Steve AGM does not sulfate like FLA. That is not to say they do no sulfate because they do. The main difference is FLA sulfate accelerates at 50% and lower DOD, AGM can go down to 80% DOD before sulfate accelerates.
Please no one take that as meaning you should or should not use AGM because it does have its application. For Solar the main advantage is you can charge and discharge AGM 2 to 5 times faster. So Steve for example your neighbors to the north in gloomy doomy Seattle and Portland receive less than 2 Sun Hours for several months out of the year. That means you must use much higher panel wattage and run Charge Rates up to 1C. Example you want 1 Kwh of of usable power in a day. You have 1 site in Seattle and 1 in Tuscon, Seattle needs a 1000 watt panel and into a 12 volt battery is 80 Amps. Tuscon only needs 400 watts of panels and 35 amps of current. Both need the exact same 12 volt 400 AH battery but not the same type. In Tuscon you can use a FLA battery that cost half as much as AGM and last twice as long. You cannot do that in Seattle with a C/5 charge current.
Most deep cycle AGM's need to be charged fast, that is what they are designed to do and are cousins of SLI batteries. They need to be pressurized to make them recombine O2 and H with the catalyst used. Bottom line is check what the battery requirements are before you make a selection. It all has to fit and be designed to work with everything.
FWIW Steve AGM batteries were developed specifically for military aircraft where inversion and G forces are encountered and no spills and excess weight can be tolerated. Concorde to this day made the first AGM's and today still make the best AGM's. They are one of the very few that use 100% virgin lead with no alloys like antimony, calcium, tin, or silver. The lead used is not from recycled material contaminated with impurities and alloys. I can only think of two other manufactures that do that, and they are not tailored to RE, rather motorsports made by Odyssey and Optima. You can tell a lot about a battery by looking at the Term Post. When you see Auto Term Post, you know it is made for motorsports. Cycle application batteries have Flags you can use 1 or more bolt through hardware. Now these are AGM batteries with dual Term Post.
Please no one take that as meaning you should or should not use AGM because it does have its application. For Solar the main advantage is you can charge and discharge AGM 2 to 5 times faster. So Steve for example your neighbors to the north in gloomy doomy Seattle and Portland receive less than 2 Sun Hours for several months out of the year. That means you must use much higher panel wattage and run Charge Rates up to 1C. Example you want 1 Kwh of of usable power in a day. You have 1 site in Seattle and 1 in Tuscon, Seattle needs a 1000 watt panel and into a 12 volt battery is 80 Amps. Tuscon only needs 400 watts of panels and 35 amps of current. Both need the exact same 12 volt 400 AH battery but not the same type. In Tuscon you can use a FLA battery that cost half as much as AGM and last twice as long. You cannot do that in Seattle with a C/5 charge current.
Most deep cycle AGM's need to be charged fast, that is what they are designed to do and are cousins of SLI batteries. They need to be pressurized to make them recombine O2 and H with the catalyst used. Bottom line is check what the battery requirements are before you make a selection. It all has to fit and be designed to work with everything.
FWIW Steve AGM batteries were developed specifically for military aircraft where inversion and G forces are encountered and no spills and excess weight can be tolerated. Concorde to this day made the first AGM's and today still make the best AGM's. They are one of the very few that use 100% virgin lead with no alloys like antimony, calcium, tin, or silver. The lead used is not from recycled material contaminated with impurities and alloys. I can only think of two other manufactures that do that, and they are not tailored to RE, rather motorsports made by Odyssey and Optima. You can tell a lot about a battery by looking at the Term Post. When you see Auto Term Post, you know it is made for motorsports. Cycle application batteries have Flags you can use 1 or more bolt through hardware. Now these are AGM batteries with dual Term Post.
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