power you get out of them. I very recently bought some lithium batteries to play around with and realized just how much more superior they are to lead acid batteries. I think a 100 amp hour lithium battery would outperform 2 100 amp hour lead acid batteries.
@@kevinward7498 Thank you so much for your advice!
This is really interesting. Thank you. I’ll share it on my solar group.
Thanks for sharing!
One might reconsider the last cost comparison and instead divide efficiency cost by the expected life cycles which shows LiFePO4 batteries cost 9 cents (USD) per cycle where AGM Lead-Acid batteries cost 45 (USD) cents per cycle...
cost/cycles=cost per cycle
Great addition, thanks! Formulas: lead-acid $488/1000=$0.48 and LiFePO4 $466/5000=$0.9
You should do a comparison of industrial flooded lead acid compared to Lifepo4. Over 2000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge, over 4500 cycles at 50%. Much better for off grid applications
Exactly, and there are decades of data proving LA tec.
How many 16 year old off grid lithium setups are there ?
Electric vehicles are terminally failing much earlier than originally claimed.
LA batteries are entirely recycled
Lithium tec is much more difficult to mine, assemble, store, transport, and reclaim.
Well put together and you went at a perfect speed! Thank you🎉
This is the best video on battery comparism , battery parameters in solar. I was trying to differentiate c rate and dod, but this video have clear it in simple clear language
Now lithium is even cheaper. $180 for renogy AGM 12V 100Ah, and $200 for litime 12V 100Ah, overall lithium is 14 times cheaper in the long run.
I have thoroughly enjoyed all the videos that I've watched. Great job, and thank you!!!
Thank you!
I'd rather order your book, so I did. Thank you for the videos.
The LiTime 12.8 V 100Ah group 24 bluetooth LiFe PO4 lithium Deep blue is priced @ LiTime for 229.99 is this the one you are using?
The download of the plans don't work but still a good video.
Got a solar inverter with 1kw panels and lead-acid battery. Can I just drop-in replace lead-acid with 48v LiFePO4 battery ? Which all parameter of the inverter/charging unit should we look for for compatibility check ? Thanks
Unlikely, unless your lead setup was 48v and your solar charge controller support lithium which has different charging parameters.
Or this one... LiTime 12V 100 Ah group 24 LiFePO4 lithium Battery 199.99 at LiTime? What's the difference?
Great explanation!
Subscribed! ❤
Welcome aboard!
For deep cycle use running my 1500w inverter, the higher current draw over a longer period of time, the lithium battery wins over lead acid. The lead acid battery you can get a voltage drop with higher currents and the inverter then shuts down. I was amazed how good lithium performs for deep cycle use compared to lead acid. For smaller loads the lead acid can be fine though.
And they are almost the same price!
nice explained.
Glad you liked it!
this is good i am really enjoying
The initial cost is often the most expensive part. People aim to start their systems and other projects with lower or more affordable expenses.?
Actually a 12V 100Ah lead acid is only $20 cheaper than a 12V 100Ah lithium battery now. So for $20 extra, you get double the capacity. Buying lithium is a no-brainer.
Lifepo4 can't even compared with lead acid, i got 4 new lead acid in my solar system and after i put Lifepo4 i been much more happier and working very nice the system, not even close to lead acid.
I agree.
I agree I went lithium and I use the power I need without having to worry about power anymore
I've been disappointed by lead acid batteries they don't last longer, now working towards buying a lithium battery, maybe I will be happier.
Checkout my video about replacing lead-acid with lithium. It's not just replacing them.
The problem with the "up to 99% efficiency" in LiFePO batteries, is that it would be much more interesting to know the efficiency in an actual use case. When you charge a 51 V battery at 57.4 V, it makes me wonder where that missing 6 V is going. If your inverter uses 48 V, you have a 16% Voltage drop in your battery cycle. I have a feeling LiFePO is not more efficient than lead-acid in a real use case.
The 6V is not gone because power = voltage x current. The inverter doesn't use 48v, it's using the voltage within it's input range. Loss in a battery is heat, lithium batteries do not heat up during charge and discharge because they have such high c rate. Unlike lead acid.
@@cleversolarpower No, if you produce 57.4 V output voltage and a certain amount of amps at your charge controller, the battery will charge at 51.4 V and that same amount of amps. There is no inverter in between the charge controller and the battery. That 6 V is turned into heat.
