The upgraded SLA (sealed lead acid) battery-based UPS (uninterruptable energy provide) now residing in my furnace room has achieved an awesome job to date feeding backup energy to my two NASs and my key broadband and LAN gear. However what about different, beefier units in my residence that I additionally may wish to hold working if premises energy goes down particularly for a prolonged timespan, equivalent to my chest freezer out within the storage? And what about toting a beefy energy supply together with me on highway journeys in my camper van, to be used in conditions the place I resolve to spend substantial time someplace far-off from standard sources of electrical energy?
A few months in the past, I discovered my reply, at the very least for now: the Phase2 Power PowerSource 660Wh 1800-Watt Energy Station, which I picked up on sale for $149.99 plus tax at Meh:
The sold-new mannequin quantity is P2E660PSS, and listed here are some specs courtesy of Meh’s discussion board:
- Gives 1800 watts of peak output energy (1440 watts steady) to run most family home equipment
- Options an instant-on UPS for uninterrupted energy
- Permits daisy-chaining of limitless extra batteries for prolonged gadget run instances
- Features a built-in photo voltaic controller with Anderson connector for connecting photo voltaic panels
- Geared up with an LCD energy show for fast energy and output standing
- Designed with built-in handles for straightforward transport
- 660 Wh battery capability (12V, 55Ah)
- Outputs: 4 AC, twin USB, one 12V DC (“cigarette lighter adapter”)
- Dimensions: 19.9″L x 12.8″W x 8.9″H
- Energy supply: Photo voltaic powered, Battery Powered
Seems it’s a clone of the Duracell PowerSource 660 1800 Peak Watt Gasless Generator and Transportable Energy Station, mannequin DR660PSS, which (consider it or not) initially bought for $699.99:
(The “gasless” terminology you typically see related to these models doesn’t reference an absence of gasoline emissions; as an alternative, it refers to the truth that not like legacy AC mills, these aren’t powered by pure gasoline, propane, diesel and and/or customary gasoline gas sources.)
So why the substantial {discount} to $149.99? For one factor, Phase2 Power seemingly now not exists, contemplating the corporate’s DOA web site. Duracell doesn’t promote its model of the product any extra, both. If I needed to guess, primarily based on my analysis, I’d wager that each are personal label retail variations of a design generally sourced initially from Battery-Biz, however I digress…
A number of the motive for the worth discount could come from bulk coupled with the price of alternative batteries. One key spec lacking from the above bullet checklist is the P2E660PSS’s weight: 58.33 lbs. Granted, there are “built-in handles”, however until you’re a weightlifter, “straightforward transport” remains to be a stretch. And as this assessment notes, “the OEM battery, which is Chinese language, may be very onerous to search out, and if you happen to can it’s actually costly.”
A number of the motive could come from the blended suggestions. Granted, the buyer evaluations on Greatest Purchase’s and Amazon’s web sites have been practically all four- and five-star in nature. However on-line evaluations from educated fanatics, equivalent to this one, have been much less sanguine:
INSERT https://youtu.be/WU-qP85xFMI
That mentioned, the reviewer admits that the product remains to be a great worth for what it prices, even at its authentic $699.99 price ticket. And admittedly, his web site is titled “Powered Transportable Photo voltaic,” so he proportionally centered extra on the product’s inefficient PWM cost controller circuitry than somebody not excited by photo voltaic recharging may (he additionally “dinged” it for its modified sine wave inverter, which is each much less output-efficient than the costlier pure sine wave inverter different and whose output could trigger issues with significantly choosy AC units). I plan to debate photo voltaic charging each generally and particularly because it pertains to my explicit gadget in a deliberate upcoming follow-on weblog submit.
That every one mentioned, the probably largest motive for the discount-and-demise is that this whole SLA battery-based product class is within the strategy of being obsoleted by lithium battery-based moveable energy successors equivalent to these from longstanding corporations equivalent to Anker, Bluetti, EcoFlow, and Jackery, plus an growing variety of China-based low-priced opponents. Latest Meh sale examples embrace this 500W one from Phase2 Power (who I collect is seemingly dumping its remaining closeout product stock) for $149 refurbished or $199 new:
or this 1200W Energizer-branded one, full with a separate 200W photo voltaic cell, for $599.99:
Why? SLA batteries are cumbersome, heavy, and have a restricted shelf life (one thing I not too long ago skilled firsthand) together with restricted recharge cycle counts forward of their inevitable demise. On the latter level, the Powered Transportable Photo voltaic assessment highlights the 250-cycle lifetime spec for Duracell’s PowerSource 660, which can signify an enchancment vs the SLA norm. The product’s inside battery is variously reported as being an AGM (absorbed glass mat) variant (I haven’t taken my gadget aside but to verify), which if true would ship enhancements in metrics equivalent to deep cycle tolerance, charging speeds, recharge cycles, temperature and vibration tolerance, and so forth. versus standard SLAs, albeit at an incremental-price tradeoff.
