Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm looking for recommendations regarding brand names/makes of 24 volt batteries to be used for electrical power storage in remote (African bush) environments. I need batteries that are reliable and durable. We will be using a combination of wind turbine generation and solar power generation to feed the batteries and we are still debating the virtues of a 48 Volt versus 12 volt system. Due to the weight and transport difficulties, I need the longest lasting, most durable batteries possible. Your thoughts?

 

Deep cycle marine batteries are hard to beat. They are designed for continuous current draw such as would be used with a small trolling motor by a fisherman. The standard battery comes in a 12V size. Connecting them in series gives you multiples of 12V for voltage.

A single unit powers my 100W Amateur Radio Transmitter for about 10 hours. They still need to be recharged from a DC source.

 

In addition to the points above, power is a product of volts and amps. The more voltage, the fewer amps, and the lighter the conductor. That may have some bearing on your costs, as copper is expensive these days. I am paying 3 - 4 times for wire above what I did several years ago.

 

Maybe the OP is not in Africa anymore. In four years he had time to move if he wanted so...

 

Make sure that there is an auto-disconnect device to prevent over-discharge to below about 50% because that seriously limits the number of charge cycles.

Also temperature--I have heard of "burying" batteries in an enclosure below ground level to keep them cooler and thus increase capacity and life--venting necessary.

Also batteries have a negative temperature coefficient--temperature compensation or at least charge voltage readjustment is required to prevent overcharge when the ambient temp is high.

Properly sized and properly charged and properly set up system should yield about a 10 year battery life.

 

This thread is over 3 years old now. I am thinking rain1224 is a spammer. Lots of nonsense responses to old threads.

 

Seems so. He hasn't slipped yet, though.