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The parents at Redodo, a battery producer, lately reached out to us as a result of they needed us to check their 12V 100Ah Mini LiFePO4 battery. After testing it and seeing the place it will match, I’m not solely going to suggest it to readers trying to substitute a lead-acid deep-cycle battery, but additionally to anyone who wants to avoid wasting area and weight for his or her 12-volt power storage wants.
The Downside This Battery Solves
Like most automobile and RV fanatics, I’ve been utilizing 12-volt batteries for a very long time. In the event you’ve ever had a automobile’s battery exit, you most likely know the wrestle. In the event you’re the “decide issues up and put them down” form of one that spends a variety of time on the fitness center (significantly if you happen to’re a man), it won’t look like a giant wrestle to elevate a battery out of a automobile’s engine bay, however if you happen to’re a not-so-muscular girl, it’s a more durable job to get that factor out and take it into AutoBone (Good —Ed.) or Sam’s Membership to check and/or substitute it.
This concern is a good greater problem if you happen to’re working with deep-cycle batteries, such as you’d use for a trolling motor or an RV. They’ve obtained extra storage and you may deplete them to decrease ranges, however they’re even greater and heavier. Even worse are issues like golf carts, telecom batteries, and different massive hunks of lead that enable you get some juice.
Worse, lead-acid deep cycles usually solely final a number of years at greatest. In vehicles, non-deep cycle batteries are likely to final 2–5 years (and typically much less time), whereas an RV battery would possibly must be changed yearly or two as a consequence of disuse between tenting journeys and holidays. Plus, all of those batteries must be maintained and saved in a ventilated area to keep away from hydrogen fuel explosions and acid getting in every single place if issues go terribly fallacious.
As EV and cleantech fanatics ought to know by now, battery expertise has improved quite a bit in any grownup lifetime. Heck, even since 2000, the dimensions, weight, and price of power storage have all dropped drastically, whereas sturdiness and ease of upkeep are all up. On high of what we’ve seen in EVs for the final decade or so, barely much less dense however way more sturdy LiFePO4 batteries (aka “LFP”) are additionally now on the scene.
Most firms providing a substitute for a deep-cycle battery use the benefits of newer battery expertise to offer us with extra power storage and longer lifespans, and within the case of LiFePO batteries, higher security. However, till I obtained this evaluate unit in, I hadn’t seen a producer attempt to give us better flexibility and smaller battery sizes.
Specs & Options
Yow will discover full specs and options on Redodo’s web site, so I’ll simply talk about a number of the highlights of what you’ll get in your $349 (as of this writing) if you happen to order one.
The most important factor is that this smaller battery from Redodo, which is a bit of smaller than a six pack of power drinks, provides you 100 amp-hours of storage (1.2 kWh). This is similar power storage {that a} typical lead-acid deep-cycle battery provides you, nevertheless it’s solely round half the dimensions of an RV battery. That is fairly spectacular, particularly for the worth.
The 12V 100Ah Mini LiFePO4 battery can also be fairly mild, has a foldable and detachable carrying strap/deal with, and has detachable posts. This makes not just for flexibility, however simple portability, and quite a bit much less wrestle for individuals who aren’t fitness center rats.
The final massive factor is that it likes working with others. You may hook as much as 4 batteries in parallel and in sequence, for a most of 48 volts and 400 amp-hours (@48 volts), or a 20 kWh battery system. Not all customers will wish to do that, however the possibility is there if you wish to construct one thing actually cool, both at house or on the highway.
My Testing
I don’t at the moment have an RV helpful to check the battery with, so I made a decision to place the battery to a good more durable check: hooking it as much as an influence inverter and pulling as much as 1000 watts from it. I had no downside drawing practically the total 1,000 watts to energy a window air conditioner with it. So, clearly, it really works effectively and received’t allow you to down with deep-cycle wants (which often aren’t as robust).
Attributable to some yard work, I wasn’t capable of get nice pictures, however I had no downside utilizing it with a 60-watt folding photo voltaic panel and Renogy cost controller. Simply make sure you get a cost controller that’s suitable with LiFePO batteries if you wish to cost one (or extra) with solar energy. The consumer guide has full particulars on what settings to make use of with a suitable cost controller.
Necessary notice! The most effective half: Redodo is providing a reduction to CleanTechnica readers while you use the code [CT4] for 4% OFF!
How It Can Double or Quadruple Your Vitality Storage
Having labored with deep-cycle batteries in RVs, what immediately got here to thoughts for me was simply how a lot power storage you may get away with right here. Not solely is the unit half the dimensions of a typical deep-cycle, however you possibly can safely run it down low as a substitute of getting to maintain it above 50% such as you would with a lead-acid battery.
Which means simply one among these batteries may give you twice as a lot usable storage as a lead-acid deep-cycle battery, however you will have room for 2 of those for each regular deep-cycle, so you possibly can quadruple your storage in the identical area and with much less weight. Many RV home battery banks use two or three deep-cycle batteries, and this Redodo Mini battery can serve in that capability simply as effectively. You may put as much as 4 of them in parallel to get a 400 amp-hour system at 12 volts, and if you need to use 24 or 48 volts, you possibly can go for much more storage if you happen to’re good about battery placement.
The Guide Makes It Simple
Lastly, one of many issues that I appreciated most concerning the 12V 100Ah Mini LiFePO4 battery is that it comes with first rate documentation. Not like what you would possibly get at a giant field retail retailer, they don’t assume you’re a battery skilled while you purchase one among these. The guide provides you the entire particulars on charging, discharging, connecting, and establishing a bigger battery system. They assume you don’t know a lot, so anyone can work with these (assuming you are taking cheap precautions with electrical energy).
Even higher, the guide and fast begin information are available a waterproof zipper pouch to be able to maintain the guide helpful after set up in an RV or different harsh setting. So, they actually did assume this product by means of, from begin to end. Don’t overlook: Redodo is providing a reduction to CleanTechnica readers while you use the code [CT4] for 4% OFF!
Photos courtesy Jennifer Sensiba / CleanTechnica.
This text is sponsored by Redodo. A 12V 100Ah Mini LiFePO4 battery was supplied to the creator freed from cost for the needs of this evaluate.
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