In our desire to offer our customers the complete system from solar panel to battery, we have now partnered with Dragonfly Energy/Battle Born Batteries!  They specialize in manufacturing high performing LiFePO4 batteries ideal for marine and RV applications.  Providing the most energy storage in limited spaces.  All their batteries are backed by their awesome 10year warranty, and are made right here in the USA at the factory in Reno, NV.   

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Our Story:

Currently we still have a sealed AGM 150Amphr bank on our Dufour 382, Blake.  We have been trying to source a Lithium for over a year, but found it very difficult to ship one outside of the USA.  We are super excited that as part of this partnership we will be adding one of Battle Born's lithium batteries to our own boat at the end of March.  We are honestly embarrassed to admit that our current AGM bank has already deteriorated in our one year in the tropics.  We had no idea how much the higher temperature coefficient would negatively affect our battery life in the warmer waters of the Caribbean.  Living off grid for the last decade, we usually cycle through a lead acid bank every 4-5 years, so ONE year to us was unimaginable.  But, it is our reality, and we now hear the battery alarm go off by 8pm... even with our 730Watts of SunPower flexible solar panels.  

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You can have as much solar as possible and still not have a complete system if you do not have a sufficient, and reliable battery bank to store your solar energy during the day while it's being generated.  Another reason we really want to be able to offer our customers a battery option is because there is now verbiage in the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit that gives provisions for the cost of a "three kilowatt-hour minimum" battery storage system which equates to anything over 250AmpHrs at 12Volts.  This is HUGE!  You are now eligible on all US Flagged vessels to get a 30% Federal tax credit on a battery bank when you go solar!  As the cost of Lithium is much greater than standard lead-acid or AGM, we wanted to make sure our customers know about this.