The Case Study
The idea to add solar to a golf cart was born of necessity. As owner/operator of Beach House Boat rentals we use our cart on a daily basis to get around the 14 acre marina property.
We use it to shuttle customers to the restroom and also tow our kayak trailer. Looking for a more efficient solution, we installed the first solar roof, a 270 watt lg panel and a charge controller. This stepped up the voltage to charge our not so great 3yr old lead acid batteries. It worked ok, but due to the poor charge efficiency of lead batteries (especially older ones), and the need for lead batteries to be topped off frequently to stay healthy we looked for a better solution.
The solution was to switch to lithium.
They are better in many ways.
1:Weight: Lithium-ion batteries are one-third the weight of lead acid batteries. We had more carrying capacity and tires/suspension should last longer.
Efficiency: Lithium-ion batteries are nearly 100% efficient in both charge and discharge, allowing for the same amp hours both in and out. Lead acid batteries are around 85% charge efficient when new and get worse as they age. This is most important when charging with solar as it allowed us to keep all the power our panel produced
Lithium batteries do not need to be fully charged to stay healthy like lead, in fact they last the longest when kept in the middle of their charge range. With our lithium/solar system the cart stayed in the 50%-90% charge range most of the time. It was just ready when we needed it with no battery maintenance at all. We were able to get through 2 Boat rental seasons so far without having to plug in the the wall outlet.
We use it to shuttle customers to the restroom and also tow our kayak trailer. Looking for a more efficient solution, we installed the first solar roof, a 270 watt lg panel and a charge controller. This stepped up the voltage to charge our not so great 3yr old lead acid batteries. It worked ok, but due to the poor charge efficiency of lead batteries (especially older ones), and the need for lead batteries to be topped off frequently to stay healthy we looked for a better solution.
The solution was to switch to lithium.
They are better in many ways.
1:Weight: Lithium-ion batteries are one-third the weight of lead acid batteries. We had more carrying capacity and tires/suspension should last longer.
Efficiency: Lithium-ion batteries are nearly 100% efficient in both charge and discharge, allowing for the same amp hours both in and out. Lead acid batteries are around 85% charge efficient when new and get worse as they age. This is most important when charging with solar as it allowed us to keep all the power our panel produced
Lithium batteries do not need to be fully charged to stay healthy like lead, in fact they last the longest when kept in the middle of their charge range. With our lithium/solar system the cart stayed in the 50%-90% charge range most of the time. It was just ready when we needed it with no battery maintenance at all. We were able to get through 2 Boat rental seasons so far without having to plug in the the wall outlet.
|
|