Reputable Solar Installers?
Not sure if this is the right board in which to post this, but I was wondering if people could remind me of the really good solar outfitters in the RV community. I know I've seen a couple names...mayb...
Forum Discussion
Hi,
The best technology is what they send into space. Unfortunately, just like having an LI battery pack, most of us can't afford it.
Unfortunately AGM batteries don't appear to tolerate discharge to 20% state of charge as well as was advertised.
Two group 29 agm will provide about 200 amp-hours. That is a relatively small bank so I'd go with 300 to 450 watts of panels.
If you want every erg of power buy an MPPT charge controller with a temperature probe. Do not buy a controller that doesn't allow adjustable set points--you will need to optimize charging for the AGM chemistry.
If you wish to save a bit of money then you can use a pwm controller, and bump up the wattage.
What ever controller you do buy needs to be rated for 125% of the wattage that will be coming "down the pipe". I.E for 450 watts the controller needs to be rated at 562 watts. The reason for this is cloud lensing effects.
In perfect solar conditions monocrystalline panels out perform poly. But in poor solar conditions poly appear to work better. Amorphous are slightly better, but are huge in size for the same wattage. For example, my Unisolar system does 256 watts. I can now get 1000 watts of Poly panels into the same physical space.
When I upgrade (by 1000 watts) I'll be using 250 watt poly panels with an MPPT controller. I may just start over and use 5 panels to get to 1250 watts.
The hard part is my existing system works perfectly for the original design which was for trips of up to 5 days...but I full time now--so it is inadequate to my needs.
The best technology is what they send into space. Unfortunately, just like having an LI battery pack, most of us can't afford it.
Unfortunately AGM batteries don't appear to tolerate discharge to 20% state of charge as well as was advertised.
Two group 29 agm will provide about 200 amp-hours. That is a relatively small bank so I'd go with 300 to 450 watts of panels.
If you want every erg of power buy an MPPT charge controller with a temperature probe. Do not buy a controller that doesn't allow adjustable set points--you will need to optimize charging for the AGM chemistry.
If you wish to save a bit of money then you can use a pwm controller, and bump up the wattage.
What ever controller you do buy needs to be rated for 125% of the wattage that will be coming "down the pipe". I.E for 450 watts the controller needs to be rated at 562 watts. The reason for this is cloud lensing effects.
In perfect solar conditions monocrystalline panels out perform poly. But in poor solar conditions poly appear to work better. Amorphous are slightly better, but are huge in size for the same wattage. For example, my Unisolar system does 256 watts. I can now get 1000 watts of Poly panels into the same physical space.
When I upgrade (by 1000 watts) I'll be using 250 watt poly panels with an MPPT controller. I may just start over and use 5 panels to get to 1250 watts.
The hard part is my existing system works perfectly for the original design which was for trips of up to 5 days...but I full time now--so it is inadequate to my needs.
