Silicon Salt Battery

never heard of them

andyrud said:

Hi Dave, I don't think these are the same as the Aquion batteries.  These come 2 volt, 6 volt, 12 volt.  There encasement look very similar to a normal battery, the Aquion batteries look very unique.
Andy R

I think that there is plenty of confusion with these batteries.
It would be nice if the store here would make it a little easier to understand.
Things like how many KWH /AH is useable in 24 hours and at what price/cycle life? It is hard to send them a customer!
http://www.solar-electric.com/batteries-meters-accessories/batteries/aquion-energy-aqueous-hybrid-ion-batteries.html

I read it but the confusion from that gets even worse. They claim to have a lower cost per KWH but it does not look lower to me. It looks like twice the cost over flooded. They claim to not need battery management but the store sells their battery management.

Here's the reply to an inquiry I made to backwoods....  ( I don't understand where the yellow highlight came from when I copy/pasted....)

"You are asking some good questions. I'll try and answer them as best I can. The Silicon Salt batteries do seem to hold a charge better than a traditional flooded lead acid battery. I would say you can certainly go 3-5 months with no major issues. I'm not sure I'm comfortable saying much longer than that. They are still a lead based battery, so they do behave somewhat the same as a Gel battery in some ways. 

You would set them up with similar parameters to a Gel battery. That is very easy with a Midnite Kid.

You should design them exactly like a Gel in terms of depth of discharge. Deeper discharges will shorten battery life. 

The main advantage of these batteries is for use in high or low temperatures. Or for those folks just looking for a sealed battery.

I hope that helps. As the years go by we will be able to offer a little more insight."

I just installed two 6V silicon salt batteries, with 220 AH, at my remote cabin. One of the main issues with the AGM batteries I had was rolling in at night to a 0* F cabin. I would have to run my Honda EU2000i all night, for a week, until the batteries warmed enough to hold capacity. I then installed a 6" by 12" orange silicon heater pad (60W) under each one. Using the Honda I could get them to warmed up to 60* F in about six hours. I used one of those nifty lazer 'gun' thermometers to monitor battery temperature. That worked well. However, after about 5 years of doing this, one of my AGM's failed. When I looked underneath the AGM's I saw that the heating pads had begun to burn the plastic structure underneath the batteries (the rectangular and 'X' structure left airspace which cause the heating pads to overheat). They were about 8 years old so I decided to replace them. My solar guy reccommended I consider these new Silicon Salt batteries.
As you guys know, one claim is that the silicon salt batts are almost impervious to low temperatures. I have been in to the cabin once since install and so far so good. They were 27* F on arrival and performed very well. Further, they readily took a charge from my Vector charger. Once topped off by the charger, they ran my LED lights and another low voltage appliance all night. No heater pads and no Honda except to charge them before I went to bed. Nine hours later, I still had 13V on the Morningstar controller when I made coffee.My AGM's, once warmed up, usually had about 12.3 V in the morning and I had to be careful how many lights I lit. Not with the Silicon Salt batts. The battery temperature in the morning was about 50* F and climbing. When the sun was up, I still had 12.8V.
Finally, I paid about $10 more for each than new AGM's. I am quite impressed so far. I'll give more reports as time goes on.
Thanks for this forum. I have learned a lot and you guys have saved me lots of money and aggravation with your generous advice.

JB

Can an average-Joe purchase and install these, or does installation have to be done by "authorized" installers only?

Is there any problem with degradation from shipping / storage in a slight off-vertical orientation?  I can't recall where I read it, or if this is even a factor at all with these batteries.

bb buddy and PNJunction,

i don't know. I bought them from my rural solar-electrical guy. He said the install was very straightforward and I watched him and  it took a few minutes to swap the new batteries for the old AGM's. They are JH Energy YN6-200, 6 volt. I am still trying to get some literature on them. Also, I can't find anything about them on the net. When I get that info, I'll report.
They look similar to the silicon salt batteries sold now by Backwoods. There is also an article about them on the site, but nothing about a charge/discharge profile. I seem to remember an article that said they are capable of fast charge and discharge without damage. 
I am headed out to the cabin this week for the Presidents Day Weekend. I'll tell you how they perform.

Thanks very much as always.

JB

bbbuddy,

siliconebatteries.ca/ has an article which claims a 25 minute recharge and 8 second discharge with no damage. It sounds like you would know what this means as a practical matter. I'd be interested to hear you thoughts.

I also want to find out if "silicon" and "silicone" batteries are the same thing. Thanks.

westbranch,

I am emailing my solar system guy again today to get more info about my batteries. Thanks.

JB

Here is a link I found. nuglobalnrg.com/sibattery.html

On page 2 there is a spreadsheet and then on pps 3 & 4 there are performance graphs. Frankly, these batteries seem too good to be true. Time will tell. One consistent review item is low temperature performance.

JB

My solar guy says the specs on my JH Energy batteries look identical to  the nuglobalnrg batteries. He's looking for literature. I noticed that they call them "silicone."   JB

At the cabin this weekend. It's winter here, not light until 8am and dark at 6:30pm. Yet batteries where fully charged. 24* in the cabin on arrival. Batts were 38* I assume that's from solar charging? They powered my lights all evening and charged IPads and phone all night. Then ran lights until daylight. Solar charging all day (overcast and snowing) then repeated the next night and this am. By today, they were 60* with 13.2 V when I left at 11 am. My AGM's took a week to warm up and that was with lots of Honda generator charging. Very impressed.

JB

My AGM's took a week to warm up and that was with lots of Honda generator charging. Very impressed

tell us more about how many Amps you were putting in?