Need help to select batteries

I tried those 8-D truck batteries, they are not worth the trouble. At best when brand new they might have around 100 amphrs. of storage but that quickly goes away as it is deep cycled.

Wow! 12- 130 watt modules in Puerto Rico? That should be good for some where around a 10,000 watt hour day. At;
12 volts = 800 amphrs.
24 = 400
48 = 200
Whatever voltage is used, personally, I like to size the battery bank so that the needs are within 20% of the total capacity. In simpler terms, if my watt hour needs over a 24 hour period are 200 amphrs. I just multiply that times 5 for a total battery capcity bank of no less than 1,000 amphrs.
Since you know the PV array size you can go with that. Just pick a voltage and do the same math based, not on what your needs are but what your array can produce in one day, but its better to use the needs for this.

Its been said that older batteries and newer batteries should not be mixed especially if they are not the same brand and capacity. If possible use your existing bank for a dedicated load such as a fridge or something and "slice off a piece" of the array to maintain that bank. Again using the 20% factor. This is important for battery bank longevity. If a deep cycle battery bank is shallow cycled it will generally last longer.
I have had some success with a bank of the golf cart batteries. Trojan T-105's to be exact. 2007 marks the 7th year of service we have gottin from them. They are beginning to diminish though. Whatever battery you use, size by this 20% factor and maintain a constant vigil on their; water level, cleanliness(NO CORROSION), and charge in/charge out. A Bogart TriMetric monitor helps immensely with that last one.

Just a small piece of advice. Think about the future, especially if you have a family. You know how they grow and its so easy to come up with ways to use power when you have it. Its not as easy to maintain that power supply. Just look at the world we live in today and the "energy crisis" that has developed.

I live in Texas an want to make them build what I am calling a Windmill Causeway.�  You may recall on South Padre Island the event when both lanes of the Port Isabel Causeway fell. ( right after 911 )

http://www.ropatec.com/�  is a company I found that I think could be used in my idea.�  The new causeway will be 3 to 8 miles long to cross the Laguna Madre. The wind units could run down the center catching even more wing from the passing cars.�  This wind capturing could be done on all roads where wind charts show the bear minimum for lighting.

I would love to use a smaller product (perhaps found here in the US) to retro fit onto areas of HWYs that funnel traffic into making substantial wind speeds.

Connecting the dots form standing on the road in Gallop NM and losing me Stetson to the Front end of a Mac truck to seeing on David Letterman a kid blow 4 roll of TP 80' into the air with his dad leaf blower to just the passer-by that spin the ever spinning pray wheels in Tibet, I am betting that this vision could replace the stupidity of just building a wall from Brownsville to San Diego. It could be the nextee "New Deal" "WPA (Wind Pay All) [I saw you like Teddy]

iway66 @ iwon.com