More Solar for "Us"
Ok, I went off.the deep end? Bought 3 used 37watt uni-solar panels and a blue sky 2000e controller for the hefty price of $400, They were being listed as 75w panels, they are not The tested open...
Forum Discussion
I just found this thread and scanned through all 18 pages. Trying to get the best performance from solar panels seems to be only half the battle. Equally important is to conserve power use.
On the production side, I upgraded my batteries to 2 x 150 AH, size 30 Lifeline AGMs. I added a second 135 watt Kyocera panel.
Equally important, I decreased my power consumption. My wife got an efficient 12v CPAP which should pull about 20 AH/day instead of the previous 40+ draw. I replaced all my tungsten bulbs with LED bulbs. I even replaced my 2 fluorescent fixures with LED fixtures. Now I pull about 1 amp to light the camper with several lights on instead of over an amp for a single bulb. The biggest change I made was to replace the fridge. Instead of drawing 80 AH or much, much more in hot weather, I will now use about 20 AH/day for my super insulated Nova Kool r4500. I did give up some fridge/freezer capacity but that beats dealing with a genset for hours a day. In the winter, solar will be tough but when we get into the summer months the solar should surpass my consumption with even a few hours of daily sunshine. I have checked my solar production several times on sunny days. The results are always close to the theoretical production: http://www.where-rv-now.com/Notes/Solar/index.php#Calculator
On the production side, I upgraded my batteries to 2 x 150 AH, size 30 Lifeline AGMs. I added a second 135 watt Kyocera panel.
Equally important, I decreased my power consumption. My wife got an efficient 12v CPAP which should pull about 20 AH/day instead of the previous 40+ draw. I replaced all my tungsten bulbs with LED bulbs. I even replaced my 2 fluorescent fixures with LED fixtures. Now I pull about 1 amp to light the camper with several lights on instead of over an amp for a single bulb. The biggest change I made was to replace the fridge. Instead of drawing 80 AH or much, much more in hot weather, I will now use about 20 AH/day for my super insulated Nova Kool r4500. I did give up some fridge/freezer capacity but that beats dealing with a genset for hours a day. In the winter, solar will be tough but when we get into the summer months the solar should surpass my consumption with even a few hours of daily sunshine. I have checked my solar production several times on sunny days. The results are always close to the theoretical production: http://www.where-rv-now.com/Notes/Solar/index.php#Calculator
