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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Power solutions

Today I saw the perfect solution to my power problem. Lithium ion batteries look perfect. Looking at microwave usage at 1000W power consumption plus 10% loss from the inverter I'm looking at needing 1100W. Dividing 1100W by 12 volts gives 91.7 amps.

There is a very nice battery available that weighs just 28lbs. The size is right. It'll give me 100A output which is excellent for a microwave. How much heat is lost and how long it'll run at 100W without temperature shutdown is unknown.

Being a dream battery, its also a fantasy price. $1300 does look ridiculous. On the other hand, if it fulfilled all of its promise then it might be worthwhile. To get 100AH one would need two lead acid 100AH batteries. To get 100A from lead acid batteries I'm not sure how many would be needed. My best guess is about 5. That would be around $500 plus the weight penalty. Each battery would be 55lbs for a total of 275lbs.

Clearly going down the lead acid battery route is a bit like using an abacus instead of a calculator. Knowing this better technology is available confirms my existing plans to use minimal 12v battery power.

I'm pretty sure that I'll use solar panels to power a dehumidifier directly and to power a ventilation fan directly. At night that isn't so important as its cooler and generally lower humidity.

I definitely need to charge some battery that can recharge my phone though. Perhaps a simple 6v lead acid battery. I'll have to give that some thought.

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