Ideal Batteries for Use in Solar Panel Installations -- By Steve McDaniel

This article is one that came about from questions from one of our readers. He asked what is the ideal battery for a Solar Power system?

This isn't a straightforward answer in that the answer depends on the setup. For the most part the answer I will present is what would be ideal in most situations.

Most solar setups are using a 12 volt DC setup. This is ideal for running low voltage lights like you might have in an RV or cabin or even something like a solar powered electic fence for cattle. For a system that is more hybrid you will probably want a battery bank and an inverter to convert the 12 volt (or more) DC system into a 120-volt AC system that gives you much more flexibility in that it will run most plugged in items that you might use in a household.

The battery setup in a hybrid solar power setup often leads to confusion when it comes to beginners.

Let's start with the types of batteries. There are a variety of batteries such as a wet cell battery (often used in golf carts) or sealed and gel batteries. Each type have different requirements for temperature, mounting and how it's ventilated. The type isn't as important as whether or not it's a deep cycle battery.

One of the key factors for a solar setup is that the battery be a deep cycle battery. For the beginner this simply means a battery that is designed to charge and recharge often and able to drain to a very low point. Most batteries lose lifespan if they are discharged to very low levels regularly. This makes them a bad candidate for a solar power setup.

So you want to look for deep cycle batteries such as ones for golf carts, boating, RV's etc. The lowest priced ones will be the 6 volt batteries you will find in golf carts. 12 volt ones are going to be more expensive and often run as much as $200 dollars or more. The difference is how much of a charge they will hold but that's for another article.

With these deep cycle batteries you can wire multiple batteries together to increase the voltage and storage capacity which will greatly increase the amount of power your system has to store for times when you are not generating electricity from your solar panels.

Hopefully now you know what type of battery to look for to hook to your solar panels.

This along with other great resources on how to eliminate or drastically lower your electric bill can be found at http://www.windsolarpower.com

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