How Much solar to Add??

Crabbypatty wrote:
I appreciate the mostly constructive answers. Others shouldnt even post. We dry camp at the most 7 days at the moment, however that might change. We do not use the lights much the main draw in the summer is the water pump for dishes and showers. We do not use the bath houses.. In the spring and fall the heater blower would come on. Those are the main draws. From what I gather the more the merrier and certainly if it was just a weekend I would consider less.

I believe that i will be increasing the battery bank, undecided if Ill add two more T-125's or sell them and get a pair of L16's upfront. Space and adding hitch weight are something to think about. I will start with around 500 watts or so with two panels, leaving space for more to add of we need it. We want to downsize our generator as the Honda 3000 is 135lbs and humping that up and out is getting to be a bit much. I want to sell it and get a pair of 2000's. One would be plenty to run on cloudy shady days to bump the batts up. A 2000 only weighs just under 50 lbs.

Once I find a good sale and install I will post for others to learn fro as well. While there were alot of posts. I wanted to hear from real time issues.

Happy Trails!!

Here's some free advice... Seek professional help. You can't believe what you read on the internet.

Or use the search function and help yourself, this has been covered over, and over and over.

You remind me of wives that hired a contractor for a remodel, that sign the contract, with a certain scope of work for a set price, then keep changing their mind wanting more and more expensive material, that didn't do their homework before signing the contract, yet they still somehow thing the price should be unchanged. Until you define and figure out your needs doing an energy audit, there is no right answer. You have to learn how to crawl, before you can walk.

Unique situations across the board is what makes our system different. no one is right, no one is wrong unless their needs are not being met. Those people are usually here asking advice, not saying their way is the only way.

smkettner wrote:
BFL13, We rarely go to the same place and when we do it is a different spot with different shade, different weather, different usage needed. I prefer solar to cover all of it and skip the generator. Too much is barely enough.

mchero, solar works just fine rolling down the road. Alternator connection should also keep the voltage up if driving in the rain.

Scenario is everything.

BFL13, We rarely go to the same place and when we do it is a different spot with different shade, different weather, different usage needed. I prefer solar to cover all of it and skip the generator. Too much is barely enough.

mchero, solar works just fine rolling down the road. Alternator connection should also keep the voltage up if driving in the rain.

Mex didn't read my posts about having too much solar then. I sold my 130w panel when it turned out the 230w was plenty. The 130w alone was not enough.

We use the solar at the same location at the same time of year having the same daily AH needs, so it was possible to discover how much solar is enough and how much is too much.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Again I have to comment...

A possibly useful question is: When you depart on a boondocking trip the batteries are jammed full, right?


Hope This Helps

Assuming his house batteries are getting charged/maintained while driving down the road.

Again I have to comment...

I have never, ever heard or read a complaint that said "I purchased too many solar panels"

A possibly useful question is: When you depart on a boondocking trip the batteries are jammed full, right?

The morning after you arrive, where do you find yourself state-of-charge-wise? Trying to get a handle on your usage. Try and remember a trip where you used the heater the first night. Do you arrive in the afternoon and find yourself needing to recharge your batteries the next day?

Do you "conserve" while wishing you didn't have to? This is a lifestyle choice and I believe it to be important. If you grumble to yourself "Switch this off ASAP, and don't use that" like rationing TV and DVD use, this is a factor. Deciding to limit heater use causing discomfort is another. Boondocking in comfort happens to be a major objective for me. Turn this off, and don't use that, irritates me. I happen to need a lot of light for reading, and having champagne tastes with a beer budget complicates it. Listening to Strauss, or Chopin, when reading causes some serious amp hours to be extracted. I have RV'ing friends who go to bed and arise with the chickens. No TV, no music, few or no lights at night (campfire) and their amp hour consumption is a tenth of mine.

L16's average around 320 ampere hours. Golf car batteries average around 220 ampere hours. Pondering present night amp hour usage versus "wanted" accessory usage might reveal useful information to you about what will be "sufficient". If the capacity of a pair of L-16's is "outgrown", you face a serious hurdle. The L-16's will offer around 140% as much capacity as two good quality golf car batteries (6 cells worth).

Hope This Helps

RJsfishin wrote:
What do you want to hear, 500?

Camping in the coastal fog till noon, or Quartzsite Arizona ?

No one knows your life style, so how can anyone advise how many watts.
Canping summer or winter, or both ?
Are you going flat on the roof ?
Are you going portable w/ sun tracking.
Are you tilting ? 2 way, or 4 way.
Or are you going a full automatic tracking system ?
Is the sun shining 1/4 the time 1/2 3/4 ??

X2, and I do not agree at all with relating needed wattage of solar with AH of battery bank.

Your solar will replace your daily usage or not. It doesn't make any difference if that daily usage is 80-100% of SOC or 50-100% of SOC it is the same number of AH. You can have one or a dozen batteries, the solar required is the same.

Knowing you have solar may affect how many batteries you need though depending on where and when you camp off grid. Back to RJ on that for picking a scenario first.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi AprilWhine,

If I scaled my system up I'd get 23 amps out of a 2k system in the rain with a daily harvest of over 100 amp-hours.

Are your panels poly or mono?

AprilWhine wrote:
Put as many panels on your roof as you have room to install. ;) I have 2kw and on a rainy day it still isn't enough.

I have mono because they are smaller and fit the available space better.

Your numbers are similar to what we get. Just passed through the midwest with several days of rain and only had to run the generator once. Biggest difference is probably that I have an all electric RV, including a residential fridge.

Since you are going ~500 watts go easy on adding battery and buying generators until after the solar. You may find you do not need to add as much as you think.
The primary reason to own a generator will be to run the air conditioner once the solar is in.