Solar Panels

Many installers use the L16 solar battery in their renewable energy projects. However, most tend to use the old flooded conventional deep cycle batteries rather than the newer more versatile sealed AGM solar batteries. What is the rationale for this decision? The question begs to be asked, why not use a sealed L16 solar battery?

Mike Chose the Sealed UB63800 L16 Solar Battery

A few weeks ago a customer of ours purchased 24 of the 6 volt 380 amp hour sealed L16 solar battery made by Universal Power Group. This workhorse of a battery, part number UB63800, has very favorable specs when comparing to some of the traditional flooded batteries

I just answered a question about a lead crystal battery at solarpaneltalk.com from Jon (aka Beanyboy57), and thought it was worth sharing.

Question:  I have just recently heard about lead crystal batteries and read the 'data' presented on some websites which seems too good to be true. Claims of 7/800 cycles to 80% DOD. Does anyone have information on this type of battery or has used them for an extensive period?

Cheers
Jon

My Thoughts:  My first guess is that the battery is too expensive to manufacture and/or is not reliable. I remember a colleague of mine sharing a story about when they bought some battery technology from DuPont that would have revolutionized the industry. It was a fine hair like substance woven into a glass-matt that would allow the material to be built into clothing, for example. It worked great in the lab, but when they attempted to commercialize it they kept running into problems and had to abandon the idea. My second guess as to why it is not used is that crystals

ImpactBattery.com and several of our Goal Zero solar panel and battery products were featured on a segment of Living In Style called "I Gotta Have That". Hosted by Rhonda Castagna, the segment shows how cool and functional it is to use these Goal Zero products and underscored (not in a scary way) how easy it is to have them available in the case of unforeseen disasters like Hurricane Sandy, earthquakes and similar events.

We love these products because they are fun and easy to use for daily living, like when we go camping in our pop-top tent trailer (or even without) and do not have electrical hookups. Check this out:

Host: Rhonda Castagna
TV Show: Living In Style
Web Site: http://livinginstyle.tv/

Transcript:
Hi, I'm Rhonda Castagna, and welcome to this special edition of Living In Style's "I Gotta Have That". Today we have some great products and services to share with you, so let's get started.

Now-a-days, everything we use on a daily basis needs power to operate, from laptops, tablets

http://www.impactbattery.com Before you hit the hiking trail this season consider these portable solutions to keep all of your electronic devices fully powered.

Keeping your phone charged is a top priority for convenience as well as safety. The UltraXP offers a highly portable power solution for hikers to keep their USB powered devices charged. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, this external battery is perfect for short or long hikes or even business travelers.

But what if your external battery runs out of power? Any electronic device can go further with the Goal Zero Escape’s ability to recharge through your car’s cigarette lighter. Perfect for road warrior or car camper, the Escape 150 houses an internal battery with a wide variety of outputs.

Another popular Goal Zero power solution is the Guide 10 Adventure Kit. This ultra lightweight USB solar charging system fits in your pocket and it offers the flexibility of a AA and AAA battery charger. For the most portable power

Impact Battery has what you need. When our customers asked, we listened. You wanted more selection, easy searching, fast shipping and products you could count on. We continually seek out new and cutting edge technology and environmentally friendly products that make a difference. We test the product coming through our door and compare it to what the manufacturer specs indicate before promoting it as the next best thing. If it doesn't make the grade, we won't carry it! It is that simple.

Motorcycle Batteries?  We stock more brands than any other online competitor. We listened and now offer American Made AGM and Lithium batteries as well as the leading replacement powersport batteries from MotoBatt, Moto Classic, Odyssey and Adventure Power.

Solar Products? Well, there is no better place to find sealed AGM deep cycle solar batteries or flexible and portable solar panels.

Smart Chargers? We are the leading online source for the smartest battery chargers that have come to market. Yesterday’s

We have noticed that the majority of Goal Zero customers seem to prefer purchasing through Amazon or via Goal Zero directly. Understandably, purchasing from the manufacturer direct or from a large multi-billion dollar company has its perks. However, purchasing from a company like Impact Battery that specializes in battery and chargers will enable customers to receive valuable tech support and unparalleled expertise (unlike Amazon) as well as money saving coupons that are not available from the manufacturer. Impactbattery.com also gives a portion of every sale to the charity of our customers choosing, at no cost to our customers. Spread the word and continue the cycle of giving!