If Lithium batteries do not heat up due to charging and discharging then you should tell the car manufacturers that they are wasting time and resources putting liquid cooling into their lithium (incl. LFP) batteries.
Im starting to lean towards lithium as days go by. My clients hardly know how to maintain lead acid batteries. But they know how to use a smart phone and its easy to connect to the bms.
Lithium batteries don't need maintenance as long as there are no BMS problems ;)
many go lithium now
❤❤❤❤❤
I have been using 12 6volt lead acid batteries til 2 of then died and I am currently still using 8 of them.
I am looking to replace them with lifepo4 batteries and I think I am able to use just 4 lifepo4 batteries to do the same work .
Yes, 12V 100Ah lead acid is the same as 12V 50Ah lithium, but with more advantages. Check my video 'Replace Lead Acid Battery With Lithium' for a guide on how to exchange them.
@cleversolarpower Thank you very much, I will check it out .
LiFePo4 can be very, very expensive...
Have you heard about thermal runaway? A small defect in one cell can burn down your complete house. Such fires ae extremely hot and can reach 2300 °C, which can easily destroy buildings with steel reinforced concrete. A lithium battery does NOT need oxygen to burn. LiFePo4 batteries can even burn while fully imerged in water, it already happened many times. In addition to that, LiFePo4 batteries emit very large amounts of hydrogen while in thermal runaway. This has already caused many explosions of cars and homes.
In China, there are more than 20,000 cars with lithium battery that burn and/or explode every year!
Lead-acid on the other hand are extremely safe.
I suggest you do more research about the difference between lithium-ion and LiFePO4. They are both very different.
@@cleversolarpower I know they're different. LiFePo4 have a much lower risk to catch fire, but they're much more prone to explosions because of the massive hydrogen degasing.
Led Acid can be fix ......
you have wrong facts. People use deep cycle lead acid batteries for solar. Which can be used way more than 50%. Also the lifespan and cycles. Lead is 3-5 years, Lithium is 9-13 years. its not 5x. Lithium is anywhere between 3x and 5x. But youre biased in your video and used examples of worst performing lead acid battery and a best performing well maintained lithium battery.
80% dod for lithium is just as conservative which evens out the comparison with 50% dod lead
LiFePO4 batteries are as dangerous than any other lithium batteries. There is a an article from PV-magazine based on research in the UK that show the issue is more complex than often stated. Especially by advocates of Lithium batteries. I will never use those kind of batteries. I stick to Lead-acid.
You are misinformed. You are confusing NMC or li-poly with LiFePO4. The latter is very safe, even safer than lead-acid.
@ There is an article on ScienceDirect about it. The matter is more complicated than that. Here a part of the conclusion (but I suggest you read the whole article): While NMC batteries release more gas than LFP, LFP batteries are significantly more toxic than NMC ones in absolute terms. Toxicity varies with SOC, for NMC batteries the contaminated volume doubles from 0% to 100% SOC while for LFP in halves. The composition of off-gas on average is very similar between NMC and LFP cells, but LFP batteries have greater H2 content while NMC batteries have a greater CO content. To assess the fire hazard the LFL limit of the off-gasses is compared. The LFL for LFP and NMC are 6.2% and 7.9% (in an inert atmosphere) respectively. Given the LFL and the median off-gas volumes produced, LFP cells breach the LFL in a volume 18% smaller than NMC batteries. Hence LFP presents a greater flammability hazard even though they show less occurrence of flames in cell TR tests.
Lol li fe po4 explode
No, you are mistaken. You are talking about Li-ion batteries which are found in phones and electric bikes/kick scooters. LiFePO4 swells when overcharged and does not produce a flame when punctured.
@@cleversolarpower thank you for that.
@@cleversolarpower I am trying to slowly amass solar panels and batteries. One every other month.
So far I have 2 100 a panels and 1 battery.
@@cleversolarpower I haven't heard any of this before, do you know why they don't put these non exploding lithium batteries in phones, scooters, electric cars, and such?
@@kevinward7498 Because lithium-ion is more suited for fast charging and discharging amongst others. Every battery type has it's designed purpose.
life cycles can be inverted, efficency of lithium batteries is not such a good
Are you a wizard that can reverse cycles? 😉