[Chuck v]

Jeremy,


That is a very good article you referenced and it is in full agreement with my experiences with DC systems in my off grid home (4 each L16 6v batteries in a series stack of 24 volts) and in my hunting camp trailer (2 each 6v GC batteries in series) and most recently in my diesel pusher coach where 4 each 6v GC batteries are wired in series/parallel as the inverter battery bank (this bank also is used to start the diesel generator...)


One thing that the article does not dwell upon is the charging challenges of lead acid batteries in parallel -- which is the underlying basis of all the admonitions that warn to only use exact match 12 volt batteries if connecting in parallel. These constraints are much more relaxed when charging in series.



When I was working in the solar industry, we delivered a shaved ice plant to the upper Nile valley to be used to ice down farmed perch in an area where there was no other refrigeration. These fish were an important protein source for the the locals across a wide area...so ice made them possible to transport by animal cart. The plant itself was solar powered (250 KW of panels) and the battery stack was 240 volts of very large 2volt lift truck cells in series. There were two such battery stacks that were alternated in their use -- but never charged in parallel. There were two back-up generators that were diesel powered and rated at 50 KW each. This was decades ago but the chemistry is unchanged on these flooded cell batteries.


As to AGM...these are less maintenance since you don't need to check for and add water periodically and they are not sensitive to tipping, but it is not justified in my mind for an RV use. My advice to you is get the golf car batteries and keep your original configuration.


Chuck