Solar Battery Maintenance

 
One of the most expensive constituents of your “off the grid” solar system is your solar battery. Furthermore, you’ll need to replace the solar battery frequently. Using photovoltaics, a solar battery obtains its energy from some light source such as the sun. Usually, a solar battery is embedded into an electronic device. Furthermore, removing it is not possible.

Usually, after an hour or so of exposure to sun, the solar battery gets fully charged. A disposition of solar cells on an electronic device indicates the presence of a solar battery. Light is collected by these cells. Furthermore, they cause a semiconductor’s electrons to start moving across the conductor and towards metal contacts. Energy is generated once the electrons reach the metal contacts.

You can either store this energy in a solar cell or put it to direct use. In case you choose to do the former, the solar battery will release the energy at the appropriate time. The appropriate time may be when you turn on the battery or when the battery switches on automatically. After this, power is extracted from the solar battery.

The overall cost of your renewable energy system is dependent upon how long your solar battery lasts. The longer your solar battery lasts, the lower will be your renewable energy system’s overall cost. A great way to keep your solar battery working optimally is solar battery maintenance. Here are some solar battery maintenance tips.
 

Have less than two parallel strings

In order to get the necessary amp hours, wiring your batteries in parallel is required when you’re setting up a solar battery bank. According to most experts, paralleling the strings of a solar battery isn’t the best thing to do. You won’t face any issues if you have two or less parallel strings. However, any more than that and you’ll experience unbalanced solar batteries.
 

Discharge batteries no more than 50%

A cycle is what each discharging and re-charging of a battery is referred to as. A battery wears every time it goes through a cycle. The battery will wear based on the depth of the cycle. For example, your batteries may last two thousand or more cycles at twenty percent discharge if your batteries were designed for five hundred to eight hundred cycles at eight percent discharge.

A diminutive material amount is removed from the plates by battery cycling. Furthermore, it causes sulfate buildup on the plate material that remains. Both these things reduce the longevity and capacity of the battery.
 

Make sure your batteries are always filled with distilled water

This solar battery maintenance tip is something you’re probably already aware of. However, there is no harm in re-iterating it. Just like any other battery, topping off a solar battery with distilled water is important. Your solar battery will fail prematurely if you don’t keep it filled with distilled water. Therefore, ensure that your solar batteries are always filled with distilled water.

There you have it—tips to maintain your solar battery. Using the aforementioned solar battery maintenance tips, you can increase the capacity and longevity of your solar battery.