We often work with clients incorporating a winch on a vehicle. The winch manufacturer's specification includes recommendations of a battery, given they often aren't specific to brand or type of battery there are many considerations the owner needs to address. Here's a simple guide to help you through the process:

1. Purpose of the battery - in this instance the battery is needed to provide high current for a sustained period of time (much like a CCA rating over 30 seconds). The issue with CCA ratings is a high-quality battery like an Odyssey Battery will have a high CCA but will also be small Reserve Capacity or Amp Hour because it has a high power density and a small battery can output as much power as a larger wet cell or gel battery.

2. How often you use the winch - if it's occasional use then a similar-sized battery to your factory battery but with a higher performance spec might be all you need. You aren't reducing the Reserve Capacity and hopefully are increasing the battery's high power output.

3. If you run the winch for more than 30 seconds - you need to consider these as long duration discharges at high power, which means you are cycling the battery and therefore need to consider a deep cycle battery so you can repeatedly discharge and recharge. Remember though, a flooded deep cycle battery won't have a high CCA if the same physical size as your normal start battery. To compensate you'll need to increase the size of the deep cycle battery to get a higher CCA.

4. Vehicles charging system - Charging of the vehicles alternator would typically be fine but if you go off-road for the day and use your winch 5 or 6 times with a lot of low RPM driving and long duration winch pulls your battery will be quite flat once the surface voltage has dissipated. The alternator maintaining a voltage above 13 volts artificially leads you to believe the battery is fully charged. But if you leave it for 24 hours without using then check the voltage again you might find your voltage below 12 volts which is over 50% discharged. You'll need to use a maintenance charger after such days to keep the battery in good health.

That's a great basis for discussion and one many variables can be considered and put into play. Remembering the purpose of the battery is actually more important than it's spec sheet. 600CCA is great for instant power but not reserve capacity. Large capacity is great but not if there isn't a high power discharge available. Physical size may be important if under the bonnet of your vehicle. Large alternators only work if the battery has a low internal resistance to accept a large load current. All these reasons are why we recommend Odyssey Batteries with their extensive range.

Here's a quick rundown on parts used in a variety of solar installations and what they are used for:

Solar Battery - to store energy for later use

Solar Panels - Framed cells with a series of silicone wafers which generate DC voltage used to charge batteries

Solar Array - A collection of solar panels connected together to provide DC voltage

Frame rails - Support structure used to build a platform to place solar panels on. They can be mounted on walls, roofs, ground, tilted frame rails.

Solar Controller - (also called Charge Controller) connects the solar panels to the battery bank. The cheaper version use PWM (Pulse Width Modulated), the better versions use MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) to harness the variable energy from the sun during a day and convert it into the correct charge voltage which is put into the batteries.

String Inverter - is really a solar controller that you'd use connected to the national grid across a larger array at a residential voltage up to 600VAC. In commercial installations, the string inverter can be up to 1000VAC. These higher voltages allow the solar panels to be connected in series to add voltage while the current remains the same as that of just 1 panel. These units only convert DC energy from solar to AC and connect to your main switch board. If the mains power stops for any reason these inverters also stop working for safety reasons.

Grid-Tie or Grid-Tied or Grid Connected - means a system connected your onsite power generation to the national grid.

Off-Grid - means your system is stand-alone with no national grid network attached. Typically used in remote locations.

Hybrid Inverter - allows a string inverter which only generates AC power from DC solar, to also be able to use the DC power from solar to charge a battery bank.

DC Coupled System - Uses the DC power from solar panels to be put straight into batteries with only the MPPT controller ensuring the voltages are correct to charge the batteries and minimilising conversion inefficencies. It then uses the stored DC energy in batteries to pass through an AC inverter to power the AC load. It can also export this power to the national grid once its in AC if you configured your system to do so.

AC Coupled System - Inverts the DC power from solar panels into AC and supplies the main switchboard and any loads attached. When there is excess power from solar available it can either export the AC power to the national grid. It could also convert the AC power back into DC power and charge a battery bank. When the stored power is needed it converts the DC back to AC to supply the main switch board.

Zero Export - this is when the national grid carrier doesn't want you to export any of your excess power back to the grid. Many regions in NZ now have a 5kw Max. export limit managed by Transpower and many power retailers only pay back a certain number of units of energy back to the grid per day.

Fuse - Fuses need to be held in place so use some form of fuse holder, they have different current ratings and each rating is typically a different colour. So if your blue fuse blows then you need another blue fuse to replace it. There are many different style of fuses from Class T, NH, Auto Blades, Maxi Fuses, Midi Fuses, Mega Fuses, ANL or FBT tag Fuses. The right type of fuse should be used for each instance.

Circuit Breakers - These are like a fuse, used to protect your circuits from over current. A fuse breaks and needs replacing but a circuit breaker can be reset and used again. There are 3 types of circuit breakers, automatic (which disconnect when blown but reconnect once they have cooled down). Manual Reset meaning it blows (opens the circuit) if tripped, then requires manual switching on to reactivate the circuit. Lastly PTT (Push to Trip) You can manually open the circuit and then re-close the circuit just like using a switch but with current protection builtin. Variations include double pole which means a breaker for the negative cable and a pole for the positive cable so total electrical isolation is achieved. There are also polarised and non-polarised, the later meaning they do not have an inward direction or outward direction in which the energy should flow from battery to loads.

Charger - A device that provides voltage above the open circuit voltage of a battery. This could be a solar controller, mains powered charger or DC power charger (DC to DC charger). Modern-day chargers would have charge profiles and can be set to best match the charge voltages required by the batteries manufacturer.

Cables - These are used to connect all the components on the DC circuit, normally multi-string copper cable which might also be required to be tin-coated. This cable is measured by its cross-section in mm squared. The number of strands is important for flexibility and ultimately affects its maximum current capacity. The insulation is also important, many require double insulated where there might be a coloured (blue or red) plastic around the copper, then each colour, if the cable is 2 core (a red and blue together), is then moulded inside an outer insulation like black for instance as seen in twin-core solar cable. They can also be built to be circular when cut cross-section, cheaper and more popular is a figure 8 shape when you look onto the end of the cut cable. This outer layer might also include a high content of silicone so the cable slides easily during installation. It can also be manufactured to include a UV protective material so it doesn't break down in sunlight. This outer is referred to as PV1. AC power cables are normally solid core cables in 1.5mm or 2 or 2.5mm2 and are either 2 or 3 core TPS in white or purple outer colour. With the Life, Earth & Neutral wires inside (Red/Brown, Black/Blue, Green/yellow)