From Guest Blogger Brain McGowan: Using Nickel Iron Batteries to Store Energy from Solar and Wind

Well my nickel-iron batteries have finally arrived from China on Friday afternoon. I have unpacked them and set them up and attached them to my system for their first charging. They are bigger than I imagined they would be — taller actually than I thought.

I placed them on two boards just so they would not be directly on the garage floor. It will be interesting to see how they perform. I am hoping they will help me take greater advantage of the solar panels and wind turbine I have by giving me greater and more tolerant storage than flooded lead acid (FLAs) provide. They should be able to be charged and discharged at a much greater rate than FLAs without suffering any damage. They should be able to handle not being totally charged every day without their capacity being diminished unlike FLAs. Temperature should not affect them at all unlike FLAs which can’t stand variations in temperature without their performance being degraded. They should be happy to be discharged to a much greater depth than FLAs without any damage or shortening of life. Hopefully this will allow me to absorb more power during the day when I am not home and use more during the night when I am home.

I can promise you I will be putting them to the test and I will post periodically to share my progress and observations. Wish me luck.