[RE-wrenches] Concorde (was Sealed Batteries)

Mon Oct 19 09:19:15 PDT 2009

Tommy and Wrenches,

We have one off-grid customer who is well into his seventies. He has an
old/upgraded 12V system, originally installed by Windy in the late 1980s.
(He’s the only customer we care for who is still using his original basic
Trace 1512 – the original black box from 1988, not the DR1512 – inverter;
“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.) The system uses about 800W of mixed
panels, an FM60 and a DC generator with a Mark VI Field Controller from the
old days of Home Power homebrew articles. He does not want battery
maintenance in his life.

After going through several sets of other batteries, including the recycled
GNB Absolyte IIs that Northwest Energy Storage offered in the late 1990s, we
installed four Concorde PVX-2580s (12V, 258 A/hr @24 hr. rate) in parallel
for him in April 2004. They continue to work well 6½ years later, in daily
home use year-round.

He also has a rental house next door, with 450W of PV, a DR2424 and SB50
that we installed in 2000. This system has two of the same Concorde
PVX-2580s in series, for 255 A/hr at 24V. These batteries also continue to
perform well after nearly ten years of operation. (I will talk with my
customer about having the tenant do a simple amp-hour load test of remaining
functional capacity; if I get useful information, I’ll post it here.)

Both systems have E-Meters, and both the owner and the stable, long-term
tenant know how to use the basic functions to live within their energy
budgets, so I am sure that this has contributed to consistent good
performance.

Like Warren of NAW&S, we have never had a failure of a Concorde, other than
user error.

Allan Sindelar

Allan at positiveenergysolar.com

NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer

EE98J Journeyman Electrician

Positive Energy, Inc.

3201 Calle Marie

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507

505 424-1112

www.PositiveEnergySolar.com <http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/> 

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Wind-sun.com
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 10:53 AM

Of all the AGM batteries that we have sold in the past, the only ones we
would recommend for critical applications are the Concorde PVX series. Been
selling them for over 10 years and have never had a single warranty claim.

............................................................................
......................
Northern Arizona Wind & Sun - Electricity From The Sun Since 1979
Solar Discussion Forum: http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/
............................................................................
......................

----- Original Message ----- 

From: tom jacoby <mailto:jacoby_tom at hotmail.com>  

Hey Daryl, 

We plan/design for 30% DOD, to be recharged by the PV on a daily basis, with
limited generator run time (as needed). We understand the benefits of
flooded batteries, but don't always have the option due to the remote nature
of several of our projects, and are thus seeking the best sealed batteries.

Thanks again,

Tommy

> From: daryl_solar at yahoo.com
> 
> hi tom
> give us some information on the charge/discharge cycle the batteries will
experiance. 
> 
> For long life i like flooded batteries, and you can access the electrolite
to determine SOC i like AGM over gel, but have little experiance with
either. my experiance is the agm last longer than gel, and nither will last
as long as flooded. i have 10 year flooded, and they are still working, and
I CAN NOT remember sealed over 3 years ( AGM)
> Darryl, 
> 
> --- On Thu, 10/15/09, tom jacoby <jacoby_tom at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > From: tom jacoby <jacoby_tom at hotmail.com>
> > 
> > Hello,
> > SELF is considering new battery options for our off-grid
> > projects (primarily health centers in Africa at this
> > time). For the purpose of this post, assume an average
> > 48V 500Ah battery bank. We prefer sealed batteries
> > because maintenance/watering is not always available. 
> > 
> > Does anyone have any data or experience for with the
> > following batteries? (To date we have been using the
> > Deka MKs). Any real-world data you have on cycle life
> > vs. depth of discharge would be great.
> > 
> > 1. Universal Power Group (UPG) AGMs (i.e. UB 8D)
> > 
> > 2. Power Battery PSG/AG product line (i.e. PSG-12255FT)
> > 
> > 3. Lifeline (i.e. 8D or L16)4. Surrette AGMs
> > 
> > I am welcome to other suggestions as well.
> > 
> > 
> > Thanks in advance,

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