How many of you use solar?
Thought about using solar when we buy our RV. I have not seen to many used RV for sale that have any solar on them. Is this because they are removed before selling, no one using them, or they just cos...
Forum Discussion
For me it has been a learning curve starting out with the basics I need to be able to camp off-grid and run all of the things I want to operate without shore power being made available.
I found out real quick my world would need larger battery capacity and reduced energy footprint to sustain my power requirements...
I did the obvious things like changing out the automotive high DC current lamps for very low current LED lamp fixtures and increasing my battery capacity to be able to operate high wattage Power Inverters to run the 120VAC appliances we want to use camping off the power grid...
Higher battery capacity also requires smart mode better converter/charger units to be able to re-charge the increased sized battery bank in a three hour time from a 50% charge state to the 90% charge state so you can continue to use the batteries for many cycles of three hour charge routines. This includes adding larger battery cables as well...
Learning all what is needed to maintain this system to operate from your batteries then will lead into using solar panels to supplement the battery charging process and perhaps not have to run the loud generator as long especially where generator restriction zones are established in the public camp grounds. We folks on the East side of the US have this problem more so then those that live on the West side of the US. Around here where we camp there is very limited public dispersed camping locations where we can have unlimited times to run our generators. For the most part the use of generators here on the East side of the US is a couple of hours in the morning and maybe three hours or so in the early afternoon and never allowed between 8PM to 8AM the next morning. The local NATL FOREST are slowly coming around to allowing generators from 8AM to 8PM but it is still not everywhere yet.
For us this means we have to have a system where we can re-charge our battery bank in a quick three hour time frame and I like to push the envelop of doing this starting at 8AM each morning by connecting my OFF-ROAD trailer shore power cable to my 2KW generator which will allow the on-board PD9260C 60AMP Charging system to recharge my batteries in a quick three hour generator run time. Sometimes I have to fudge the last hour as we still have alot of places that only want you to run your generator from 8AM to 10AM in the mornings... I usually can sneak the last hour as my generator is very quiet running but if told to shut down then I have to do another long generator run time at 4PM to 7PM when allowed to run the generator again.
I found out a long time ago I cannot expect my battery bank to maintain its good performance range if they are not brought backup to at least there 90% charge state before using them again. Not fun losing the use of the batteries around 9PM at night.
Having pretty much mastered all of this using the battery bank and generator for recharging I am finding out now I can add some solar panels to supplement the charging routine. A typical 120WATT Solar Panel in high Sun will give me the required 14.4VDC Boost DC Voltage at a capacity of around 5-6AMPS DC current. We all are aware of what a typical 12VDC battery needs to be re-charged within a short three hour time frame being 14.4VDC with the capacity of around 20AMPS in my case for each battery in my battery bank. The single 120WATT solar panel will not do this of course. Having three 120WATT panels might get me within range with the 15-18AMPS DC current output. Just charging the batteries here a couple of hours a day will not keep me in my high performance zone at all. Been there done that already...
My game plan will be to run the generator for the first hour of the 52-55AMP initial DC Current demand which will tapper off as the batteries will start attaining their charge state and hopefully the last two hours or so of the charge sequence I can remove the generator and just let the combined 20AMPS DC current of Solar Panels generated power continue the re-charge process..
Of course this will only work when in high Sun so I can never be without my generator being available to use as it will be a must do thing to have my battery bank at its 90% charge state before I can start using them again the next day/night run off of the batteries. The generator will charge my batteries rain or shine...
This is all my planning taking place at the moment and I'm sure others wanting to start the solar panel process will have their own unique process to deal with to make it work for them.
If you just want to use solar panels for lights or perhaps re-charging of your cell phones or computer batteries then of course all of this planning I am doing would not be required.
As already stated here in the thread it all depends on what you are wanting to do with your current battery bank... Everything has to hinge around the battery bank that stores the solar panel Sun power that will only be available during high sun. You have to store it to be used later on in the day/night run off the batteries.
There are those that quickly say I added a couple of solar panels and don't have to even bring my generator along any more. This most definitely will not work for me and our planned use of our OFF-ROAD POPUP camper with all of its 120VAC and 12VDC appliances we want to use.
All of my planning of course will not allow the use of the Air Conditioner or high wattage Microwave units but every thing else is pretty much use as we do at regular camp grounds with Electric hookups... This is based on using around 300Ahs of battery capacity and using Power Inverter and direct connected 12VDC things to the batteries.
