Batteries and Battery Accessories

The high quality and durable 12V battery box detailed below is ideal for housing and protecting your solar system battery indoors or outdoors. It allows you to safely and simply connect your 12V solar system, while keeping your battery clean and dry.

But the battery is perfectly safe as it is without additional weather protection. However, it is advisable to use our Insulated Safety Clamps to make connection to the battery.

Insulated Safety Clamps - Order Code 8098

These come as a pair of quick release brass clamps with heavy duty insulated plastic covers. One blue coloured cover for the negative pole and one red coloured cover fo rthe positive pole of the battery.

They are suitable only for batteries with round shaped terminals - not the lug type terminal with a hole used to attach the cable.

The connection wire to the solar system is secured to the brass clamp using the 2 x screw clamp bar. The solar wiring can thus be easily removed if required and is secured against being easily disloged as crocodile clamps can easily be.

12V Battery Box - Order Code 8097

The high quality and durable 12V battery box is ideal for housing and protecting your solar system battery indoors or outdoors.

Allows you to safely and simply connect your 12V solar system, while keeping your battery clean and dry.

Shows the battery power level, has an main on-off isolator switch and a handy cigarette lighter adaptor.

Particularly useful in rural applications for safety and reliability where it keeps livestock away from the battery. The screw type external terminals are rubber coated to prevent short circuits and aid easy de-mounting of the solar system.

The 12V battery box has an ON~OFF switch to isolate all circuits from the battery without having to open the box or disconnect wires.

It comes with a useful strap to secure the lid in place. It is easily undone to allow quick access to the inside of the box. The charge controller can also be mounted inside the battery box to keep everything tidily wired for safety and convenience.

Features

· Suitable for all batteries whether sealed or unsealed up to 120 Ah.

· Accommodates batteries up to 346mm long x 173mm wide x 232mm high

· Main On - OFF Switch (100A current rating).

· Battery Power Meter (touch of a button to indicate the battery condition).

· Accessory Socket (convenient for all 12V accessories plug directly into the battery box).

· External terminals (rubber coated to prevent short circuits)

· Adjustable strap (to secure the lid in place; easily and quickly removed)

Ø 12V Battery Box : Order code 8097

Ø External Dimensions ( L x W x H) : 450 x 290 x 310 mm

Ø Internal Dimensions ( L x W x H) : 356 x 208 x 240 mm

Ø Degree of protection : IP 44

Ø Weight : 2.5 kg

Ø Materials : Impact Resistant Polypropylene

Ø Colour : Black

Image below shows wiring inside the lid. Installer simply connects 2 x cables to the battery.

If the battery that you use has pillar type terminals (and not lugs with holes in) you will need to fit battery terminals when it is to be fitted into the 12V battery box (order code 8097). The positive and negative terminals differ in size so that you cannot easily transpose the connections.

Order Code 8711 - Battery terminal - positive RED

Order Code 8712 - Battery terminal - negative BLACK

Batteries

There are two popular types of battery used for solar PV systems. These are called GEL and Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries and both are in fact types of lead acid battery. They store their charge very well and do not degrade as easily as the common lead acid (wet cell) battery. Because of the type of material used as the electrolyte in GEL or AGM batteries there is very little chance of a hydrogen gas build up that can lead to an explosion. They are both very safe batteries and are therefore ideally suited to solar PV installations. In most cases AGM batteries are perfectly suitable and are cheaper than GEL.

AGM BATTERIES AGM's come in most popular battery sizes, are completely sealed and maintenance free. They can't be spilled, do not need periodic watering, and emit no corrosive fumes. They can be mounted on their side or end and are extremely vibration resistant. The electrolyte will not stratify and no equalization charging is required. AGM's are also well suited to systems that get infrequent use as they typically have less than a 2% self discharge rate during storage. They can also be transported easily and safely by air.

GEL BATTERIES contain acid that has been turned into a “gel” through the addition of Silica Gel, turning the acid into a solid state. These batteries are impossible to spill acid even if they are broken. However, there are disadvantages to using this type of battery. They cannot be fast charged or they may be permanently damaged. This is not usually a problem with solar electric systems though. If the battery is charged via an inverter trickle charger then it’s important to set the charging current correctly to limit the charging current to the batteries.

However, most small off-grid solar systems are used successfully with standard car or caravan batteries or deep discharge protected batteries.

We recommend that you purchase a 12V car or caravan deep cycle battery with a capacity of at least 75Ak~85Ah so that you can be certain that you will always have enough capacity available. A battery of this type is available from most motoring / caravanning shops.

The Numax sealed leisure 105 Ah battery costing £78.68 is ideal and can be purchased from - click here. We don't normally sell batteries but can supply a suitable battery if you wish. Please call with your requirements.