Guru
Joined: 03/06/2019
Location: AustraliaPosts: 1578
| Posted: 06:55am 13 Feb 2020 |
Curiosity got the better of me....
Rang some scrap yards and got a price of 60-70C Kg for scrap batteries.
Looked up a 775 Ah battery @ 48V which is 37 Kwh. Halve that for battery longevity and call it 18 Kwh.
Price was $2600. Weight is 1100KG. That is currently $770 in scrap value. Of course I'd expect this to rise somewhat in the minimum 10 years life one would expect the battery to last. Bit of an investment in itself.
In any case, that would make the real cost of the battery now $1830.
Don't know what lithium works out at but it sure beats the hell out of a 13 KWH tesla battery for $15K even if you do have to buy an inverter charger for the forklift pack.
Plenty of those available now for under a grand for a 6 KW unit.
At that price you could have 2 battery packs and 4 Inverter chargers for spares!
Also make a good Diesel generator affordable for those fortnights of wet weather or you could go a cheaper genny and more ( used) panels.
It's certainly getting very Viable for people to go off grid. With the 20 Kw of panels I have installed ( and plenty of room for another 10Kw Minimum) Plus my multiple generators and engines, that sort of cost wouldn't take long to repay.
I remember as a kid getting old car batteries from the back of local servos to get money for scrap. Took them home and filled them as full as we could get them with sand and then water. They were plenty heavy batteries for their size! :0)