Generating Free Energy from Solar Batteries

If you are planning to set up an off the grid solar power generator system which will provide you power even when the sun is not available, then you will need solar batteries. An off the grid solar power generation system would be highly dependent on a battery bank made up of solar batteries that will need to kick in at nights and on overcast days.

Solar batteries are specific types of batteries that are used for off the grid solar power generator systems as against using normal car batteries. The primary difference between solar batteries and normal car batteries is what they are designed to do.

Car batteries are primarily designed to provide large power bursts for short periods of time before they need to be recharged as against solar batteries that need to be consistent and stable for extended periods of time. If you use car batteries in your battery bank then it is more than likely that within six months you will have to start replacing batteries in the bank.

Six months is the average and it can even go as low as 3 months. A friend of mine, owing to time constraints, did not go for solar batteries and paid for it with time and money after just six months of consistent use.

Solar batteries need to be able to provide power for long periods especially if they are fitted to off the grid power generation systems. This longer cycle of discharge and recharge is the main reason why solar batteries are often also referred to as deep cycle batteries.

Primarily, there are two ways of categorizing solar batteries.

Flooded Solar Batteries

Flooded batteries are those batteries that depend on liquid electrolytes instead of solid or semi solid electrolytes. The main flaw with these types of batteries is the fact that they require constant maintenance i.e. the addition of fluid.

These batteries are also the cheapest available deep cycle batteries but lose out against other types because of their gaseous emissions which can be dangerous. Furthermore, these batteries are also the most durable solar batteries.

There is only one type of flooded solar battery. It is known as the flooded lead acid solar battery. Incidentally, this is the variant that I use mainly because of their extended life span.

Sealed Solar Batteries

These are batteries that are not based on liquid electrolytes but utilize either gel or solid electrolytes. The biggest advantage with these batteries is that they can be placed in any position and orientation and hence save up on space.

However, the flaws of these solar batteries are that they do not last as long as flooded lead acid batteries and are also much more expensive.

There are two types of sealed batteries. The following are their descriptions.

Sealed Gel Deep Cycle Batteries

These are solar batteries that use silica to immobilize the acid. Furthermore, the release of gases with these batteries is much lower than flooded batteries.

AGM Deep Cycle Batteries

These are solar batteries that use absorbed glass mat between the lead plates. The electrolyte is immobilized by the absorbed glass mat.