The battery I often recommend for many applications is a 100Ah Lithium Battery which is encased in Aluminum to dissipate heat and increase the life of the battery. This cell has a charge cycle life of over 3,000 cycles which is well above many similar batteries which may have a cycle life of only about 2,000 cycles. As always, price breaks are available for this battery starting at 16 each. Complete pricing and specifications are available at the link above.

Here’s a quick rundown of why Aluminum Encased Lithium Batteries Perform Better:

A typical aluminum encased battery that has better heat dissipation will start out with a higher cycle life.  Dependent upon the size of the cell the expectant charger cycle life of a smaller LifePO4 cell can be as much as 4000 charge cycles and follow the same trajectory of the plastic prismatic cell shown below.  The simple fact is that if you have an application where you want a long life, like for solar storage, and you do not discharge the cells below their nominal 3.2 voltage you will have a cell that will probably outlive you.  Depth of discharge has a very profound effect on a lithium battery’s life.

What is the Life Expectancy of the Aluminum Batteries?

-      Factor 1: Depth of Discharge…Percentage of Capacity Used Per Cycle.

-      DOD, short for the Depth of Discharge, is used to describe how deeply the battery is discharged. If we say a battery is 100% fully charged, it means the DOD of this battery is 0%, If we say the battery have delivered 30% of its energy, here are 70% energy reserved, we say the DOD of this battery is 30%.

-      Factor 2: Discharge Rate, The AMPS Divided by the Capacity

-      To Read the Chart Above, Here are Some Examples

A.   All Numbers are at a 1C Discharge Rate, Which is Aggressive…

B.   At a 90% Depth of Discharge, Our Batteries Will Provide 2400 Cycle to 80% State-of-Original-Capacity (SOIC)

C.   At a 10% Depth of Discharge (Say, Engine Starting) Our Batteries Will Provide 35,000 Cycles Until 80% SOIC. Beyond 35,000 Cycles the Battery is Still Functioning But Gradually Losing Capacity, but not Performance

Conclusion: By recharging a lithium battery more frequently, thus reducing the DOD (depth of discharge), the battery cycle life is Increased. Solar is very often a beneficial method to reduce DOD and increase life!

View the 100Ah Lithium Battery Here

Specifications for 100Ah LiFePo4 Lithium Battery: