Panels For Mena

NinerBikes wrote:
Go big, or go home?

Yep! That's actually a replacement for my converter/big inverter/solar main feed line. My equipment is in a different compartment than my batteries so it will be the main connection between the two compartments. Right now I have a not so safe setup that's working and I need to make it safe. That's 10 feet of 3/0 BTW.

Go big, or go home?

Great advice BFL!!!

It looks like you will have a such good margin over your intended usage that being fussy over the last amp between this or that brand of panel isn't worth the bother. You are not full-timing where every little bit adds up over time.

So my vote is to go with the highest Isc you can get in the space available at a decent price (perhaps those 150s you found) and then solve some other more pressing problem.

Whatever you get, as somebody said rightly, two minutes later something more attractive will appear. You can't keep second guessing, and "perfection is the enemy of good enough" etc.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi mena,

I still think you should do 450 watts, so you could do solar equalization. But--it is not my money being spent, either.

I just might do it later PT but not right now.

Hi mena,

I still think you should do 450 watts, so you could do solar equalization. But--it is not my money being spent, either.

Yeah, I know my usage pretty well. LOL! This won't be to cover normal usage. This will be to cover future convection oven use. I'm a weekender so I don't need much. From BFL' calc's this should even work in the winter. There is one campsite where morning fog can be an issue at times but usually when we go there's full sun. Honestly, 300W is probably more than we need BUT that amount will make up for less than ideal conditions and still perform in the winter too. Typically, our usage is under 70Ah per day but we have used over 100 before. This rig has some serious parasitic draws that don't help much either (3.6A just from the entertainment centers). I do have a couple of wireless on/off power strips to turn off the larger draw items overnight. I've got enough battery to cover them but I just to don't like the idea of that much draw just when it's doing nothing.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Niner,

mena knows his demand down to the milliamp level. LOL

Very lucky I didn't have a mouthful of Mickie D's blend when reading this.

Hi Niner,

mena knows his demand down to the milliamp level. LOL