A: Like any other battery, you need to consider the capacity, power, and size requirements, more importantly, make sure you have the right charger. A kind reminder, you can get a smaller size but same capacity with LiFePo4 battery. Please contact HHS team if you need assistance with your replacements and they will be apply to make sure you pick the right battery.
A: No, you don’t have to. Because there is no fluid inside of LiFePO4 batteries. That means, you can install the battery in any position.
A: Yes. LiFePO4 battery offer more usable capacity than an equivalent VRLA product. You can expect up to three times the run time.
A: A battery management system is required for control and protection during discharge and charge. The BMS provides CAN bus communication of battery status, state of charge and alarms, etc. It can also be used without a CAN bus interface with only basic analog inputs and outputs for simpler systems.
A: We offer LiFePO4 battery wholesale and retail. Please contact our HHS team to know the detail for cooperation.
A: Lithium-ion is the newest battery technology, and lead-acid battery (GEL and AGM types) is the mature one. As previously mentioned, Lithium batteries have a lot of advantages compared to lead-acid.
However, their buying price is significantly higher, but is it really?
Let’s take an example. We will compare two 12V batteries, rated at 100Ah capacity.
It is recommended to discharge lithium batteries up to 80%, whereas lead-acid only 50%. Therefore, the actual available capacity is 80Ah for the lithium and 50Ah for the lead-acid.
The life duration of a lithium battery is, on average, 2500 cycles, whereas for deep-cycle, it is a maximum of 600 cycles.
In the end over its lifetime, the lithium battery will have a total capacity of 2500*80= 200’000 Ah, and the lead acid deep-cycle battery is 600*50= 30’000 Ah.
You will get around even times more energy out of the lithium battery. Then, let’s have a look at the buying price – on average, $200 for the lead-acid and $500 for the lithium battery.
In the end, the upfront cost of the lithium battery is 2.5 more than the lead acid, but the total restituted energy is seven times more than the lead acid.
The cost per total Ah for lithium batteries is $0.0025, and for the lead acid, it is $0.0066.
Conclusion: the lead acid battery is 2.6 times more expensive than the lithium battery.
A: kWh stands for kilowatt-hour. This is an absolute measure of the energy storage capacity of your battery.
One kWh is equivalent to a power of 1 kilowatt provided during 1 hour.
Remembering your college lessons: Power (W) = Current (A) * Voltage (V)
Therefore, Kilowatt-hour (kWh) = Ampere-hour(Ah) * Voltage(V)
The term kWh is gaining popularity with the rise of lithium batteries. You can now find batteries rated at 12V, 24V, 48V, and more. Therefore, the capacity in Ah doesn’t make sense to compare the energy capacity of batteries with different working voltages.
For example, a 60Ah, 12V battery has a total capacity of 12*60= 720Wh, whereas a 60Ah, 24V battery has a total capacity of 24*60=1440 Wh. They both have the same Ah but different energy storage capacity.
kWh is an accurate and absolute measure of your battery energy capacity.
A: The C rating is the rate at which a battery is discharged, one of the most important specifications.
As mentioned before, the total capacity of a battery in Ah is affected by its discharge rate. The higher the discharge rate (high C rates), the lower the total capacity of the battery.
As an example, a battery with a capacity of 60Ah rated at 1C means that this battery is capable of providing a current of 60A continuously in 1 hour. Therefore, if you are aiming to fully discharge this battery at lower C rates, for example, in 20 hours (1/20=0.05C), the capacity of the battery will be greater than 60AH.
Below, I have summarized the discharge time at different C rates.
| Discharge rate | Duration |
| 2C | 30 minutes |
| 1C | 1 hour |
| 0.5C | 2 hours |
| 0.1C | 10 hours |
| 0.05C | 20 hours |
Below, I have summarized the discharge time at different C rates.
The capacity of GEL and AGM batteries is greatly affected by the discharge rate. Therefore, it is usually measured at 0.1C.
For example, a 60AH, 0.1C AGM battery will provide 60Ah over the course of 10 hours. Divide the battery capacity by the time of discharge to get the output current – 60/10=6 Amps.The continuous discharge current will be 6 Amps during 10 hours.
