Lithium-ion batteries have proven to be extremely effective for energy storage. But, the problem many people are having is that they buy lithium-ion batteries without knowing the right capacity they need. Regardless of what you intend to use the battery for, it is expedient that you calculate the amount of you need to run your devices or equipment. Therefore, the big question would be – how can you accurately ascertain the right kind of battery for a particular application.
This article will be revealing steps you can take to enable you accurately calculate the amount of battery storage you need. One more thing; these steps can be undertaken by any Average Joe.
Take stock of all the devices you intend to power
The first step to take when deciding on which battery to use is taking an inventory of what you intend to power. This is what will determine the amount of energy you require. You need to start by identifying the amount of power every electronics device uses. This is also regarded as the quantity of load the device draws. The load is always rated in a watts or amps.
If the load is rated in amps, you need to do an estimate of time (hours) in terms of how long the device will work every day. When you get that value, have it multiplied by the current in amps. That will output the ampere-hour requirements for each day. However, if the load is indicated in watts, the approach will be slightly different. In that case, first, you need to divide the wattage value by the voltage to know the current in amps. Also, you need to estimate how long (hours) the device will be running every day, so you can multiply the current (ampere) with that value.
After that, you would have been able to arrive at the ampere-hour rating for all the devices. The next thing is to add all those values up, and your daily energy needs will be known. Upon knowing that value, it will be easy to request a battery that can deliver close to that ampere-hour rating.
Know how much power you need in terms of watts or amps
Alternatively, you can choose to compute the maximum power you need to run all the devices in your home. You can equally do this in watts or amps. Suppose you are working with amps; I would assume you already know how to do that since it has been explained in the last section. After computing the current requirement for all the devices at a particular time, you need to sum them all up as that will yield the maximum current requirement.
Whichever battery you decide to buy, it is essentially important that you consider how they will be recharged. If what you are using to recharge your battery is not able to serve your daily power needs, that means you may need to reduce the load you’re using. Or you may need to find a way to supplement the charging power. When that charging deficit is not corrected, it will be difficult to charge the battery to its full capacity within the required timeline. That will ultimately reduce the available capacity of the battery.
Let’s use an example to illustrate how this thing works. Assuming you calculated 500Ah as your daily power requirement, and you need to know how many batteries would deliver that power. For li-ion 12V batteries, you can find options ranging from 10 – 300Ah. Therefore, if we assume you are opting for the 12V, 100Ah type, then it means you need five of those batteries to meet your daily power requirement. However, if you are opting for the 12V, 300Ah battery, then two of the batteries will serve your needs.
When you are done assessing both types of battery arrangements, you can sit back and compare the prices of both options and choose the one that works best with your budget. I guess that was not as difficult as you had thought. Congratulations, because you just learned how to ascertain how much power you need to run your appliances. But, if you are still struggling to get the explanation, then go back and read through it once more.
Lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries
Forklifts can either function with li-ion batteries or lead-acid batteries. If you are buying the batteries brand new, either of them can deliver the needed power. But, there are distinct differences between the two batteries.
First, lithium-ion batteries are light and smallish, making them super-fit for forklifts. Their introduction into the forklift industry has brought about a disruption in the most preferrable batteries. For instance, they can deliver maximum power and also meet the minimum weight requirement to counterbalance the forklift. Also, lithium-ion batteries do not strain the components of the forklift. This will enable to electric forklift to last longer because it wouldn’t need to counter more than the necessary weight.
Second, supplying constant voltage is also an issue in lead-acid batteries when it has been used for a period of time. This can affect the performance of the forklift. Fortunately, this is not an issue for lithium-ion batteries. No matter how long you use it, the voltage supply still remains the same. Even when the battery has used up 70% of its lifespan, the supply will not change. This is one of the advantages lithium batteries have over lead-acid batteries.
In addition, there are no special weather conditions where you can use lithium-ion batteries. Whether it is hot or cold, you can use it to power your forklift. Lead-acid batteries have some limitations regarding the regions where they can be effectively used.
Conclusion
Lithium-ion batteries are the best forklift batteries today. It is crucial that you buy the right kind of battery that can supply your forklift the power it requires. If you don’t know how to calculate the required power, then you can read through the above portions of the post. It contains steps you can take to calculate how much power you need for your forklift.
