I am torn between lithion batt or iorn core

[charleswschmidtke]

dose anyone have good comparative sites for the different kinds of batteries pros cons ect personal experience?

[donald]

For what? In a typical off grid application LiFePO4 it's probably still at the hobby phase. For some application in boating and RV it may be a tempting alternative. I would like to use LiFePO4 in an RV application. But they can't be charged below freezing, and they probably shouldn't be connected directly to a typical automotive alternator/regulator.
Otherwise the charging characteristics are superb for RV and boating, and the space/weight of LiFePO4 very attractive.

It's notable that in boating and RV that many early adopters have not seen the high cycle performance needed to cost justify these batteries. But I think how to manage the batteries is better understood than it was three years ago.

[Mike90250]

if I had to chose today, I would go with LFP ( AKA LiFePo4, Lithium Iron Phosphate ). At the worst, it's on par with AGM, so there is room for it to get better.

I would suggest a starter pack of Lead acid golf cart batteries, and expect the to last no longer than 2 years. At that time, the LFP cells will have some field experience, and it will be easier to decide for sure. If I had to buy again this afternoon, I would go LFP over my NiFe bank. NiFe is only 60-70% efficient, consumes a LOT of water, and needs a really messy electrolyte change every 5-10 years.

LFP cannot be recharged when they are cold, below 32F, cannot be allowed to overcharge for even a minute, and should not have more than 80% discharged. If you "Bottom Balance" and have a good, calibrated charger, you can likely manage that pretty easily.

But read up MUCH more about them, and the care and feeding.

[Sunking]

LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate aka LiFeP04) from one of the Chi-Com manufactures. The best of them are from China Aviation Lithium Battery (CALB). CALB is a China Aircraft manufacture and the cells are the best of the best from China and also one of the least expensive with a decent track record now going on 4 years. They are real popular in the DIY EV market sector and quite a few people in the last 4 years are up to around 1000 cycles. Cell capacities range from 40 AH up to 200 AH and cost are about 40-cents per Watt Hour. I own a set LFP batteries in a golf cart/NEV

Performance wise they run circles around NiFe nickel iron batteries. They will not tolerate any over discharge but that is easily controlled by Bottom Balance the pack and setting your inverter LVD to the appropriate disconnect voltage. Charging requires that no cell is allowed to go any higher than 3.6 volts, but to extend life cycle 50% up to 3000 cycles should be limited to 90% SOC of 3.4 volts.

Having said all that neither LFP or NiFe are for beginners, and I agree with Mike unless you have a lot of battery knowledge start with Flooded Lead Acid because all beginners destroy there first set of batteries out of ignorance. FLA batteries cost 15 to 23 cents per watt hour, LFP 40 cents per watt hour, and NiFe up around 60-cents per watt hour plus ongoing expense of electrolyte cleaning and replacement. Hurts the wallet a lot less when you destroy your lead acid battery that will only last a few years at best.