Just me planning and actual using my 255Ah battery bank over the past few years camping off the power grid...
This is why you haven't seen solar panels on my OFF-ROAD popup yet..
Roy Ken
I found out real quick my world would need larger battery capacity and reduced energy footprint to sustain my power requirements...
I did the obvious things like changing out the automotive high DC current lamps for very low current LED lamp fixtures and increasing my battery capacity to be able to operate high wattage Power Inverters to run the 120VAC appliances we want to use camping off the power grid...
Higher battery capacity also requires smart mode better converter/charger units to be able to re-charge the increased sized battery bank in a three hour time from a 50% charge state to the 90% charge state so you can continue to use the batteries for many cycles of three hour charge routines. This includes adding larger battery cables as well...
Learning all what is needed to maintain this system to operate from your batteries then will lead into using solar panels to supplement the battery charging process and perhaps not have to run the loud generator as long especially where generator restriction zones are established in the public camp grounds. We folks on the East side of the US have this problem more so then those that live on the West side of the US. Around here where we camp there is very limited public dispersed camping locations where we can have unlimited times to run our generators. For the most part the use of generators here on the East side of the US is a couple of hours in the morning and maybe three hours or so in the early afternoon and never allowed between 8PM to 8AM the next morning. The local NATL FOREST are slowly coming around to allowing generators from 8AM to 8PM but it is still not everywhere yet.
For us this means we have to have a system where we can re-charge our battery bank in a quick three hour time frame and I like to push the envelop of doing this starting at 8AM each morning by connecting my OFF-ROAD trailer shore power cable to my 2KW generator which will allow the on-board PD9260C 60AMP Charging system to recharge my batteries in a quick three hour generator run time. Sometimes I have to fudge the last hour as we still have alot of places that only want you to run your generator from 8AM to 10AM in the mornings... I usually can sneak the last hour as my generator is very quiet running but if told to shut down then I have to do another long generator run time at 4PM to 7PM when allowed to run the generator again.
I found out a long time ago I cannot expect my battery bank to maintain its good performance range if they are not brought backup to at least there 90% charge state before using them again. Not fun losing the use of the batteries around 9PM at night.
Having pretty much mastered all of this using the battery bank and generator for recharging I am finding out now I can add some solar panels to supplement the charging routine. A typical 120WATT Solar Panel in high Sun will give me the required 14.4VDC Boost DC Voltage at a capacity of around 5-6AMPS DC current. We all are aware of what a typical 12VDC battery needs to be re-charged within a short three hour time frame being 14.4VDC with the capacity of around 20AMPS in my case for each battery in my battery bank. The single 120WATT solar panel will not do this of course. Having three 120WATT panels might get me within range with the 15-18AMPS DC current output. Just charging the batteries here a couple of hours a day will not keep me in my high performance zone at all. Been there done that already...
My game plan will be to run the generator for the first hour of the 52-55AMP initial DC Current demand which will tapper off as the batteries will start attaining their charge state and hopefully the last two hours or so of the charge sequence I can remove the generator and just let the combined 20AMPS DC current of Solar Panels generated power continue the re-charge process..
Of course this will only work when in high Sun so I can never be without my generator being available to use as it will be a must do thing to have my battery bank at its 90% charge state before I can start using them again the next day/night run off of the batteries. The generator will charge my batteries rain or shine...
This is all my planning taking place at the moment and I'm sure others wanting to start the solar panel process will have their own unique process to deal with to make it work for them.
If you just want to use solar panels for lights or perhaps re-charging of your cell phones or computer batteries then of course all of this planning I am doing would not be required.
As already stated here in the thread it all depends on what you are wanting to do with your current battery bank... Everything has to hinge around the battery bank that stores the solar panel Sun power that will only be available during high sun. You have to store it to be used later on in the day/night run off the batteries.
There are those that quickly say I added a couple of solar panels and don't have to even bring my generator along any more. This most definitely will not work for me and our planned use of our OFF-ROAD POPUP camper with all of its 120VAC and 12VDC appliances we want to use.
All of my planning of course will not allow the use of the Air Conditioner or high wattage Microwave units but every thing else is pretty much use as we do at regular camp grounds with Electric hookups... This is based on using around 300Ahs of battery capacity and using Power Inverter and direct connected 12VDC things to the batteries.
Just me planning and actual using my 255Ah battery bank over the past few years camping off the power grid...
This is why you haven't seen solar panels on my OFF-ROAD popup yet..
Roy Ken
