if you can find a place that has used forklift batteries you can recycle them yourself cheap as hell. you have to be careful though, it deals with acid and crap. proper precautions, a well ventilated area, and keeping it away from kids and you should be alright. the waste disposal may be a hassle too though, but you only have to do that once every five years or so. i’m gonna try it when i get my camper and make it solar this year. can’t wait to see how it goes compared to just buying new ones.
another trick i heard about to make it more efficient is to convert as much as you can to dc. things like computers, tvs, and most electronics use dc, not ac. it’s all good when you buy it, but it loses a little every time it’s converted. when you produce it yourself, you lose some when converting to ac, then a little more when converting back to dc to use it. it’s not a lot but i haven’t ran the numbers. and of course you can’t just plug things in anywhere when you do it this way.