second hand solar batterys

[barrowfiend]

Hi guys,
was recomended by a friend to look for second hand batterys for my solar systems, and having difficulty finding any.
was advised telstra batts are the best as they have a shelf life of 10 yrs but are decomissoned around 4 yrs.

Anyone know where i can find??? As internet searched have turned up only unused sites that are no longer used?

[gardenlen]

g'day,

here in brissy the batteries are tested s/h forklift batteries 2v deep cycle, i think from atlas batteries? they don't advertise them on their site but you need to contact them, they supply 80% tested batteries in a frame and put it right where you want it on delivery. the best way to go lots cheaper than new batteries and they have a warranty, one bloke bought a set then he noticed 1 battery had slight leak they bough up replacement battery and installed it all gratis.

sorry it is total batteries brissy p.m on the way

also check our sustainability essay for info from china on solar and wind prices all componenets.

last i heard was price of pv's was falling then about $1.17AUD per watt, which didn't seem to reflect what they charge here in aus' once they stick their label on the panels, for my simple math that means around $1600 for 1.5k/w of solar.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/sustainability_essay.htm

len

[MikeS]

We're selling our house, and the 10 year old hybrid grid tied/battery backup inverter worries me, and we've decided to simplify the system and go grid tied only for the benefit of whoever buys our place.

SO we have 24 x 2V 500Ah Yuasa batteries which are now 12 yrs old and still performing well. They can be viewed here

I'd like $100 per cell, negotiable. They are big and heavy, and I would consider delivering them in my ute for the cost of petrol within 200km of Sunshine Coast, QLD.

[sweetpea]

For what it's worth, we've been using deep cycle batteries in our solar for about 10 years. Getting decomissioned batteries is risky because how were they stored when decomissioned? If they are stored for a long period that's not good.

If they weren't completely charged when they were stored, they will probably not be good for any length of time. How those batteries are used during their life cycle is crucial. How they were treated for the first few months of their cycling can affect years of performance if it wasn't done right.

If they were routinely taken down below half that lowers their life span. If they were not charged completely back up every day, that shortens their lifespan, and that's easy to do in the short winter days.

All deep cycle batteries only have so many cycles, and if they are almost at the end of their life span, they aren't worth it. It's often a real struggle swapping them out, and to do that every year or two just because you want cheap batteries is exhausting. The older, lower ones will bring all the others down to their level, and you may not even realize it. that's why you're supposed to get the same age batteries all at once.

If the voltages are too low because they are failing or they aren't getting charged up enough each day, they can burn out refrigerator motors, and other appliances. Even if they are DC appliances.

And where do the used ones go? They are extremely heavy, and if you're having to deal with them in the mud and the rain, it's an awful job. You need extra floor support underneath them. They're not supposed to be in the same room with the controller and the inverter.

It's hard to buy really good solar batteries because they are extremely expensive. But you will have nothing but headaches if go cheap. Never knowing if they are performing enough to supply what you need, especially in the short days of winter and early spring is exhausting. Going solar is not cheaper. Where I am it's more reliable because the power goes out a lot, and there's only two of us. But when things go wrong with it, everything else stops until it's fixed, and that usually means a pretty good sized infusion of $$$.

[MikeS]

Telstra's batteries are used in telephone exchanges, and only when blackouts threaten the continuity the phone network. Even then, diesel generators automatically start up as soon as battery voltage drops below something like 10% DoD. I expect NO ONE looks after batteries better than Tesltra!

When I bought mine, they were out of the system for three weeks. These batteries are such great value, they NEVER last long, people just snap them up. They had identical voltage 2.123V +/- 3mV. That's MILLIVOLTS! After two years here, this is still the case. I bought them from Solazone, a solar power company 34 years in the business. The owner (for whom I was working for at the time) told me he sold a 10 yr old set of the exact same batteries to a customer in Victoria that lasted another 20 years! They decided to buy another bank from the same batch I bought because they surely couldn't last too much longer at 30 years of age.

You have to realise that these batteries cost over $600 EACH new...... if you can get half their life cycle for 1/6 of the new cost, you're laughing.

And yes....... whoever buys these had better look after them.

[gardenlen]

never had anyone bag S/H batteries as yet, they have a 12 month warranty that i am aware of. the company does well when it comes to customer satisfaction, they'd really need to or they would have no business. bad publicity travels faster and wider than does good.

len

[sweetpea]

Probably a good thing to do would be a hydrometer with you, and check the reading on each cell, that way you'd know if it's poor, fair or good.

I've never heard of 20-year batteries, and I've never heard of any that last longer than they are rated, unless they are just not being used. I'm sure they could sit there longer if they were only taken down 10-15 percent every day, but that would take having more batteries than you actually need. I hope they last a long time, because otherwise they are just finding other people to take them away for them. Disposal/recycle is often a real issue.