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Lithium Batteries for Beginners
​(I Make A Commission For Purchases Made Through The Links Below)


The lithium batteries below are considered "Drop-in Lead Acid Replacement" because you can use them with standard 12/24/48 volt solar charge controllers/chargers/inverters and more. Simply hook them up to your system in the same way you would a typical lead acid battery. 

These lithium batteries out perform lead acid in every regard (even price!) and once you buy one, you will never go back. 

Best value LiFePO4 12V Battery: SOK Battery

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$570 for 100Ah 12V
​
​$.44 per Wh


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$1029 for 206Ah 12V
$.39 per Wh​​

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This battery has the components of a $1000+ LiFePO4, at a fraction of the price. I have not found a better battery w/ warranty for the price of the SOK. Check out these stats:
  • Can be connected for use in 12V/24V/48V systems. Most budget batteries do not have this ability!
  • Can be serviced. If one of the cells fails in ten years, you can swap it out for a new one. If the bms fails, you can swap it out in minutes. 
  • 7 year warranty
  • Large durable terminals
  • Steel case
  • Low temperature charging protection

And it is well engineered! It is a tank of a battery, and can handle abuse for years. 

And it is a fraction of the price of other batteries! Buy the battery direct from SOK for a cheap price:

100Ah SOK Battery Click Here
​
$.44 per Wh

206Ah SOK Battery Click Here

$.39 per Wh

​Note: Frequently out of stock due to high demand. Every shipment gets sold out in a week.
And the SOK has been cycle tested. Here is the life cycle curve where it is cycled 3500 times! Check it out:
sok_battery_sk12v100-0915_life_cycle_curve.pdf
File Size: 266 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


High Quality Budget battery
​without low temperature charging protection: Ampere Time

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​$859 For 200Ah 12V
$.33 Per Wh

If the SOK is out of stock, this is the next best budget battery. But it is lacking a basic safety feature: low temp charging protection.

What this means is that you need to keep the batteries warm 24/7. If you try to charge these batteries when they are cold, they will be destroyed instantly. You will have permanent degradation, and it will not be safe to use. 

If you buy a victron solar charge controller (click here), you can program a low temp charging protection feature. You will need to buy a temp sensor for the controller to enable this function: Click here

Or you can mount the batteries in a warm location and you will be set. As long as these batteries do not reach any temperature below 32 degrees F, you will be good to go. 

Besides the low temp charging issue, it is a great battery! I did a full tear down and it was really nice inside. A very well made battery that should last a long time.

Click here to purchase 12V 100Ah

Click here to purchase 12V 200Ah

Click here to purchase 12V 300Ah

Long Lasting and Marine Grade
​12V LiFePO4 Batteries:

​Battle Born

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$950 for 100Ah 12V
​
$.70 per Wh

​​​Battle Born 12 volt 100 amp hour
​Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery
​

Good battery, but pretty expensive. If you want something that works great for years (or decades), buy this battery. I have not heard of a dissatisfied battle born battery buyer. It just works. 

I would go with the SOK/Ampere time battery above unless I needed a sealed battery, for marine application. The battleborn has the best case and terminals around, and can handle high moisture environments. It is also ideal for high vibration systems, such as RV's and vans. 
​
  • 1200 watt hours total capacity (1280 watt hours usable)
  • WEIGHT 31 LBS
  • SIZE 12.75 x 6.875 x 9 (L x W xH)
  • Lithium Iron Phosphate Chemistry (safest choice for mobile solar power systems)
  • 12 volt Drop-in Lead Acid Replacement (works with any 12v solar charge controller, but be sure to select the "LiFePO4" or "sealed lead acid" charge setting)
  • 100 amp continuous output. 200 amp surge output
  • 3 year full replacement warranty and 5 year prorated
  • 3000-5000 charge cycles (cheaper than lead acid batteries in the long term)
  • Acceptable Charging Voltages: 14.1 to 14.6 volts
  • ​Has high AND low temperature protection 
  • This battery CAN be series connected! Which means you can use it to build 12/24/48 volt systems

If you want this battery to last a long time, keep it in a cool environment. The Battle Born does not require ventilation and it is maintenance free, but having a little air flow in your battery compartment can help keep the temperature down and prolong the life of your battery. 

These are safe to parallel connect in chains (to increase capacity of your system) with standard battery cables. If you plan to power large loads, you will need multiple batteries (for each 1000 watts required, use 1 battery. Example: 4500 watt load will require 5 batteries wired in parallel).


Click Here to buy it directly from Battle Born
$.70 per Wh
​
Click Here to buy it on Amazon.com

If you plan to use the battle born in freezing temperatures, there is an optional 12v heater pad. Click here

Battle Born GC2

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Same stats as the model above, but this battery can be connected in parallel with bus bars. If you have a large bank and plan to use solid copper bus bars to attach everything, use this one. 

Click here to buy the GC2
​$.81 per Wh

24 volt Battleborn Batteries

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​​​Battle Born 24 volt 50 amp hour
​Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

​
  • 1200 watt hours total capacity (1200 watt hours usable)
  • WEIGHT 29 LBS
  • SIZE 12.75 x 6.875 x 9 (L x W xH)
  • Lithium Iron Phosphate Chemistry (safest choice for mobile solar power systems)
  • 24 volt Drop-in Lead Acid Replacement (works with any 24v solar charge controller, but be sure to select the "LiFePO4" or "sealed lead acid" charge setting)
  • 100 amp continuous output. 200 amp surge output
  • 10 year warranty
  • 3000-5000 charge cycles (cheaper than lead acid batteries in the long term)
  • Acceptable Charging voltages 28.8 to 29.6 volts
  • ​Has high and low temperature protection 
  • This battery CAN be series connected! Which means you can use it to build 24/48 volt systems​

Click Here to buy it directly from Battle Born​
$.78 per Wh

Cold Temperature 12V 150/300Ah
LiFePO4 Battery: KiloVault

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This battery is impressive! In my testing, I pulled full capacity at -20 degrees Celsius. I was not expecting it to work that well!

It has built in electric heaters that will activate when the temperature is below 0 degrees C. ​So if you try to charge in the cold, this battery will divert power to the heaters 100% until the pack reaches a safe charging temperature. This feature will usually be used during charging, because LiFePO4 can discharge at pretty low temperatures. 

The internal build is impressive and it can be connected in parallel or series to 48V. 

If you plan to build a solar power system in a frigid cold environment, this is the battery for you. 

These cost more than an SOK, but less than a Battleborn. So pretty good considering the features!

Click Here to purchase 100Ah Cold Rated KLV
$.82 per Wh
​

Click Here to purchase 150Ah Cold Rated KLV
$.69 per Wh

Click Here to purchase 300Ah Cold Rated KLV
​$.62 per Wh

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