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I have 5,000 pounds of original Edison
NiFe batteries, made between 1928 and 1939.
Almost all of them are working at close to 90% of their original capacity. I would be willing to bet that Edison was really close with his 100 year estimate.....on his batteries. I would not want to make that same claim with batteries from other sources. BUT......they really are inefficient. And they really are difficult to charge with modern battery chargers. The cases are conductive and need to be insulated from each other and anything around them. And voltage is the only way to determine state of charge, as the electrolyte specific gravity does not change throughout the charging cycle. I like them but definitely agree with Dan....they are not for the general public! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.On 9/26/2012 7:58 AM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems wrote: Forever? Well, at least Edison thought they should last 100 years. As mentioned by others, inefficiency is an impairing factor in an RE system. However, due to the all time low cost for PV solar modules, these batteries can actually be a viable option. If you have the space for 40% more PV power and you have a customer willing to keep the batteries filled, the Ni-Fe battery could be the last battery they will ever buy. Imagine the grand-kids inheriting the battery bank. |
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