Goal Zero Money Saving Coupons

• Save 5.5% on any Goal Zero product. Code: GoalZero2012
• Save 7% on the Escape 150 Adventure Kit, 29005. Code: Escape150
• Buy a Sherpa 50 protective sleeve and a Sherpa 50 battery pack and get the Sherpa 50 sleeve FREE ($14.95 Value). Code: FREE91106
• ALL ORDERS OVER $50 SHIP FREE!

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While momentum continues on the prospect of battery-powered automobiles in the future, a new study indicates that they aren’t currently a cost-effective way to reduce emissions and cut oil use. Rather, utilizing hybrids and plug-in cars that can go short distances on electricity still receive a battery return—at least for now.

Battery technology breakthroughs, a more efficient electric power grid and higher oil costs would actually be needed to justify the expense, weight and assembly-related costs of “large battery pack” cars, according to the survey, as reported in Bloomberg on Sept. 26.

“It’s not that large battery packs are bad, it’s that they are not providing as many benefits per dollar,” Jeremy Michalek, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh who led the review, said in an interview. “Ordinary hybrids increase fuel economy substantially, and the incremental cost of those systems is getting relatively small.”

That by no means that research on battery

In the wake of hurricane Irene and the east coast earthquake we have not been able to keep the Goal Zero portable power packs on our shelves! The lightweight and extremely versatile battery packs, lights and foldable solar panels are the perfect solution for when the power goes out or for when you plan to go out and "rough it" in the wild places this world has to offer.  There were definitely 3 Goal0 kits that made an impression:

The Sherpa 50 Adventure Kit

This is probably one of the most affordable and lightweight kits.  It's extremely compact design weighs no more than 7 total pounds and includes the Sherpa 50 Whr lithium battery and the Nomad 13.5W foldable solar panel.  You can charge or run your devices via the USB ports (found on the battery and the panel) and the 12V DC female cigarette lighter socket.

The Escape 150 Adventure Kit

This unit contains a sealed lead acid battery providing 150 Whr of power.  This 15 lb torpedo looking power unit has a built in USB port, 12V

ImpactBattery.com is excited to announce we now offer genuine Goal Zero power packs, solar panels and accessories. These portable power products are rugged, versatile high quality power products that meet the energy needs of the traveling business community to the extreme adventurer.

[caption id="attachment_549" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sherpa 120 Adventure Kit"][/caption]

The most popular item is the Guide 10 Adventure Kit.  It includes the Nomad 7 Watt foldable solar panel (with USB and 12 volt DC female cigarette lighter adapter) and the Guide 10 AA battery included rechargeable power pack.

Goal0 also makes numerous accessories from rugged high quality speakers to various USB enabled lights to hard plastic waterproof carrying cases.  They have thought of nearly everything we need to enjoy the creature comforts of home in the great outdoors, highways and byways.

Check out the new stock and enjoy the great prices!

Goal 0 = Power Anywhere

Follow this link to view or purchase flexible or portable solar panels, otherwise enjoy the blog article.

[caption id="attachment_468" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Bolan Peak Fire Lookout"][/caption]

This past weekend (July 22-24, 2011) I had the pleasure of taking my oldest son into the Siskiyou mountains of Southern Oregon and Northern California for some father/son time. We stayed in an old fire tower atop Bolan Peak nestled around 6200 ft amongst a handful of craggy peaks reaching around 7500 feet. The weather was perfect as we finally experienced summer like temperatures that had eluded us since last September. We knew this past winter produced heavy snows, but were still amazed and delighted to see large snow drifts and plenty of shady area snow pack, both quite unusual this late in the season at our elevation. Understandably, we spent our first morning hiking the ridge line south of the lookout tower sliding down the snow shoots and scurrying through the snow tunnels