DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES

Hello Steemians, Good to write here once again after a short while from my last post on Photovoltaic Module
Today's article will be on Batteries as it's one of the major components of the Solar Power system

Enjoy reading through.... Here we go:

A battery generally as defined by Oxford dictionaries is a container consisting of one ore more cells which chemical energy is converted into electricity and used as a source of power.

Trust we all have an idea of what batteries are, we find batteries in our mobile phones, used in mobile phone power banks, in vehicles and found at bigger sizes in domestic, commercial and industrial use.

Batteries are majorly considered to be of primary and secondary types.
Primary batteries are non-rechargeble batteries, in which the stored energy is inherently present in the chemical substance. Example of these batteries include Leclnche cell, Daniel call, alkaline manganese, Zinc- chloride cell etc. while secondary batteries are the rechargeable type in which energy is induced in the chemical substances by the application of an external source. Examples of these include Lead-acid batteries, nickel-iron batteries, lithium ion battery etc.

This article thereby focuses on Deep cycle batteries, a secondary type of batteries made up of lead-acid composition. Generally, secondary batteries are classified based on their application.

A deep cycle battery is a type of Lead-acid battery majorly designed to be regularly discharged by using most of it's capacity.

Generally, Lead-acid battery is made up electrolyte consisting of sulphuric acid and plates made of lead to store charges(electron) by chemical process. Lead-acid batteries stores large amount of power and are designed to be cycled (discharged & recharged) for quite a large number of times.

Unlike the Starting Lighting & ignition (SLI) batteries used for vehicle start-ups which a re majorly designed to deliver a burst of current for a short time, Deep cycle batteries are capable of providing power at a steady or constant rate over a long period of time with both batteries having their structural difference in the battery plate.

Not to forget in an hurry, Deep Cycles batteries are the type of batteries suitable for solar power system technology and deep cycle application for commercial and industrial use. This is because Deep Cycle batteries are capable of storing large amount of energy, they can be deeply discharged , accommodates repeated charging, gives a great run time and an excellent cycling capacity..These constitutes the basic features of Deep Cycle batteries.

Deep Cycle batteries falls in two major technology; The flooded and and Valve-regulated Lead-acid (VRLA)

'FLOODED' as the name implies is the deep cycle technology made by having its plate totally submerged in electrolyte. It has the electrolyte in an unsealed container, gas produced are discharged to the environment. Thereby, this types of batteries comes with the responsibility of keeping it upright and placed in a well ventilated area to ensure safe discharge of hydrogen gas produced during charging.

Flooded battery have the shortcoming of being monitored for electrolyte level which must always be above the tops of the plate, so this requires regular maintenance of flooded batteries (depending on usage) by inspection of the level of electrolytes and topping up with distilled water by an expert though..

On the other hand, VRLA, one i'd call the improved type of liquid electrolyte batteries. As the name also suggest, these types of batteries are sealed Lead-acid batteries equiped with a safety pressure-relief valve which activates when battery starts to build up pressure of hydrogen gas during charging.

VRLA batteries as it seems are not permanently sealed but are designed to be maintenance-free.

Then You'd ask which of the two major types of Deep cycle batteries is more suitable for use in Solar technology and other applications...Let's have some compare and contrast

Both types of batteries are very good technology for deep cycle application as both holds a very good rate of charge.
Flooded batteries tends to have longer life compared to VRLA batteries if thoroughly maintained, relatively inexpensive but emits corrosive fumes which is hazardous and need an expert in handling..On the other hand, VRLA are maintenance-free, spill-free, user friendly and can be installed in any orientation.

Deep cycle batteries should be procured as per which is suitable for the need and its convinience.

However, it is not advised to combine Flooded and VRLA batteries for use as they will have different internal construction resulting in different internal resistance and different recharging and dischaing rate.

BATTERY MAINTENANCE

Battery maintenance is majorly done on flooded battery system. Battery maintenance should be a routine action to be carried out on installed battery bank..

During maintenance action, the batteries with low level of electrolyte are to be topped with distilled water and left for some hours to charge up in order for the electrolyte to regain normal level of electrolyte chemical concentration.
One of the key parameters of battery operation is the specific gravity of the electrolyte.

Specific gravity is the ratio of a solution to a weight of an equal volume of water at standard temperature.

Specific gravity test is used as an indicator of the state of charge of a battery. An hydrometer is used to measure the specific gravity of the electrolyte solution of a battery cell.

The specific gravity of a flooded lead-acid battery should be periodically checked. If the specific gravity becomes more than 1.3, the electrolyte may be over acidic and can damage the plates and if the specific gravity is less than 1.1, the plates can be hydrated.

Another way of way of testing for battery is the use of load tester which may be done for sealed batteries in which the specific gravity cannot be tested. Load test removes amps from the battery much like starting an engine would. A battery that maintains a slight difference in voltage or keeps the same value of voltage while on load for a period of time implies that the battery is in a good condition. Digital voltmeter is used in reading battery voltage. In the case of sealed batteries, a voltage reading of 10.5volt range on a charged battery typically indicates a shorted cell. A major way of testing maintenance free battery such as sealed batteries is the voltmeter testing and load test.

BATTERY CAPACITY AND RATING

The capacity of a battery is the amount of charge available expressed in ampere-hours (AH). Battery capacity is a measure of energy that a battery can store and deliver to a load.

Battery capacity is determined by how much a battery can deliver over an industry standard period of time of 20-hour rate i.e. how many amperes of current the battery can deliver over 20 hours rate at 80˚F until the voltage drops to 10.5V (i.e. useable voltage) for a 12v battery.
For example, A 200Ah battery will deliver 10amps for 20 hours at a useable voltage.

The Useable voltage of a 12V battery is considered to be about 10.5V

ALL IMAGES SHOWN ON THE ARTICLE WERE TAKEN BY ME

REFERENCES

Wikipedia

Solar Electric

Battery stuff

Energy matters

Sure Power

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