Trojan batteries and others?

What do you think of Trojan batteries? I don`t think I can find anything better in the UK at the moment for deep cycle and huge amp hour capacity....

I`m currently thinking of actually buying a few huge ones just to store about 200 watts of solar at 12 volts into them all day and using them when I get home...


Currently i`m using the solar all day and my battery bank I have at the moment fills up too quickly so I have to run stuff all day....

I`m now thinkning of buying some batteries and was wondering if anyone out there could reccomend or even review types of batteries that they have purchased by letting everyone know on the forum how well their batteries are perfoming over a few years period?

I still dont think you can beat 2V cells in series, but i`d really like to know what other people in the forum are using as their battery banks...

I expect to see some massive banks of photos appearing.... and even if you are using one battery in your system please post a comment and let`s see what you think is the best batteries for storing solar or wind power??

Get the piccys up!!! :-)

I'm currently using a 60AH car battery. This was a new battery on a car that got scrapped - no way was I letting a brand new battery go for scrap!

I also have a 70AH leisure battery, bought cheap from Ebay.

Both batteries have only been used for a few months and they are only used very lightly at the moment. I'm trying to stick to never discharging lower than 80%. Both are charged (seperately) from two 15w panels via a cheap charge controller.

I would be interested in some advice on testing battery capacity .

Also how voltage relates to charge levels when in use - i.e. batteries being charged and drained at the same time, what sort of voltages should I use as a minimum for maximum battery life?

I found an on going, 'smokin' deal on used (about 3 years old) telecom UPS batteries. They are CD technologies long duration series (105 AH mostly) for about $20 each.

The recessed front posts that use 1/4" bolts for cable attachment are a treat to use as well. Making up all the cables... not so much of a treat. :roll:

http://www.cdstandbypower.com/product/b ... 1_9028.pdf