A plethora of batteriesPES met up with Stacey Delzeit, Sr Applications Engineer at Trojan, which as you know is a world-famous name in batteries. Despite making batteries for almost 100 years, R&D continues to produce new, exciting and innovative products, which provide great flexibility to the end user. There are still more markets to conquer and they relish the challenge.

Stacey Delzeit

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PES: Hi Stacey, we’ve been working with Trojan Battery for a good few years now so it’s great to welcome you to PES Solar/PV. As always, we have new readers, so could you give us a brief overview of the company to bring them up to date?

Stacey Delzeit: Trojan has been making lead-acid batteries in the US since 1925. Our maroon batteries have become synonymous with quality, durability, and long life. We offer flooded, AGM and GEL lead-acid deep-cycle batteries. Recently, we added lithium-ion batteries to our list of products.

PES: What is your experience in the solar/PV industry and is this a significant part of your business?

SD: People have been using Trojan’s deep-cycle batteries in solar applications for many years. Our standard ‘golf’ and ‘floor cleaning’ batteries were often used in solar applications because of their high quality. So, several years ago we decided it made sense to formulate and develop a product line specifically engineered for Solar applications. In many PV systems, the batteries are not recharged each day, so our solar products contain Smart Carbon™ which helps the batteries perform better under harsher conditions.

PES: So Trojan Battery has been manufacturing batteries for over 90 years, what are the trends that are driving technology in energy storage?

SD: Traditional flooded lead-acid batteries require periodic maintenance in the form of watering. This is a process that many customers would like to minimize or even eliminate. We have developed single point watering systems (SPWS), which can be added to most of our flooded products. This makes

watering flooded batteries much easier.

With an SPWS, the overall watering time is reduced, there is no need to remove the battery caps and the correct amount of water is always added. To reduce maintenance requirements even further, flooded batteries can be replaced with Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM), GEL and lithium-ion batteries. These are sealed batteries and do not require watering.

PES: How is this up turn in the solar/PV market impacting upon your business?

SD: Several OEM’s have adopted SPWS across the board for the products we supply. The increase in AGM interest enabled us to add a new solar AGM product line to our portfolio.

PES: Please tell us how your solutions differ for individuals, businesses or for industrial size customers?

SD: We have several different families of solar products that vary in technology and size. See graphic below.

PES: What type of products has your company typically produced for the solar/PV industry to this point in time?

SD: Currently our solar line of products is comprised of lead-acid batteries. We have flooded, AGM and GEL batteries that range in capacity from around 100 amp hours up to nearly 1900 amp hours. The voltages of these batteries range from 2 volts to 12 volts.

We recently introduced lithium-ion batteries, which can also be used for solar storage. We currently have three different lithium models. The capacities range from 25 amp hours to 110 amp hours. We anticipate expanding our lithium range this year.

PES: Do you supply and fit the batteries, or can the customer install them?

SD: Our batteries are sold through a network of Global Master Distributors, so Trojan doesn’t generally work directly with end-users, for the sale or installation of the batteries. Customers typically install their own batteries, or have a system integrator to install the batteries as well as other system components. If a customer needs assistance with determining the proper charge parameters for their batteries we are happy to help.

PES: Please could you tell us about the batteries and materials used to produce them and why they were chosen?

SD: Until November 2018, the only type of batteries Trojan produced were lead-acid batteries. This chemistry is not only tried and tested, the batteries are robust and inexpensive compared to other battery chemistries. Lead-acid batteries, whether flooded, GEL or AGM, perform very well when they are properly maintained and charged.

Late in 2018, we introduced our Trillium line of lithium-ion batteries. There are several chemistry options to choose from when developing a lithium-ion battery. Trojan chose to use the lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry, as it is among the safest lithium-ion chemistries.

In addition to being safe, the LFP chemistry also provides good performance and lifetime whilst being cost effective.

PES: What is the newest exciting product to date?

SD: Our Trillium batteries are the latest addition to our product line. We are very excited to have these lithium-iron-

* According to IEC61427**Not tested to IEC61427 standard. Equivalent based on similar depth of discharge and temperature conditions.

phosphate batteries as part of our portfolio. Lithium chemistries are much more energy dense than lead-acid, so for the same usable capacity, our Trillium batteries are smaller and lighter.

Furthermore, lithium batteries provide nearly 100% of their capacity throughout their entire life span, which can be up to 7 times longer than most lead-acid batteries. Our lithium batteries (G24 model TR 12.8-92) have a built-in battery management system, which ensures that the batteries are not damaged should charging or discharging conditions fall outside of their operating parameters.

PES: How will this technology improve upon what is currently being used?

SD: Having a maintenance-free battery which lasts longer, is lighter and takes up less space than traditional lead-acid

batteries is certainly appealing. However, we do not see lithium batteries as being a replacement for all lead-acid batteries as the cost is substantially more than lead-acid technologies. Rather, they provide an option that will be suitable in some applications for some customers. We are pleased to be in a position to offer these options to consumers, and our technical experts are happy to recommend the right battery type for an application.

PES: What are some of the differentiating technologies that Trojan delivers to the market that set them apart from other batteries for this industry?

SD: Focusing on our lead-acid products, we have earned our reputation by building batteries which consistently out-perform and out-last our competitors’ products. This is accomplished by a variety of design

features such as: Smart Carbon, which improves performance when batteries operate in a partial state of charge.

The Maxguard® T2 Separator is our proprietary rubber-based separator that inhibits antimony transfer, while providing robust acid channels for proper acid mixing.

Trojan’s Alpha Plus® Paste is our proprietary, high density paste formula which is engineered to deliver outstanding performance due to optimized porosity and crystal structure.

These items, combined with the manufacturing practices in all our US-based factories, result in batteries which deliver exceptional battery performance. We also put a lot of time and effort into having our batteries tested by independent 3rd party labs to nationally recognized test standards.

PES: You are of course a global player, are there any particular geographical areas where you are looking to drive further growth?

SD: Certainly, the continents of Africa, South America, and India are of interest to us.

PES: Moving into the second quarter of 2019, what are your predictions for the solar/PV industry in general and your company in particular this year?

SD: Although it is difficult to predict what the entire solar/PV industry will come up with this year, we are determined to keep delivering exceptionally high-quality products to our consumers all over the world. We anticipate adding new products to our portfolio. Any new solutions will seamlessly integrate with existing solar/PV systems.

We continuously strive to innovate and listen to our customers’ needs and then integrate design changes that will be most beneficial to them.

Trojan is happy to provide any information needed.

Our Technical Support can be reached by phone on +1 800-423-6569 or by email at technical@trojanbattery.com.

For proper battery sizing visit: www.batterycalculator.com

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TR 12.8-92 Li-ion

‘We continuously strive to innovate and listen to our customers’ needs and then integrate design changes that will be most beneficial to them.’

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