Is solar the way to go?
Looking for some input from those of you that use solar to charge your battery. What are good kits to buy that are affordable and portable? How long does it take you to charge in all conditions? Is so...
Forum Discussion
In my case a 2KW generator is a must have option to re-charge batteries. This is my primary use for our generator. My current 255AH battery bank gets discharged over nite down to its 50% charge state and I have to use my generator the next morning when allowed direct connected to the trailer shore power cable using the on-board high current converter/charger unit to do the initial high current demand from the batteries when they first start seeing BOOST MODE charging. Most of us will not have enough SOLAR PANELS to do this without a generator. Keep in mind a typical 120WATT SOLAR PANEL in high SUN will produce around 5-6DC AMPS of battery charge voltage. Just using the SOLAR PANELS lone during the high sun day will not charge my batteries in 6-8 hours of high sun with only 12AMPS of SOLAR CHARGE DC CURRENT.
To charge most deep cycle batteries you will need to use 14.4VDC at around 20AMPS of DC CURRENT per battery if you must get them recharged to 90% charge state in a short three hour time period using smart mode charging techniques. IT would take a many SOLAR PANELS to produce this much DC CURRENT for larger battery banks without a generator.
Once my batteries drop back from their initial 55AMPS of charge current to around 8 DC AMPS of charge current then I can switch to SOLAR POWER where my planned 240WATTS of SOLAR PANELS will take over and get my 255AH battery bank back to its 90% charge state before the end of the high sun day.
If your planned battery consumption over night is small then you can probably get away of keeping your batteries topped off just using the SOLAR PANELS.
Like said above however if you have a shady day due to clouds or bad weather then don't expect the solar panels to keep your batteries topped off. You will need to us a generator during those time.
In my case it took alot of planning to do what I wanted to do when camping off the power grid. First I got proficient on building up my battery bank and other power savings items such as adding LED lights etc.. I then learned how to live with the batteries I had to us. I also learned what I needed to do to get re-charged each morning so that nothing is left to guessing. After five or so years of doing this I am just now ready to install solar panels to keep my generator use down to around an hour a day instead of three hours a day required to get my batteries from the 50% charge state to the 90% charge state using smart mode charging techniques.
To me SOLAR PANELS are not the magic thing like some folks think. Its just another tool to use when available to save resources ...
Just my thoughts here - I'm sure others do it differently. I am no way any sort of expert here. Just know what works for me by planing alot and of course some trial by mistakes haha... I did my first no cheating camping off the batteries sitting in the back yard or at a close by Camp Site. Camping off the power grid is second nature to us now... The first rule I learned was to never touch your TRUCK START BATTERY for any reason - this is the only way to get back home hehe...
Roy Ken
To charge most deep cycle batteries you will need to use 14.4VDC at around 20AMPS of DC CURRENT per battery if you must get them recharged to 90% charge state in a short three hour time period using smart mode charging techniques. IT would take a many SOLAR PANELS to produce this much DC CURRENT for larger battery banks without a generator.
Once my batteries drop back from their initial 55AMPS of charge current to around 8 DC AMPS of charge current then I can switch to SOLAR POWER where my planned 240WATTS of SOLAR PANELS will take over and get my 255AH battery bank back to its 90% charge state before the end of the high sun day.
If your planned battery consumption over night is small then you can probably get away of keeping your batteries topped off just using the SOLAR PANELS.
Like said above however if you have a shady day due to clouds or bad weather then don't expect the solar panels to keep your batteries topped off. You will need to us a generator during those time.
In my case it took alot of planning to do what I wanted to do when camping off the power grid. First I got proficient on building up my battery bank and other power savings items such as adding LED lights etc.. I then learned how to live with the batteries I had to us. I also learned what I needed to do to get re-charged each morning so that nothing is left to guessing. After five or so years of doing this I am just now ready to install solar panels to keep my generator use down to around an hour a day instead of three hours a day required to get my batteries from the 50% charge state to the 90% charge state using smart mode charging techniques.
To me SOLAR PANELS are not the magic thing like some folks think. Its just another tool to use when available to save resources ...
Just my thoughts here - I'm sure others do it differently. I am no way any sort of expert here. Just know what works for me by planing alot and of course some trial by mistakes haha... I did my first no cheating camping off the batteries sitting in the back yard or at a close by Camp Site. Camping off the power grid is second nature to us now... The first rule I learned was to never touch your TRUCK START BATTERY for any reason - this is the only way to get back home hehe...
Roy Ken
