Battery Cycle Life Ratings [RE-wrenches]

[Ray Walters]

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Hi All;

First, thanks Pat, that's the kind of field info us wrenches can use.
Now onto a completely different and hopefully more list worthy subject: 
comparing various battery cycle life ratings.
I know that the golf cart batteries have mostly all been tested by BCI. So 
a TrojanT105 will last 750 cycles at 100%DOD vs an Exide which will only go 
475 cycles. This is good, easy to compare, independent test info.
My problem is I'm trying to compare the Rolls 5000 batteries to IBE to HUP1 
to Absolyte, etc. I have info from the various manufacturers, but its not 
referenced to any independent tests. Who's watching over this to make sure 
the claims are true? The Rolls and HUP1 are claiming over 2000 cycles at 
80%DOD, while the IBE is only about 1500 cycles. Is this valid? Or are 
Rolls and Yuasa using different test parameters? The same goes for storage 
capacity: the Rolls 4000 (s530) has an amazing 530 AH at the 100 hr 
discharge rate compared to a TrojanL16H with only 438AH. At a 20 hr rate 
they're almost identical. Is this a real difference due to a better 
Puekert's exponent for the Rolls, or is it partisan testing?
These big batteries are a very expensive investment for the customer, and 
we won't really know for years which is the better battery. I want to steer 
my customers to the best value based on real numbers. I've been breaking it 
all down to Cost per KWH. I figure KWH by multiplying AH * V * Cycles * 
%DOD. A T105 costs about 7 cents/ KWH, while an L16 runs about 15 cents/ 
KWH. The big batteries are falling between 9 cents to 14 cents/ KWH. 
Obviously this study is total bull****, if the cycle life and Amp Hour 
numbers aren't real.

Your comments and criticisms are always welcome,


Ray Walters
ray at solarray.com
President, SolarRay, Inc.
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
BS Mechanical Engineering, UT Austin 88
Returned US Peace Corps Volunteer 

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