Successor units are typically primarily based on LiFePO₄ (lithium iron phosphate) battery know-how. How’s this translate by way of comparative product specs? Take, for instance, the Bluetti AC18O, which I randomly chosen from a Google search outcomes checklist primarily based on its similar-sounding 1800-W AC output (though be aware that for the Duracell and Phase2 Power units, that is the peak spec with 1440 W because the continuous-output counterpart, whereas the Bluetti AC180 specs 1800 W steady and 2700 W peak):
The Bluetti 180’s weight—35.3 lbs—is sort of half that of its SLA precursors, though it’s a tad bit bigger volume-wise: 13.39” x 9.72” x 12.48” (a few of which, in equity, is taken up by its increased 11-total output depend; 4 pure sine wave AC, one USB-C, 4 USB-A, one 12V DC, and an built-in wi-fi charging pad). The inner battery capability is 1,152 Wh. It touts 3,500+ recharge cycles to 80% authentic capability, recharges to 80% in 45 minutes with a 1,440-W AC enter, and affords a 5-year guarantee (versus 2 years on the Duracell, and Phase2 Power’s now not round, after all …sarcastically, I’d found the corporate’s DOA web site once I went on-line to register it for prolonged guarantee protection functions).
So, what are the tradeoffs? Upfront price is one huge one. The Bluetti 180 is at present promoting (as I kind these phrases on July 14) for $999 on the producer’s web site, though Amazon at present has it listed for $450 much less ($549) as a pre-Prime Days promotion. Loads of that value differential comes from the associated fee variance between comparatively the brand new LiFePO₄ and mature SLA battery applied sciences. That mentioned, after all, a LiFePO₄-based energy station will final fairly a bit longer than its legacy SLA-based precursor, because of the numerous variance in recharge-cycle capabilities, however the upfront sticker shock issue can’t be dismissed, both.
One different key distinction between SLA and LiFePO₄ (and different lithium-based applied sciences, for that matter) includes their various instantaneous-power responses (one thing that I additionally not too long ago skilled firsthand). As “narfcake” famous within the Meh discussion board dialogue on the Phase2 Power PowerSource 660Wh 1800-Watt Energy Station:
The caveat is that LiFePO4 is often simply rated for its output – anticipate a 50Ah battery to max out at 50A output. AGM/SLA are able to outputting a lot increased currents (with diminished runtime), therefore tiny 8Ah batteries in a UPS with the ability to crank out 1200+ watts, which is 100+ amps.
Such instantaneous-spike assist can also be helpful, for instance, with fridge and freezer compressor motors or another gadget with higher-than-nominal startup energy wants.
In closing, whereas we’re evaluating completely different battery applied sciences, a number of phrases on LiFePO₄ versus the opposite lithium-based approaches I’ve already alluded to are most likely so as. The checklist of options begins, I suppose, with the disposable (non-rechargeable) lithium steel cells used, for instance, in my Blink safety cameras. However on condition that the functions we’re protecting in this submit all essentially depend on batteries’ recharging capabilities, the first options are lithium-ion (Li-ion) and lithium polymer, extra precisely said as lithium-ion polymer (Li-Po), a Li-ion spinoff which makes use of a semisolid (gel) polymer electrolyte as an alternative of a liquid electrolyte.
Numerous on-line sources exist, with various emphases, accuracies and vested pursuits together with breadth and depth of element, in striving to examine these three rechargeable lithium-based applied sciences. LiFePO₄ batteries are typically understood to have the very best cycle counts, for instance, translating into lengthy life, and are additionally comparatively immune from thermal runaway and overheating. However they’re the costliest of the approaches on a cost-per-capacity foundation, probably partially as a result of they’re the least mature of the three. Li-Po seemingly has the very best cost density and can be molded into quite a lot of versatile type components, however is susceptible to swelling together with hearth and the like, subsequently requiring cautious dealing with each whereas in use and in storage. And Li-ion, maybe probably the most mature of the three approaches, is in lots of respects an middleman step between the opposite two from numerous analysis components’ views.
That every one mentioned, as I’ve talked about earlier than, I’m not an influence engineer, so my understanding of those analysis components (and the way every know-how stacks up in opposition to them, each now and as they additional mature sooner or later) could also be incomplete in comparison with the data base of at the very least a few of you. As all the time, subsequently, please pontificate together with your ideas within the feedback!
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line publication.
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The submit SLA batteries: Extra system type components and lithium-based successors appeared first on EDN.
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