Life is to short for cheap beer. Younger son lives in Fort Collins with New Belgium brewery 8 minutes bike ride and Odell about 10 minutes. I have developed a wheat allergy but true barley beers are just great.
The battery box for the Manzanita 180 amp-hr 12 V nominal (2.4 kW-hr) is 8" wide, 12.5" long, 13.5" tall (without lugs). Total weighl is 63 lbs/ 28.5 kg. The 100 AH box is 6.25" wide by 21.5" long by 10.75" tall and is about $1K.
The Balqon 2.6 kW-hr has dimensions of 7 x 15 x 12 (in) | 432 × 381 × 304 (mm) (L X W X H) or 1260 cubic inches and weighs 84 lbs. Do not know why Balqon is 20# heavier
The cube is approximately the same for both and the cost is about $1600 for either. The Manzanita comes with volage regulator so you probably hand balance to 3.4V and set regulator for that.
You get to absorb level quickly with solar/generator/line power but it still needs an hour or so to finish absorb to get to float. If you do not have a large amount of solar, then just turn on a 1 kW generator for 30 minutes to an hour and get in 500 to 1000 W-hr and then let the solar do absorb.
Reed and Elaine
