How many folks here actually own a NiFe (Nickel Iron) battery bank?
Battery bank sizing is crucial because for instance an over-sized lead acid battery bank could last for decades because (as previously suggested) you might over-size it so much that only 10% DOD (depth of discharge) is being used, but for that to happen you'd spend a lot more because your bank would need to be much larger for that situation to be maintained. Consider simple numbers, a typically designed system of 50% DOD would be x cost, but a similar system of only 10% DOD would need to have a battery bank 5 times the size (ie: 5 times the cost because there's 5 times as much storage). So the battery bank would have to be much larger for you to be only using 10% of it's storage capacity. I don't disagree with the poster's suggestion, it is true, but I think folks may have missed the point -- you need a lot more batteries. Now, if you're only running a few small loads then it's not that big a deal -- maybe your $500 battery bank quintupled to $2,500 and that's a manageable increase for your bank account. But if we're talking a large system you can see how this cost would go up a lot. And this is why most people start a conversation like this, because they are looking at the different costs/benefits of Lead Acid vs. things like Lithium or Nickel Iron which have longer life cycles (and thus reduced cost over the long term).
Everybody seems to have an opinion on NiFE, but very few seem to have first hand knowledge/experience.
... anyways I digress, here's the reason I'm posting, I'd like to know:
Who here has used NiFe and/or purchased them and/or installed them? I'd really appreciate THOSE people's feedback.
And with that I'll just add two more things:
P.S. -- Another option I'm considering are the newer style Lithium batteries (ie: not the Tesla kind) such as SimpliPhi (LiFePO4 composition so are safer, and are added in parallel rather than in series which has advantages)
P.P.S. -- I have nothing to do with any company; I'm an electrician, I have my own off-grid system and I am seeking more knowledge as I know eventually I'll need to commit to a large purchase one day
