Solar Charge Controller

JiminDenver wrote:

wbwood wrote:

JiminDenver wrote:
My twin 245w set ups are only different in that one has a 25 ft set of 10 awg cables, the other fifty feet. The system with the longer cables is always a few 10ths of a amp lower than the shorter. Worth it because the longer set up is easier to avoid the shade with.

wbwood

Every rig/user is different so it's hard to say this will be enough. We used a 230w system last year for the loads you are talking plus a considerable amount of furnace run time. It was overkill even with the afternoon storms we had except for one cold and cloudy weekend, and even then it kept us off the generator.

Some of the places have 200w kits for $300 including shipping. I would toss the mounting hardware, hinge the panels and run the cable to the controller near the batteries. A little more work than the premade portables and twice the power.

We are not going to mount the panels...I am leaning towards getting 2 - 100 watt panels and hinge them as you mention. It's just as cheap (if not cheaper) to get a kit with the controller. Usually it's a 30 amp PWM controller. One kit has a 20' cable, but some of the others don't mention it. I know they sell different length of cables. I'm looking at getting a quick connect/disconnect and mounting it underneath (or there abouts) near my batteries. That way, I can just pull out the panels, place and point them in the right direction and plug it in.

We don't do a lot of dry camping. (Actually have only done it once in the last year), but want to be able to do it and not have to run the generator if we don't want to or need to. We are not trying to power everything in the coach and not for extreme periods of time. The 30 amp controller states you can go up to 400 watts. So that gives the ability to add another panel or two later on. When the 2 group 27's die, we will replace with a couple of 6 volts...so that will help a little more. By then, who knows, we may be true solar converts....lol

I just want something to play with, learn with and help out some. I also like the idea of possibly starting a battery bank at the house and being able to use the solar panels and an inverter to run a few things with power outages. We have a small portable generator at home to use, but we get a lot of sun, so why not harvest it!

Depending on what you can get the panels for you may be able to beat the kit cost or at least get better quality components. My 25 ft set of cords with connectors was $32 shipped and the 59 ft were $50 or so. Longer and heavier than those in the kits. BFL uses a inexpensive PWM controller that would work well. Newer ones can use a temp probe too.