Batteries
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50+ year battery consisting of nickel and iron plates in an electrolyte of Potassium Hydroxide (similar to lye - which I'm guessing you could substitute).
Thomas Edison drove an electric car a hundred years ago. The batteries he used are easy to build and are still operational. Search for 'nickel iron battery', 'edison cell' or 'nife battery'. See http://www.beutilityfree.com/content/ I have a document on how to build one I need to dig up.
Lead acid
Lead acid cells are easy to make too. http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Lead_acid_battery_construction NT 10:42, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
Nickel Iron Batteries
Nickel-iron batteries have 50 year lifetimes, compared to a few-year lifetime of lead acid batteries. They are environmentally more benign, and lend themselves to local recycling and fabrication. They have higher discharge rates and faster charge times than lead-acid batteries, so they lend themselves not only to off-grid power, but also to power electronics applications such as welding and heavy workshop power. Their energy density is half that of lead-acid batteries, but their long lifetime makes them highly relevant to the GVCS, including to electric farming equipment as the next generation of LifeTrac infrastructure.
Appropriate Technology Collaborative
This aid organization is apparently building these batteries for third world applications. http://apptechdesign.org/
From Tom Kimmel of SACA:
May 15, 2011 Dear Marcin, With regards to iron / nickel batteries there is a fellow in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area working under the organization “Appropriate Technology Collaborative” that is thinking of using this type of a battery in Central America. He says that you can haul in the components and then weld them together on the spot. That they are too large and heavy for vehicular use, and that is not the issue for stationary power. I met the fellow and have written him but he does not respond. You may be able to extract some information out of him. The organization is doing the right thing. I just have not visited their operation to see if they are good at what they are doing.