Bluedog225
Texas
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2019
- Messages
- 3,161
Panels aside, I wonder if the answer changes for SOK batteries and midnite/victron components?
I’m used to them…meh…. I dated a lot …We may all be believing pretty lies.
That just life man…it’s just money… earn some more .. but never quit…the chase is what it’s all about ….not aquisition... ask any really old rich guy….Great question!
For some odd reason first thought was. "My greatest fear is that when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them"
My point being is that money you spend on this gear is gone the day you spend it. It's really GONE forever whether or not it works for one day or 20 years. It's just simply gone. Any attempt at getting an alicrapa seller to honor thier warranty will be fruitless and if you are putting any sort of value on a 3 yr old American based resellers being here in 10 years then do I have a bridge for you!
I'm happier with solar. lol
Have you seen a pretty high failure rate of that equipment brand? Is there one in the same price bracket that you prefer for reliability?20yr
6yr
4yr
I've been generous on the EG4 stuff and considered it as an average. Having multiple items means you have a higher chance of failure of at least one.
No supporting data.
I heard there's a version coming out that makes sandwiches.I think solar is waaay cheaper too!
I want fries with that….I heard there's a version coming out that makes sandwiches.
Unless you have a great wife, then the investment pays off 10x solar, at least in my case.I'm happier with solar. lol
Spot on. With the exception of the solar panels (I bought 54 CS Bifacial 390's for $167 per), I have just committed to nearly the identical system for similar reasons...off-grid scenario. We will start with 4 of the noted batteries initially while we build our home and eventually go to 10.You make a good point about sellers being here in 10 years to honor their warranties. That's worth thinking hard about. I have a different take on the money being gone, though. In my view, the money is not gone. It's still there, it just looks different. It used to look like numbers on a bank's web page, but now it looks like a wall of equipment. A lot of the money is right there in front of me, only in physical form. For the past few years, I've been spending about $200/mo. on energy, which all comes from propane. (We live off grid.) If I can install a DIY solar system for $20K that lasts 10 years, then I'll break even based on today's rates. However, I will also lock in today's energy costs and insulate myself from inflation, and guard against supply-chain problems. If an inverter craps out in 5 years, by then it should be cheap to get a replacement one with similar specs even considering inflation (if we stretch Moore's Law to apply to more than just ICs). Possibly the same could be true of batteries? In any case, I should probably start saving for replacement parts right after I buy the system.
Agreed...all bets are off if in a rural scenario when initially connecting to the grid too cost prohibitive. THAT is what drove me to a full off-grid system and feel I will save money on day one.If you have access to the grid, reasonable rates, and you add batteries to a solar system ... pffff, ROI and all that. About the only way I might justify batteries is due to frequent outages, but that ain't easy to cipher.
Several great points but I found this especially interesting. It would be nice...but sadly I have my doubts. It COULD happen but I doubt they will let it IMHO. Very interesting though...We could all be playing this wrong and some unknown energy source could be plentiful and almost free in ten years.
I identify strongly with this statement. I was a professional auto technician (still am, just switched to teaching ~7 years ago) and have installed a tremendous amount of new AND used components and I personally don't put much value on warranties either. Not to say no company will do what it says it will do, but I'd rather have a huge discount up front and own my own problems when and if they occur. My business experience basically boils down to if you pay more for a warranty, you are just pre-paying for the majority of the replacement part which you may never receive. Just like the high down payment on a cheap car sitting on a used car lot, is probably all the money they've got in that thing and if you ever make the first payment, they're in the green!I ultimately decided on many more smaller 32650 cells because I wasn't confident I'd get 8 or 16 or 32 big cells that were all the same. A "warranty" was almost worthless in my decision making. I prefer a 30-80% discount on the front end vs a warranty.
It looked to me like only 5% of batteries lasted their rated life.
I would say look for a battery to last 25% as many cycles as claimed, make sure it is break-even or an OK deal even then. Beyond that, you might come out ahead.
I absolutely minimized size of my battery while sticking with inefficient appliances. When it comes time to replace (10 years), I'll see what's out there. If situation changes in the mean time so I use it daily rather than for backup I'll try to reduce my night time cycling from 70% to 15%.
If I was seriously anticipating SHTF I would buy a set of 2V FLA (dry) and either glass jars of acid or dry acid. That should have shelf life until I need them, and 20 years usage after that.
Are LFP prices artificially high?
Cost is irrelevant to sale price. market value is king. profit drawn from building, marketing, future sale reduction pricing, etc. I would be EXTREMELY surprised if sales were anywhere close to material and labor and manufacturing costs... It's like the cannabis market. It costs MAYBE $50 to...diysolarforum.com
Not just the UK. But probably worse there, due to the war.Given the direction electricity prices in the UK are headed the ROI is getting shorter by the day.