Lithuim vs Flooded batteries

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  • scheek
    Solar Fanatic
    • Sep 2009
    • 136

    Lithuim vs Flooded batteries

    I've had my off-grid solar system for 10 years. Replaced 900ah flooded battery bank with 400ah lithium. I was told they were comparable. I'm not sure. Batteries go into LBCO. I have a 24v Magnum inverter. Not sure to add 2 more batteries to get over the hump. I was under the impression that I could run the L. batteries much lower in voltage than a flooded battery. Whereas, LBCO on Flooded was about 22V , I was thinking I could run the lithium down to about 11v. Advice would help.
  • SunEagle
    Super Moderator
    • Oct 2012
    • 15126

    #2
    Each manufacturer of Li chemistry batteries state that you should be able to discharge them further then Lead chemistry. While I am not sure of what voltage level that is IMO Li chemistry batteries should provide more power the Lead chemistry as well as additional cycles.

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    • Bala
      Solar Fanatic
      • Dec 2010
      • 715

      #3
      Google search a lithium battery Soc chart.

      You will see that you can not run the voltage as low as lead but you can use more capacity without harm.

      Do you have a monitoring system, shunt meter etc?

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      • Calsun
        Member
        • Oct 2022
        • 91

        #4
        Flooded lead acid are the least expensive by a wide margin. The advantage of the lithium is much faster charging rates which can make a big difference in getting the batteries to 100% SOC when daylight hours are not sufficient. Lead acid are going to be larger and heavier for a given Watt hour of capacity.

        With my motorhome I replaced FLAT batteries with lithium to maximize the recharging of the house batteries during the day and minimizing my reliance on the RV's diesel generator.

        With a motorhome with space for only two 100Ah batteries the fact that I could only discharge them by 50% without damage meant the capacity was 100Ah in total. With the lithium batteries I could discharge them 90% with no damage and so had 180Ah available.

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        • scheek
          Solar Fanatic
          • Sep 2009
          • 136

          #5
          Thanks for your responses. I went on and added 2 more batteries and the panels seem to handle them. Charge is pretty rapid on sunny days.

          I do have another question in regard to heating the area where the batteries are located, for temps in central Mississippi dip below 29 degrees in the winter many days and nights. I've read that Li batteries are subject to damage if temps get to low. My batteries are located in a enclosed separate non-heated storage building. I build a 2x4 structure over them and placed a tarp over that and put a remote temp plug to turn on with temp below 36 degrees and shut off at 55 degrees found on Amazon. I am using a 75 watt light bulb to heat the small tent area. On my Magnum inverter monitor I see that with this small load the inverter shows 2amps load. I am surprised by the amount of amps bc the light only pulls .6amps, so I guess the inverter is pulling more than the bulb. I am surprised as well how fast it pulled the batteries down on cloudy cold days. When the voltages goes below the low cut off the Inverter shuts off. So I am in a spot where I really need to heat in another way. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

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