[RE-wrenches] Surrette L-16 battereis

[Howie Michaelson]

While I have no experience with HUP, I do have many years of experience
with Rolls/Surrette.  They are a robust battery, and in my opinion superior
to Trojan and other mid-line flavors. I am not as adamant about staying
away from L16s as Allan, although I'd whole-heartedly agree with keeping to
one string wherever possible, and 2 at most.

Of course, going to the 2-volt batteries almost always allows for single
strings, and give you a much more robust battery, and are often the right
choice even for budget conscious clients.  However, they are a much larger
investment and take a much more robust charging system.  Sometimes it makes
sense to start a new off-gridder on a set of less expensive "training"
batteries, depending on your assessment of their learning curve,
motivation, and budget.

As with all batteries, there are occasional cell failures, likely
attributable to manu defects.  But I've found with Rolls, this is less
common (except with the T12250 12-volt batteries which I have seen a
significant failure rate over with the years).  And I have never had
trouble getting batteries covered under warranty from them if I determine
that the failure was not likely operator error.  But this is probably
dependent upon having a good, trusting relationship with ones supplier,
which I've always had with RAE Battery.
Howie

*Howie Michaelson*
*NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™*
Sun Catcher, LLC
Renewable Energy Systems Sales and Service
VT Solar Electric Incentive Partner
802-272-0004

On Tue, Dec 15, 2015 at 12:37 PM, Allan Sindelar <allan at sindelarsolar.com>
wrote:

> Drake,
> Your request is missing specifics so my answer can only be generic. Get
> away from all L16s. Go to one string of industrial cells. There are
> numerous well-respected brands. I would put HUPs at about the top.
> www.hupsolarone.com. Spend some time on this website and it will become
> more clear.
> Allan
>
> *Allan Sindelar*
> <allan at sindelarsolar.com>allan at sindelarsolar.com
> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional
> NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
> New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
> Founder (Retired), Positive Energy, Inc.
> *505 780-2738 <505%20780-2738> cell*
>
>
> On 12/15/2015 9:07 AM, Drake wrote:
>
> Hello Wrenches,
>
> Even after my clients have learned to maintain their batteries properly,
> the Trojan L-16 batteries continue to crater, one cell at a time. One
> client is considering spending $12,000 on a nickel - iron battery bank he
> found on the web. This seems like a ridiculously large investment, but he
> is feeling desperate. We urgently need another option from the Trojan L-16s.
>
> How are the Surrette L-16s holding up? Would you recommend them as worth
> the extra investment?
>
> What is the best battery to use in an off grid system these days.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Drake
>
> Drake Chamberlin
>
>
>
>
>
> *Athens Electric LLC OH License 44810 CO License 3773 NABCEP Certified
> Solar PV 740-448-7328 <740-448-7328> *http://athens-electric.com/
>
>
> <https://www.avast.com/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> This
> email has been sent from a virus-free computer protected by Avast.
> www.avast.com
> <https://www.avast.com/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change listserver email address & settings:http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>
> List rules & etiquette:www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out or update participant bios:www.members.re-wrenches.org
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List-Archive:
> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out or update participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20151215/464fa287/attachment-0002.html>