It is possible to discharge the battery quicker, but the overall capacity will be lowered. On the contrary, if you discharge the battery at 0.05C (during 20 hours), the overall capacity will be higher. Manufacturers usually provide charts with the capacity at different C rates.
Lithium batteries are almost not affected by the discharge rate. Therefore, their capacity is always rated at 1C.
A: Batteries are electrochemical devices, which means that the electricity is stored and released through chemical reactions happening inside the battery.
When your battery is not in use, there are still some chemical reactions going on but at a much lower scale. Therefore, your battery capacity will slowly decrease with time. This is called self-discharge.
The self-discharge rate of your battery depends on its battery technology, age, storage temperature.
Typically, deep-cycle AGM and GEL batteries have self-discharge rates between 2% and 15% per month at 68°F. However, every 15°F increase doubles the self-discharge rate.
Lithium batteries, like LFP (LiFePO4), have the lowest self-discharge rate between 0.35% and 2.5% per month.
A: Deep-cycle batteries are a type of lead-acid batteries. Unlike lithium batteries, they don’t support fast charging and need to be charged in a three-step process to guarantee their highest capacity and the integrity of their components.
First of all, you have to use a charger dedicated to lead acid batteries. Connect the red cable of your battery charger to the positive (+) terminal of your battery, then connect the black cable of the charger to the negative (-) terminal of your battery.
You can now start charging in a three-step process.
A: You might have noticed that manufacturers recommend not to fully discharge your battery to extend its life duration.
For example, GEL and AGM batteries are advised to be discharged to 50% only and lithium batteries to 80% of their full capacity.
The main reason is that a deep charging and discharging cycle deteriorates the components of your battery, therefore reducing its performances over time.
GEL and AGM batteries are the most vulnerable to full discharge. For example, if fully discharged, a GEL battery will only last 12 months. At 50% depth of discharge, the life duration could be doubled.
The same applies to lithium batteries, but their depth of discharge is larger (80% recommended for a life duration up to 10 years). Full discharge is possible, but life duration might only be around 4 years.
A: The capacity of a deep-cycle battery is affected by its discharge rate (C). The higher the discharge rate, the lower the capacity.
Manufacturers usually indicate their deep-cycle battery capacity for a discharge rate of 0.05C (20hours). It means that the battery capacity is rated for a continuous full discharge in 20 hours.
Therefore, for a 100AH battery, it will take 20 hours to completely empty the battery at a continuous output current of 5 Amps.
It is possible to get higher output current, but the battery will be depleted in less than 20 hours.
Useful tips:
Check the specification of your deep-cycle battery. Manufacturers provide the overall capacity (Ah) in function of the discharge rate
A: A 12Volts, 100Ah deep-cycle battery has an energy capacity of 12V*100Ah= 1200 Wh.
A 400W solar panel will, on average, produce 1400 Wh per day. Therefore, we recommend using one 400W solar panel to charge a 100Ah deep-cycle battery in a day.
Useful tips:
A: Deep-cycle batteries can be used in an off-grid power system. They are connected to an inverter, which converts DC (direct current, 12V) from the batteries to AC (alternative current, 110–220V, 50Hz) to be used by your common appliances.
Your deep-cycle battery duration will depend on
Let’s take an example with a 100Ah, 12V deep-cycle battery connected to an inverter.
As mentioned before, this battery is able to continuously provide 5 Amps for 20 hours before being completely drained. However, manufacturers recommend a 50% depth of discharge to maximize your battery life duration. Therefore, in real work conditions, your battery will be able to provide 5 Amps for 10 hours.
In terms of energy, this is equivalent to 50Ah*12V= 600Wh. 600Wh will be your available energy, but bear in mind that it has to go through the inverter (DC to AC), which has an efficiency of 90%.
In the end, your total useful energy will be 540 Wh (600Wh*0.9) for 10 hours, equivalent to 54W continuously for 10 hours.
To give you an idea, this is roughly the total energy needed to power a medium-sized refrigerator for 10 hours.
Don’t forget: With deep-cycle batteries, the battery capacity is affected by the discharge rate. It is possible to get more than 54W out of your battery, but that will decrease its overall capacity.
