How much solar to stick on a 22-24 foot "C"?
I am looking at class "C" rigs, but at best, they might have 100 watts on a panel. Realistically, for a shorter "C", how many watts should I be expecting to shoot for, on the roof? The battery bank ...
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CT, forget about doing it by the book, i.e. 300W solar for 300AH battery. A small system has to work harder, and the rule of thumb in this case would be 1.5W of solar per 1AH of battery.
It won't be a disaster having an oversized battery bank (relatively to solar size) either. True, with a bank too big you won't be able to equalize the battery on solar. So... forget about it. To equalize a 300AH bank you will need a solar bigger than you have a room for. I would say ~500W for 300AH bank. 300W or even 400W won't cut it on some days.
So... forget about equalizing on solar. Try bringing it closer to 99% by the evening, instead. More solar wattage, fewer power hogs, more thinking. When batteries go into Absorption stage and then to Float while the sun is still high, the solar generates more energy than the batteries can accept. So you'll have an "excess" of solar energy then, that you can use for charging a laptop or doing something else. Sustainable energy budget with 100W solar is "possible" ... at times ... for some people. Try installing more than 100W.
Any solar is better than no solar. If 100W is all you can squeeze in there, - go for it. Also, you can mount panels over the black/grey tank vents if you have to, leaving 0.25-0.5" clearance.
It won't be a disaster having an oversized battery bank (relatively to solar size) either. True, with a bank too big you won't be able to equalize the battery on solar. So... forget about it. To equalize a 300AH bank you will need a solar bigger than you have a room for. I would say ~500W for 300AH bank. 300W or even 400W won't cut it on some days.
So... forget about equalizing on solar. Try bringing it closer to 99% by the evening, instead. More solar wattage, fewer power hogs, more thinking. When batteries go into Absorption stage and then to Float while the sun is still high, the solar generates more energy than the batteries can accept. So you'll have an "excess" of solar energy then, that you can use for charging a laptop or doing something else. Sustainable energy budget with 100W solar is "possible" ... at times ... for some people. Try installing more than 100W.
Any solar is better than no solar. If 100W is all you can squeeze in there, - go for it. Also, you can mount panels over the black/grey tank vents if you have to, leaving 0.25-0.5" clearance.
