Portable Solar Advice Needed
My RV has a 160 panel on the roof. I'm looking for about 100 watt portable unit. I haven't decided on the wattage yet, but I think anything under 120 watts might be beneficial for my situation. W...
Forum Discussion
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I would think you would always want a SOLAR CONTROLLER that produces SMART MODE Battery Charging type DC VOLTAGES just like your on-board smart mode converter/charger does to keep your batteries charged.
You also have to be concerned not allowing your battery to be discharged by the solar panel when the SUN is not present. The SOLAR CONTROLLER prevents all of this from happening and gives you a great reference point to observe what is happening when being charged...
Unless you go SOLAR BIG TIME about all you can expect from the solar panels is to top off your battery system during the HIGH SUN DAY. Once your battery drain overcomes the DC CURRENT being produced by the solar panels the batteries start being discharged.
Just keep in mind that a typical 120WATT SOLAR PANEL when in high sun will only produce around 5-6AMPS DC Current to be used for charging batteries.
To re-charge batteries in a quick three hour time frame you will want to see around 17-20AMPS of DC Charge CURRENT for each battery in the bank.
I have been camping off the power grid pretty heavy since 2009 and know what to expect with my 255AHs battery performance. I recharge my batteries each morning at 8AM when allowed to run my Generator by connecting my 30AMP Shore Power cable to my 2KW generator 120VAC Receptacle using a RV 30A-15A long adapter. I am just now staring to think adding some solar panels will help me out in getting my battery bank up to their 90% charge state each day before I start using them again after dark. If I don't start out each camping evening with at least a 90% charge state it usually gets dark on me around 10-11 PM at night. I want my batteries to drop down to around 12.0VDC by 8Am each morning. I will draw around 20AMPS of DC CURRENT between the 6PM to 11PM time frame each night running our toys.
Solar Panels will help me out alot but are not the total answer on my somewhat high DC POWER consumption each evening unless I add several hundred WATTS of solar panels.
Just my thoughts here...
Roy Ken
I would think you would always want a SOLAR CONTROLLER that produces SMART MODE Battery Charging type DC VOLTAGES just like your on-board smart mode converter/charger does to keep your batteries charged.
You also have to be concerned not allowing your battery to be discharged by the solar panel when the SUN is not present. The SOLAR CONTROLLER prevents all of this from happening and gives you a great reference point to observe what is happening when being charged...
Unless you go SOLAR BIG TIME about all you can expect from the solar panels is to top off your battery system during the HIGH SUN DAY. Once your battery drain overcomes the DC CURRENT being produced by the solar panels the batteries start being discharged.
Just keep in mind that a typical 120WATT SOLAR PANEL when in high sun will only produce around 5-6AMPS DC Current to be used for charging batteries.
To re-charge batteries in a quick three hour time frame you will want to see around 17-20AMPS of DC Charge CURRENT for each battery in the bank.
I have been camping off the power grid pretty heavy since 2009 and know what to expect with my 255AHs battery performance. I recharge my batteries each morning at 8AM when allowed to run my Generator by connecting my 30AMP Shore Power cable to my 2KW generator 120VAC Receptacle using a RV 30A-15A long adapter. I am just now staring to think adding some solar panels will help me out in getting my battery bank up to their 90% charge state each day before I start using them again after dark. If I don't start out each camping evening with at least a 90% charge state it usually gets dark on me around 10-11 PM at night. I want my batteries to drop down to around 12.0VDC by 8Am each morning. I will draw around 20AMPS of DC CURRENT between the 6PM to 11PM time frame each night running our toys.
Solar Panels will help me out alot but are not the total answer on my somewhat high DC POWER consumption each evening unless I add several hundred WATTS of solar panels.
Just my thoughts here...
Roy Ken
