As the title says, I need input
from those who know.

Thanks!

John

Do you have any idea on the size you might want, how many and your budget?

I have a PowerSonic 12Ah SLA AGM and a 22Ah Chrome SLA AGM for my minor needs.

Concorde makes the Sun Xtender line of deep cycle solar batteries, probably one of the best, but they can be spendy.

Concorde Sun Xtender solar SLA/AGM batteries...

Chris

All I have now is 2 45 watt solar
kits. I plan to add more as time,
money & inclination allows, but
for now, I'm just looking for a
battery or 2 to use with these
kits. Mainly to recharge radios
& small batteries for grid down
And also possibly  run an inverter
for light 120 work.

I have two older larger auto
batteries that were made in
2012. I am still trying to
determine if they are still
good, but I feel it would be
good to buy at least 2 new
batteries now.

John

Well, we're kind of in the same boat.  I have two rigid 30w panels that are hinged together for basic hurricane power outages, not the end of the world.

Being in Miami, we get good sun year round, so charging up my two mother batteries outside and bringing them up into my condo is easily accomplished.

SLA AGM batteries are heavy and once you approach 70...80...100Ah plus, lugging them down two flights of stairs and out to the common area is a chore.

Car batteries aren't meant for deep discharges/charges, so be aware of that, but anything you can scrounge up in an emergency is better than nothing.

Also, there's a ratio of panel wattage to battery capacity that needs to be addressed and you just don't throw a 200Ah battery on a 20w rigid panel, so check into that.

I bought a Triplett 375w 12vdc>120vac inverter for minor uses and it was only $50 off of Amazon.  I didn't research things too much, but it gets decent marks.

Chrome Battery is pretty good.  Shipping is included in the price and you have an 18 month warranty, with a 60 day return policy for their SLA AGM batteries:

Chrome Battery

Chris

I have a 100 watt solar panel and a 75Ahr SLA AGM battery that weighs 50 pounds.

I use it for vehicle portable ops for HAM radio. It's an over kill if the sun is out but can power the radios for days without recharge.

Best value per watt and in up to the task of long duty is a GC2.  That is the 6v golf cart battery.  Run in series.  There are other volt capacities in golf cart batteries you can consider as well to run in series or the 12v variant.  But GC2 is what boondockers use in their travel trailer and off-grid users most often use.  Available at most Costco, Sam's, etc for best price.

Thanks guys.

More research required on
my part.

Later!

John

I do not own solar equipment but take this for what its worth

I had a gentleman buy 16 batteries from my store for his solar panels

The battery he got is line code SSB part number GC110DT

It is a 6volt Deep Cycle witg a reserve capacirt at 25 amps at 448 minuets

Need any other info from them let me know. Otherwise you can find online

Hope thid helps

Golf cart batteries are great and long lived, if not heavy.  Many are 6v, so one needs to wire them in series if they plan on using 12vdc devices--fans, battery chargers, lanterns--stuff like that.

If you're putting a system into your house, or you're running a 24vdc system in your cabin, up in the woods...sure, they'll be fine.

If you're ChrisGarrett, in Miami and you need something reasonable in size, to hold some electrons in the event of a power outage for a week, lugging down two 6v SLA AGM batteries to charge up via solar panels might be problematic.

As always, it comes down to what 'your' needs are.

One single 30Ah-40Ah 12v SLA AGM battery is both manageable in size and sufficient for my limited SHTF needs.

Chris

Another vote for GC2 golf cart batteries.

For a slightly more portable solution, look at Group 31 "trolling motor" batteries - Each one is 12 volt, so you don't need to lug them around in pairs.

Capacity is respectable (approx. 115 AH), and they're not terribly expensive (approx. 100 bucks).

Wal-Mart, Sam's, Costco and Academy stock 'em by the palletload.

I vote for golf cart batteries.  Cheap, plentiful, and a good performer.

For higher amp loads, do not cheap out on the cables.  I lost a lot of capacity to 4ga cables when money was thin back in '08.  I was losing 0.5V for every 20 amps I was pulling.  Now with proper cables, losses are negliable.

For what its worth, here is a link to the battery packs I built.

https://joat-mos.blogspot.com/2013/02/off-grid-solar-generator-part-2-battery.html?m=1

I use the following for my sump pump back-up and will add more for my solar system: Interstate Deep Cycle/Starting SRM-27.
I bought them at a marine shop for $115 each - there are starting boat motors.

Thanks for the additional input!

John