There has been a lot of discussion about batteries, but I haven't heard about LFP type batteries until recently. Here is an excerpt from RV'ers magazine:
Flooded cell — This is the common wet cell battery that everybody loves and hates. It’s cheap, messy, widely available. They have to be mounted in a well-ventilated area and must be kept right-side-up at all times. They can accept up to about 20 percent of their rated capacity when charging. High discharge rates will quickly drain them and shorten battery life. Normal life span is about 4-5 years or 500-1000 charging cycles.
AGM — About 50 percent more expensive than wet cell, there’s never an acid mess or need to replenish water. They can be mounted in a closed compartment and in any orientation. Charge acceptance, discharge, and life span are like wet cell.
LFP — Nearly four times the cost of wet cell, but life span makes up for it: easily 8-10 years and 3000-5000 charging cycles. Fully sealed, any orientation, and about 1/3 the weight of wet cell or AGM. Perhaps most importantly for RV/solar applications, LFP will accept 3X its capacity in charge rate, which allows use of full solar capacity at all charge levels. They also can be discharged at very high rates without any penalty (I run my microwave on battery power). LFP batteries have been full-custom applications until recently, but there are now drop-in replacement LFP products for lead-acid batteries.
- Mike
