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suprz's avatar
suprz
Explorer
Feb 18, 2020

Looking for solar info UPDATE

We are just looking for a small affordable solar system. This would be used to recharge a GRP 31 deep cycle battery ONLY. We just want it for lights and maybe rechargeable items. What would be good for wattage? 100 watts? 50? PWM controller? We will use the generator for all the power hogs onboard. Thx

We dont use power hungry items while boondocking, we have LED lighting, and would use propane or campfire for cooking. If we need the A/C we will be in a rv park. We dont want to get an inverter and just want solar to recharge the group 31 deep cycle. We just dont need a lot of solar or the expense of a big system

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  • BFL13's avatar
    BFL13
    Explorer II
    Feb 18, 2020
    suprz wrote:
    We are just looking for a small affordable solar system. This would be used to recharge a GRP 31 deep cycle battery ONLY. We just want it for lights and maybe rechargeable items. What would be good for wattage? 100 watts? 50? Pcm controller? We will use the generator for all the power hogs onboard. Thx


    In May at 49N sunny all day I measured an AH haul of 56AH with a 130w panel lying flat. That would bring your battery up from 50% SOC

    However---
    1. You will be using your battery all day too,
    2. It is not sunny all day every day
    3. It is not May all year
    4. An RV has wheels so you will not be at the same latitude all year.

    So it is a total WAG, but 200w flat might be enough most times, and you do have a generator for recharging via converter if not enough sun at times.

    You can use a PWM controller with the 200w. An MPPT will only do a little better (maybe!) and will likely cost more.

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