Advice on deep cycle setup?
Hello, I have a Safari van that I've converted into a camper. I replaced the starting battery with a Duracell Ultra Dual Purpose (Starting/Cycling) Battery that cost $105 (got it at batteries ...
Forum Discussion
24 v panels are usually higher wattage and made for residential applications. They are usually also significanlty larger and shipping costs will eat into much of the watt per dollar savings compared to 12v nominal panels, as many 12v panels will ship for free from many vendors.
I recently installed 200 watts on a full size Conversion van( 100 watt windynation polycrystalline@116$ each), and a skylight in the way required that I Join the two 100 watt panels together. Also Meaning two runs of cables in parallel to the roof pass through and running two sets of 10AWG cables in parallel to charge controller which is extra cost. A little too late (well after delivery) I was dreaming of a single larger 200 watt plus panel that I did not have to joint together, and the required a MPPT controller.
Plan on putting charge controller close to battery over thick wiring and try to keep the run as short as possible. Diagonals runs if possible rather than right angles.
One needs MPPT charge controllers to take full benefit of 24v+ nominal panels. I would personally want no less than 250 watts of solar for a lifeline GPL-31XT, and even this amount, in full sun on june 21, is still well below Lifelines 20% recommended rate when deeply cycled, which would be 25 amps on the gpl-31xt.
Low and slow solar's slow upswing in current upto noon throws a wrench into recommended minimums, but more solar is pretty much always better, for the battery.
Often times one can get residential 24v panels from residential installers for a good price and bypass shipping costs of the larger panels.
If you are ever able to plug in to the grid, the PD converter's voltage stages are pretty well aligned with Lifeline specs at 14.4v, 13.6v and 13.2v and with the wizard/pendant, one can manually override automatic and force any of these voltage stages as required/desired.
My 90AH Northstar AGM loves a 40 amp recharge from below 50% charged followed by a 14.7v absorption held long enough for amps to taper to 0.45. The Lifeline will have no issues accepting 45 amps from the PD9245 and would likely benefit from this much amperage when well depleted.
I recently installed 200 watts on a full size Conversion van( 100 watt windynation polycrystalline@116$ each), and a skylight in the way required that I Join the two 100 watt panels together. Also Meaning two runs of cables in parallel to the roof pass through and running two sets of 10AWG cables in parallel to charge controller which is extra cost. A little too late (well after delivery) I was dreaming of a single larger 200 watt plus panel that I did not have to joint together, and the required a MPPT controller.
Plan on putting charge controller close to battery over thick wiring and try to keep the run as short as possible. Diagonals runs if possible rather than right angles.
One needs MPPT charge controllers to take full benefit of 24v+ nominal panels. I would personally want no less than 250 watts of solar for a lifeline GPL-31XT, and even this amount, in full sun on june 21, is still well below Lifelines 20% recommended rate when deeply cycled, which would be 25 amps on the gpl-31xt.
Low and slow solar's slow upswing in current upto noon throws a wrench into recommended minimums, but more solar is pretty much always better, for the battery.
Often times one can get residential 24v panels from residential installers for a good price and bypass shipping costs of the larger panels.
If you are ever able to plug in to the grid, the PD converter's voltage stages are pretty well aligned with Lifeline specs at 14.4v, 13.6v and 13.2v and with the wizard/pendant, one can manually override automatic and force any of these voltage stages as required/desired.
My 90AH Northstar AGM loves a 40 amp recharge from below 50% charged followed by a 14.7v absorption held long enough for amps to taper to 0.45. The Lifeline will have no issues accepting 45 amps from the PD9245 and would likely benefit from this much amperage when well depleted.
