Solar Battery Price in Pakistan: Lead-Acid Batteries for Solar Systems

What kind of battery is best for solar?

A solar battery is charged every day and drained every night, so it must handle deep, repeated cycling. Among lead-acid batteries, three types suit this:

• Tall tubular (flooded): the most common solar battery in Pakistan, built for daily deep discharge. Needs distilled water. See tubular batteries (Tubular Battery).
• Sealed deep cycle and VRLA: Daewoo DIB, Phoenix VR, Leoch LPC12-200 and Long WPM31-110. No water.
• Gel: Long WPG, Narada AG and MPG, and Narada EoSG 2V cells. Gel handles heat and deep cycling well.

A normal car battery is not a solar battery. It is made for short bursts and wears out quickly when cycled daily.

Lead-acid solar battery sizes

Most solar batteries we sell are 12V blocks from 100Ah to 330Ah:

• 150 to 185Ah: Inverex ITT-150, Exide TR-1800, Phoenix TX-1800, Osaka HT-1800, Volta VT 1800, AGS EC-2200.
• 200 to 250Ah: Phoenix TX-2000, Osaka HT-2000 and HT-2500, Exide TR-2500, AGS EC-3000, Fronus FR-2204 Pro Max (220Ah sealed tubular).
• 280 to 330Ah: AGS EC-3500, Exide TR-3500, Phoenix TX-3500, Osaka HT-3500, HT-4000 and Volta VT 4000.

For big systems, Narada EoSG 2V gel cells come in 300Ah, 400Ah and 600Ah. Six cells make a 12V bank and 24 cells make 48V.

How many batteries for your solar inverter

Match the battery bank to the inverter's battery voltage:

• 12V inverter: 1 battery.
• 24V inverter: 2 batteries in series.
• 48V inverter: 4 batteries in series.

Backup uses our formula: hours = Ah x 12 x 0.5 x 0.85 / watts per 12V battery. One 200Ah battery runs 300W (fans, lights, router) for about 3.4 hours and 600W (fridge plus fans) for about 1.7 hours. Four 200Ah batteries on a 48V inverter run 600W for about 6.8 hours. See complete solar systems (All Solar Systems).

Lead-acid or lithium for solar?

Lead-acid batteries cost less to buy and are easy to replace one at a time. But you can safely use only about half of their capacity, they need water (tubular) and they are heavy. A LiFePO4 lithium battery gives about 90% usable capacity, lasts many more cycles and needs no care, but costs more up front. If you run an inverter AC at night or cycle the battery hard every day, see lithium batteries (All Lithium Batteries) and our lithium vs tubular guide (Lithium vs Tubular Battery: Which Is Better for Solar?).

Charge settings and care for solar batteries

Solar charging is different from mains charging, so set your inverter or charge controller for the battery type you buy: flooded or tubular, sealed (AGM or SMF) or gel. The wrong setting can over-charge a sealed battery or under-charge a tubular one.

• Tubular: check the float indicator every few weeks, more often in summer, and top up with distilled water after a full charge.
• Sealed and gel: no water, but keep them cool and never let them sit half charged for days.
• Make sure the panels can refill the battery bank on a normal day. A large bank on too few panels will never fully charge.

Also keep cables short and thick between the battery and inverter, as long thin cables waste power.

Solar inverter without battery: when it makes sense

An on-grid solar inverter can run without any battery: it feeds your home and the grid in daytime, but it switches off during loadshedding and at night. That is the cheapest way to cut the bill if outages are rare. If you want power during cuts, you need a hybrid or off-grid inverter with batteries. Read our on-grid vs hybrid vs off-grid guide (On-Grid vs Hybrid vs Off-Grid Solar: Which Is Best for Your Home?) before you choose.

Charge controller and solar battery charger

A small solar setup with a 12V battery needs a charge controller between the panel and the battery to stop over-charging. PWM controllers suit small systems; MPPT controllers get more energy and suit larger panels. Hybrid solar inverters have the controller built in. Set the battery type correctly: flooded and tubular batteries charge at a slightly higher voltage than sealed dry and gel ones. See our battery charger guide (Battery Charger for 12V Batteries: Amps, Volts and Charging Time) for charging voltages.