AGM battery for solar panels?

[Americamper]

Just looking for a new battery and found a agm 100 ah deep cycle battery that says it is for solar panels. Wondering what the difference would be?

[pnichols]

We use a couple of these 115AH 12 volt Group 31 deep cycle AGM batteries in our small Class C ... they're popular with the boating crowd. They cost only slightly less than Lifelines, weigh in at around 72 lbs. each, and are warranted for 5 years.

I chose them over Lifeline a couple of years ago because they are spec'd for a higher float voltage than Lifelines:
http://www.fullriverbattery.com/product/batteries/DC115-12

[Nemo667]

+1 on the Lifeline brand. Second set for me and only replaced them after 10 years because we were going to Alaska. Buy with confidence...

[srschang]

Americamper wrote:
I think I will just go back with what I have now which is a Lifeline. Believe it or not it is 13 years old. Every time I try to go cheap I usually wind up spending more.

I'm a big Lifeline fan. The year after I bought my 2003 camper, I installed a Lifeline 105 aH battery. This summer I took it out and replaced it with 2 125 aH Lifelines. The original Lifeline was still working great after 13 years, but I wanted the increased capacity to support an inverter so I could make coffee in the morning & the wife could dry her hair.

The original perfectly good Lifeline is sitting in my garage, not sure what I should do with it.

[Americamper]

I think I will just go back with what I have now which is a Lifeline. Believe it or not it is 13 years old. Every time I try to go cheap I usually wind up spending more.

[GordonThree]

I didn't see a CCA rating on the page, guess I overlooked it.

From the page:

Chrome Battery offers a large selection of BlockShakers High Performance Power Cells to replace your existing car audio battery. Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) Sealed Lead Acid batteries are

[theoldwizard1]

Americamper wrote:
Just looking for a new battery and found a agm 100 ah deep cycle battery that says it is for solar panels. Wondering what the difference would be?

A battery does not care where the energy comes from, solar, wind or fossil fuels. The only thing the battery cares about is the charging voltages which has to do with the charge controller.

Walk away from this place.

If you want a GOOD, true deep cycle, 12V AGM battery, look at Trojan Reliant T1275-AGM. Not cheap !!

[theoldwizard1]

Americamper wrote:
The brand is Chrome. Said they are for Renogy solar panels and are 1800 watt? I've never seen a battery with a watt rating. only AH and CCA.

First, IMHO, any battery that advertises CCA is NOT a true "deep cycle" battery. Deep cycle batteries are not used for "cold cranking " application.

Second, poking around their website, I can not find any reference to any AGM batteries. SLA, yes. AGM, no. Similar but not the same.

Third, from their "about us" page

For more than 25 years, Chrome Battery CEO Dale Petruzzi has successfully bought and sold thriving battery businesses. Dale’s combined industry expertise and entrepreneurial knowledge are the foundations that created the Chrome Battery online retail website.

If he has started and sold "thriving businesses" why has he sold them.

Looks like a "flash in the pan" internet company slapping stickers on the cheapest imported batteries they can find.

[NRALIFR]

That’s the battery (VMAX SLR-125) I put in my camper in September 2015, and its performing well. Can’t remember why I settled on that battery instead of the VMAX XTR31-135, may have just been price. You can get both on Amazon with free shipping. At 75 or 77 lbs, they are the heaviest group 31 batteries I’ve encountered.

:):)

[Camper_Jeff___K]

LINK: I know several people happy with Renogy products.

[GordonThree]

This?

http://chromebattery.shopgate.com/item/333535

110ah, 12v, 68lbs, same specs as my Duracell AGM

$219 isn't horrible for a price depending on shipping. Wattage thing seems to advertise how big of a bass amplifier you can run from the battery.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Not an expert but I like to think I've picked up a couple things over time. Some batteries have the standard lead knob to clamp your battery cable to like your vehicle battery. Some that are dedicated to permanent installations have threaded studs to connect your cables to. Some batteries have both types of connections. I have heard for a mobile application, you want a battery designed for a vehicle that can take the shock of the road over time. An AGM is inherently more forgiving than a wet cell because the glass matts won't allow any debris in the battery cells to slosh up and cause an internal cell short. Look for the weight of the battery you purchase. A heavier weight may translate into more lead in the cells. For the same AH rating, go with the heavier battery. For solar / battery size matching, a rule of thumb is to have as many watts as there are amps battery current rating. I would take it a step farther since in the real world, you may see your solar panels deliver up to 70% of their rated output. For example if you had 300 amp hours battery you would want 300 watts solar. Since you only realize 70% of that 300 watts in the real world application you would actually realize 210 watts. If you install 400 watts of solar you would realize a 70% amount of 280 watts. So 400 watts rated solar is a better match for 300 AH battery rated output.
Remember to check in the Truck Camper University section. Others have done this before and a lot of information is posted there.

[Lwiddis]

Trojan says there is a difference in their solar batteries but the brochure is light on specifics. See http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/TRJN-0255-SOLAR-AGM-Flyer-051717.pdf

[Americamper]

The brand is Chrome. Said they are for Renogy solar panels and are 1800 watt? I've never seen a battery with a watt rating. only AH and CCA.

[GordonThree]

Hard to say without the details, like make and model?