Forum Discussion
riah wrote:
Adding a DCDC charger to your system would also be helpful in creating additional charging capacity while driving down the road to supplement what is being produced by your solar panels!
It's not "my system".
I don't think the "wings" could be deployed while driving down the road, so probably only 1/3 of the solar array could be used while driving and would actually reduce the daily output if driving mid day.
Why would you need a different charging system while driving vs sitting. Only thing you would want to be careful of it to makes sure the wings are disconnected when covered, so they don't backfeed while shaded under the central panels.- Those two vans with the outstretched panels remind me of a caption that fits this topic "When pigs fly".
- Moved from Tech Issues to General RV Issues.
NamMedevac 70 wrote:
With at least a 320 mile range on one tank of gas I am enjoying my go anywhere at anytime gasser truck for convenient no worry and hassle free travel. No heavy bulky solar panels or scarce out of the way charging stations with long wait time for me. Cheers
Be my guest. Pay at least 3 times as much money to go the same distance, and that is for fuel only.
My solar was $5 per watt in 2005 and has paid for itself several times over. Not one bit of maintenance has been done.
I could replace it for $2 per watt--but what I have meets my needs as a part time rv'er. Besides I still get the OEM output.- With at least a 320 mile range on one tank of gas I am enjoying my go anywhere at anytime gasser truck for convenient no worry and hassle free travel. No heavy bulky solar panels or scarce out of the way charging stations with long wait time for me. Cheers
riah wrote:
Adding a DCDC charger to your system would also be helpful in creating additional charging capacity while driving down the road to supplement what is being produced by your solar panels!
Ok, maybe not quite yet, lol....
Lemme get this straight, use power that you're consuming from the thing you're trying charge up, to run a "generator" (alternator) that is producing power to replenish, but not at as great a rate as power being consumed (never going to be 100% efficient, or even close), and boost it through a DC DC charger (another loss, just like the last 2), to, in turn, recharge the batteries that you just took more juice from to operate the charging system than you produced.
I think I'm seeing how exactly unicorn farts work!- Kudos to those folks for chasing their dream.
I'll sit the rest of this one out and watch the dreamers who are better at wishing and hoping than math, bicker with the realists who understand why this isn't the "ultimate boondocking vehicle" or whatever the OP said. - Adding a DCDC charger to your system would also be helpful in creating additional charging capacity while driving down the road to supplement what is being produced by your solar panels!
valhalla360 wrote:
wa8yxm wrote:
Interesting concept.
Power per area.. I'm told that at My Latitude (Think Flint MI) 5 Acres = 1 Megawatt.
I do have a queston: When they rate Solar Panels in Watts. is that "Instant peak sun production" or "Watt hours per day"? (I think insta-peak)
It's an instantaneous output under standard conditions.
To get to watt hours, you have to find the "sun hours" for the location. For example Flint Mi in June is around 6.4.
So if you have a 100w panel, it should generate around 640w-hr.
Of course, in December, the sun is low on the horizon and it tends to be overcast, so it's only 1.35 sun hours, so 135 w-hr. Of course, most people aren't camping in flint in the winter time.
With the extended wing system taking up the entire roof plus two wings of similar size, they claim 6000w of solar panels. So assuming a fairly typical 4 sun hours, that's around 24 kwh of power per day. I think they are exaggerating the per day miles (probably by assuming very low speeds. Realistically, that's probably good for 25-30miles per day but more importantly, it's probably good to cover all the house electrical loads including air/con.
You will still likely need to stop at charging stations regularly if you want to cover significant distances and it's probably crazy expensive compared to a typical camper van. Gdetrailer wrote:
When Lake Mead gets so low Hoover dam can't produce power, those acres of solar panels just south of Boulder City may come in pretty handy.
Ahh.. nothing like a nature hike in the giant solar panel forest..wa8yxm wrote:
Interesting concept.
Power per area.. I'm told that at My Latitude (Think Flint MI) 5 Acres = 1 Megawatt.
I do have a queston: When they rate Solar Panels in Watts. is that "Instant peak sun production" or "Watt hours per day"? (I think insta-peak)
It's an instantaneous output under standard conditions.
To get to watt hours, you have to find the "sun hours" for the location. For example Flint Mi in June is around 6.4.
So if you have a 100w panel, it should generate around 640w-hr.
Of course, in December, the sun is low on the horizon and it tends to be overcast, so it's only 1.35 sun hours, so 135 w-hr. Of course, most people aren't camping in flint in the winter time.
With the extended wing system taking up the entire roof plus two wings of similar size, they claim 6000w of solar panels. So assuming a fairly typical 4 sun hours, that's around 24 kwh of power per day. I think they are exaggerating the per day miles (probably by assuming very low speeds. Realistically, that's probably good for 25-30miles per day but more importantly, it's probably good to cover all the house electrical loads including air/con.
You will still likely need to stop at charging stations regularly if you want to cover significant distances and it's probably crazy expensive compared to a typical camper van.
