There is one thing that is certain, and that is that energy is only going to become more expensive.Many people are looking at ways to reduce their bills, and one way is to generate your own energy using solar panels.Home renewable energy projects can be expensive, and even though eventually they will provide cheap energy, the time spent recouping your initial investment can be quite long.One major expense when installing your solar energy system is the storage battery bank.This provides power when the sun isn't shining.There is a way to find cheap solar deep cycle battery storage.The following 5 points will help you reduce costs to a minimum.1.Free or cheap.Storage for your solar power is provided by a bank of lead-acid deep cycle batteries.Unlike automotive batteries these are specially designed to recharge, and discharge, frequently.New ones are expensive, however there is a way to pick up free or cheap ones.These units are also used in applications like golf carts, wheelchairs, and in marine applications such as providing power for a boats electrical equipment.It is possible that you can find them for free by visiting boat yards, or golf clubs, etc.They will almost certainly have discarded batteries, and will be only too pleased for you to take these away.2.Test.Once you have your used batteries you will need to test them, as certain faults will make them unsuitable for reconditioning.To test simply connect them to a charger, and charge.Once you have done this measure the voltage, it should be around 12 volts.If it is significantly lower than this then it could indicate one or more of the cells are faulty.Put it to one side for further testing, and concentrate on the ones that reach 12 volts initially.3.Clean plates.The lead plates in the cells are likely to be contaminated due to a process called sulfation.This is when the lead plates have a layer of lead sulfate crystals on them even when the unit is fully charged, (they should be lead.) This is one of the things that prevents your battery from holding charge.You can remove this by using a specialized charger.This will provide a high current pulse that breaks down these crystals, and reduces contamination.The investment in this piece of equipment will pay for itself many times over in the money you save on new batteries.4.Renew electrolyte.The next job is to renew the electrolyte.This is the fluid in the case between the lead plates.Initially look at the level of fluid, this should be topped up with deionized water until it just covers the plates.You can also add an electrolyte conditioner which is available from automotive parts stores or online.5.Recharge.It now simply remains to recharge your restored item, and test the voltage.There you have it, a virtually free battery for your solar power plant.To make home renewable energy using solar power a more viable, and cost-effective proposition, you can find cheap solar deep cycle battery storage.Reducing the initial cost to the minimum, will shorten the time it takes for you to really notice the savings that renewable green energy can bring.
No comments:
Post a Comment