AGM vs LiFePO4 batteries for solar - video

[papaof2]

This guy presents some very well-reasoned and documented cost vs useful life vs safety vs recycling arguments in the lithium versus lead-acid debate. This is part 2 of 2 but you shouldn't have a problem getting up to speed with it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzWQCjYXpfU

For the foreseeable future, cost alone will likely have me staying with AGM batteries. In 10 years there may be a definite winner in the LiFePO4 vs Lithium Titanate (LTO) vs the-next-version-of-lithium competition but I may not be moving 70lb batteries then. Or could be in one of Patience's financial restarts where any amount of "free" power is huge.

[9idrr]

Aren't we all waitin' for that "breakthrough" in battery technology that's been just around the corner since the Nineties... or was it the Eighties... maybe the Seventies...?

[papaof2]

Li-Poly has the highest power-to-weight ration but does go up in flames. Lithium Ion is next. LiFePO4 is a near-dropin-replacement for a standard (12, 24, 48 volt) lead-acid battery. LTO (Lithium Titanate) has the potential to have the highest number of charge/discharge cycles. However, the ancient Edison (NiFe) cells have the longest life in service years - dump the electrolyte, rinse out the battery, add new working fluid and youi're good for another 20-50 years. They do have some limitations in the power-to-weight ratio, plus limits on charge currents and discharge rates.