Solar - Upgrade or replace outright?
The new-to-us coach has a small solar panel system. I would like to upgrade it to the point where I could reasonably hope to capture 50 or 60 amp-hours per day in light conditions that are less than ...
Forum Discussion
I am not sure about all this, BFL.
Firstly, "60 AH a day in less than ideal conditions" doesn't tell much. System even as big as 500W in a deep forest on a sunny day - which qualifies as "less than ideal conditions" - would collect less than 20 AH as you probably know.
Secondly, about "120 AH in good conditions, flat". This criteria is more informative, but, without getting into detailed estimates I would dare to say that even 500W array on 38 parallel - VW is at 38-ish rather than 49-ish - on a sunny winter day it won't collect anywhere near 120 AH. More likely it will be 70-80 AH.
In "less than ideal conditions" on the same winter day - this time for "less than ideal" let's consider more realistic conditions like dense clouds and no forest - 500W would barely collect 60 AH that the OP is aiming for, and I personally wouldn't count on more than 45 AH.
In summer it looks better, but people down South tend to camp all year round. 500W in winter in South is enough for somebody who is good at conserving energy. If they plan to spend 60 AH daily, 500W might not be enough. This is why I suggested in earlier post "500W-750W" rather than "500W".
Thirdly, upon (very brief) review of the OP posts I didn't notice anything indicating that OP is not an offgrid fulltimer or doesn't consider becoming one soon. IMO, few weeks offgrid qualifies as fulltime. My apologies if I missed anything, as I said it was mere a brief glance.
And lastly, about "poor guy". I didn't notice the OP taking a vow of perpetual poverty and neither can I imagine anybody at or near this financial standing buying a motorhome ;)
Firstly, "60 AH a day in less than ideal conditions" doesn't tell much. System even as big as 500W in a deep forest on a sunny day - which qualifies as "less than ideal conditions" - would collect less than 20 AH as you probably know.
Secondly, about "120 AH in good conditions, flat". This criteria is more informative, but, without getting into detailed estimates I would dare to say that even 500W array on 38 parallel - VW is at 38-ish rather than 49-ish - on a sunny winter day it won't collect anywhere near 120 AH. More likely it will be 70-80 AH.
In "less than ideal conditions" on the same winter day - this time for "less than ideal" let's consider more realistic conditions like dense clouds and no forest - 500W would barely collect 60 AH that the OP is aiming for, and I personally wouldn't count on more than 45 AH.
In summer it looks better, but people down South tend to camp all year round. 500W in winter in South is enough for somebody who is good at conserving energy. If they plan to spend 60 AH daily, 500W might not be enough. This is why I suggested in earlier post "500W-750W" rather than "500W".
Thirdly, upon (very brief) review of the OP posts I didn't notice anything indicating that OP is not an offgrid fulltimer or doesn't consider becoming one soon. IMO, few weeks offgrid qualifies as fulltime. My apologies if I missed anything, as I said it was mere a brief glance.
And lastly, about "poor guy". I didn't notice the OP taking a vow of perpetual poverty and neither can I imagine anybody at or near this financial standing buying a motorhome ;)
