User Manual
Important things to know
Batteries life span is determined not by years but by cycles.
Most AGM batteries have a cycle life of approximately 500–600 cycles at 50% Depth of Discharge (DOD), while GEL batteries’ cycle life is slightly more than AGM
batteries, depending on the application. The reason for this is that Gel batteries generally hold more electrolyte, giving it a slightly longer service life in some
applications.
Battery Cycles:
Battery cycles are determined by the manufacturer. Manufacturers use various ways and quality of materials to manufacture batteries. Batteries will traditionally reach the end of life when the positive plate has corroded to a point where the cell dies or the paste applied to the lead plate deteriorated to a point where the cell dies. Batteries are not in comparison with water tanks, a vessel that can be filled and emptied continuously without failure. The discharge and charge process will eventually cause structural breakdown and end of life. Gel and AGM explained:
Both batteries are by definition lead acid batteries. Gel batteries are called gel because they use silica (or sand) to turn the acid inside the battery into a thick
liquid. This liquid does make it spill-proof, like AGM batteries, but the gel is fragile, and can be easily burned if used in high amperage situations. Things like quick charging, high discharge, or other intense situations are all likely to cause serious damage to a gel battery, making it fail even if it’s barely used.
AGM batteries use the concept of gel batteries and take it a step further. This makes for a product with the same resistances and the same sealed and spill-
proof case as a gel, but now offers the flexibility and high performance that only comes from an AGM battery. Combine this with a streamlined way to produce the batteries, and you have a more affordable and powerful tool that is a must-have for anyone looking for a quality product they can trust.
Gel vs AGM
Below are a comparison between Gel and AGM batteries to better understand the differences:
Gel batteries
Expensive compared to AGM batteries
The battery can be ruined even if it is brand new if you make one charging mistake, like overcharging or using a tapering charger
Gel paste suspends the electrolyte in the battery case of a gel battery
You can fully discharge gel batteries up to 90% and still get a much longer cycle life than you would with AGM batteries
AGM batteries
Expensive compared to AGM batteries
The battery can be ruined even if it is brand new if you make one charging mistake, like overcharging or using a tapering charger
Gel paste suspends the electrolyte in the battery case of a gel battery
You can fully discharge gel batteries up to 90% and still get a much longer cycle life than you would with AGM batteries
Popular
Other Conditions
With our current load-shedding schedule in South Africa, it is important to take note of how many cycles are used per day, week and month to fully understand the constraints being put on batteries to perform in an extremely hostile environment towards batteries.
Under stage 3 load shedding conditions, there will be 3 outages a day and over 1 week there will be about 21 outages and therefore 21 discharges. Often the batteries or battery banks have not fully charged before the next round of load shedding due to the amount of
hours until the next load shedding. This will result in further deterioration of the battery because acid particles stay on the lead plate that gradually hardens and form sulphate crystals that coders the plate also known as sulfation build up.
Taking the above into consideration, if you take 600 cycles or the full lifespan of a typical AGM or Gel with slightly higher cycles and divide that with 3 cycles(outages) a day, your battery will give you 200 days of use before the end of life. Taking into consideration that these
batteries do not have time to fully recharge, hence causing sulfation build up and even less cycles.
CSIR Data shows that 2022 has had 11 529 hours of load shedding. If we take 3 stages per day on average, this equates to 3843 cycles or 320 cycles a month theoretically. In many cases batteries could not necessarily charge to produce a cycle during the next load-shedding. 80% of 2022 load shedding hours was from July to Dec, coming down to 9223 hours.
Practically in April 2023 we experience 3 outages a day on average. 600 cycles divided by 3 outages will give you 200 days more or less . To put it simple, if you bought an AGM or Gel battery in January 2022, the battery would reach end of life between July and Aug 2022
giving it between 6 and 8 months of run time. Keep in mind, an average battery has approximately 600 cycles under IDEAL conditions! It
is no wonder that the batteries do not last. They were not intended to be used under such trying conditions.
BSI decided to enter the public market in June 2022 and sold quality rejuvenated batteries to more than 1000 clients to date.
Keeping in mind that BSI rejuvenated batteries already had a service life, BSI batteries with its unique additive are still running in back up systems all over South Africa providing back up energy to our clients.
For all practical terms, BSI rejuvenated batteries has provided an additional, 9223 hours of service life in 2022 over and above the service life already provided during the original installation before BSI technology was introduced.
With the year already moving into May, adding thousands of additional load shedding hours and cycles, BSI rejuvenated batteries has achieved the ‘traditionally thought’ impossible. Data has unmistakably proven that BSI technology protects the integrity of a lead acid
battery. It is our professional recommendation to rejuvenate your lead acid battery as soon as possible to protect your battery against the harsh conditions it is currently exposed to.
Battery Care
The ideal charging conditions for our batteries is a slow charging cycle, ideally 24 hours. If a full charge does not occur, this impacts the capacity of our batteries. Another common mistake made with solar batteries that can cut their lifespan short is allowing them to
become completely discharged and failing to recharge them for long periods of time. Batteries that are left uncharged long term can be damaged, making them less efficient at best and completely worthless at worst. Make sure that they are constantly connected to a charging source, and that you rotate batteries regularly to ensure they are all receiving adequate charge. Please see charging specifications as indicated on our website.
The batteries in your bank need to be rotated within the circuit on a monthly basis in order to provide the maximum effective lifespan. Because of the possibility of uneven charging, particularly in larger battery banks, it’s a good idea to regularly swap the batteries from
the middle of the string to the end of the string.
When batteries reach a nearly full charge, they can begin a phenomenon known as gassing or boiling. While that may sound disconcerting, gassing is a normal part of the battery usage and is actually good for a battery. It should occur on a daily basis, and the
process involves the production of hydrogen gas and water. Because of these by-products, it’s important that you provide adequate ventilation for your battery storage bank, as hydrogen gas can be dangerous if it becomes concentrated in an enclosed space.
Equalising your batteries involves more than just rotating them within the string. Equalisation is a process that uses a controlled overcharging of the battery bank to maintain each battery in the string. Batteries in circuit may charge unevenly, and as a result, some of your batteries may never attain a full charge. That can be detrimental to battery life because it allows sulfation on the plates of your batteries. By equalising, or overcharging, your battery bank, you ensure each battery gets a full charge. That can remove sulfation and churn your battery electrolyte mixture, which can become stratified and inefficient under regular usage. Maintaining your battery bank is critical for the health of your photovoltaic system, and it can help you save money on the replacement of batteries in the future. Once every three months on rejuvenated batteries.
- Loose connections can cause a short and even lead to explosion of the battery if the spark comes into contact with hydrogen gas.
- Overcharging can cause the battery to overheat and bulge. If batteries are not rotated and one of your batteries is damaged, your inverter will keep on charging, leaving your battery bank at risk.
- Depleting the battery more than 50% can cause the battery to overheat and bulge.
