The bigger warning is with the "Chinese" NiFe cells. There was a company importing them 15-20 years or so ago. The failure rate was very high and the factory support was almost nonexistent. Unless you're a tinkerer, they are great cells to stay away from!
I know people who use the original Edison cells in power systems and have seen people just using them as a DC source. Don't worry, you can't get the voltage too high when charging them. They just take it. They don't freeze and if I remember correctly, temp does not alter the output either. There are plenty of the original Edison Cells still out there. Later, Bob Ellison -----Original Message----- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Tom Duffy Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2012 7:54 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Nickel-Iron Batteries Nickel iron has been around since Edison (Thomas) the cells are 1.2 volt and use potassium hydroxide as an electrolyte. The problem we had with them 20 or so years ago was that the voltage range is large, too large for electronics. So the useable range (window) is not that great. I have actually seen some that the cases were nickel... I can't imagine what that would cost today. We concluded that while what you read looks amazing, they're not all that useful for RE applications using inverters. They might be useful if you're doing straight DC circuits. But it's a lot of cells. Kind Regards Tom Duffy Senior Solar Design Engineer Toll Free 888-895-8179 t...@thesolar.biz For: Customer Service and Accounting 888-895-6810 Grid tie sales 888-895-7847 Off Grid sales 888-895-7765 Other Product Sales 888-895-9612 Shipping and Receiving 888-895-6497 Tech Support 888-895-8179 -----Original Message----- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Phil Theis Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2012 12:35 PM To: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Subject: [RE-wrenches] Nickel-Iron Batteries Greetings, Does anyone have experience with Iron Edison Batteries for an off grid application? They claim "excellent and reliable performance for 20+ years" Thank you, Phil Theis NABCEP Certified PV Installer PennSun Solar _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
