I expect the two lead-acid (Trojan T-106's) battery banks aboard "So It Goes" will be good till 2016 or thereabouts. I would be very surprised if when it's time to replace them that lead acid is even in the running, with the price of lead acid batteries going up and lithium chemistry batteries coming down...
At the moment according to my inner "spidey sense" the new batteries don't quite live up their claims on a cost/utility/longevity basis but it seems it's getting closer. So at the moment since I have some years of lead-acid energy in hand to wait it out, I don't feel the need to jump quite yet and lead-acid is more than up to doing the job for the moment.
That said, I'll admit to not really knowing what makes the new batteries tick as most of the information I receive about them is from people having a vested interest in selling me their new/better battery and I expect them to tell me whatever they want whether it is true or not... Trust, my friends, where money and profits are concerned, is not my strong suit.
Which is why I was excited to see "Bottled Lightning: Superbatteries, Electric Cars, and the New Lithium Economy" pop up on my books-to-read list. While I don't expect it to answer all my questions, it's a start...
Listening to Pearl Harbor and the Explosions
So it goes...
