How long does a lithium battery last?

If you charge a mobile phone once a day, for example, the battery would last more than a year under ideal conditions. You can measure how long a lithium battery will last in different ways. The amount of time the battery provides energy is typically measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Then there's the amount of time it can be charged and recharged before its energy degrades significantly, which is normally measured in terms of years of use.

The typical lifespan of a lithium battery is two to three years. A good rule of thumb is that, once you can store only 70 to 80% of your original energy storage, the battery should be replaced.

Lithium batteries

are known to have a longer lifespan than other types of batteries. For example, LFP batteries have more than 4000 charge and discharge cycles, that is, more than 10 years of daily use.

Compared to other types of batteries, LFP batteries have 8 times more lifespan than flooded lead-acid batteries and more than 4 times longer than gel and AGM batteries. All that said, there seems to be a consensus on what can generally be expected from the lifespan of a battery pack. If you store your batteries properly, you can expect them to last 3 to 6 years on a shelf. Of course, you'll want to keep batteries away from heat, as extreme heat is the biggest enemy of lithium-ion batteries.

In addition to 12 V lithium-ion batteries, Renogy also sells reliable and safe AGM and GEL batteries at affordable prices. Therefore, it is possible that the batteries will be completely dead again if you let them sit long enough without charging them. However, most batteries will count on a full charge cycle every time you place the battery in the charger, regardless of how much charge it actually needs. This can become a problem if multiple batteries are needed for a device or project, as costs can add up quickly.

However, this takes a long time, so if you store your batteries during the winter, for example, it's not usually too long. Since the 1960s, lithium batteries have undergone many changes, and each succeeding generation has improved in terms of cost, lifespan, energy density, and other aspects. So, before you move forward with LFP batteries as energy storage, take some time to understand their warnings and benefits. Generally speaking, depending on the quality and type, the lithium battery can last between two and more than ten years.

However, since lithium-ion batteries are expensive, the move to wireless convenience can be an investment. LFP batteries have a lithium iron phosphate cathode and a graphite anode, which gives them a lower energy density in exchange for greater safety and better performance in other aspects, such as the speed of discharge. However, if you can avoid doing it repeatedly, you'll significantly increase battery life.