Solar crunch time! Please review my plan.
I would like begin my first post with a big thank you to all who have shared their knowledge and experience on this forum. Without that, I probably wouldn't be entering the solar jungle! I hope yo...
Forum Discussion
An AH is an AH. Doesn't matter if you are doing a 50-100 on two batts or a 75-100 on four batts.
If it takes a 200w panel to do that, then of course the 200w will be a higher proportion of the bank size with the two batts. That is not to be confused with saying you NEED a higher proportion, just that it IS a higher proportion.
You also have the time factor in the AH. If you have longer days of sunshine, you don't need as many amps. You can have a good set-up for the summer that would be no good in the winter with its shorter daytimes. Also you use more furnace and lights on longer in the winter.
Flat or tilted? Aiming? In May at 49.3 N Lat, with a 130w panel, I got 56AH/day flat, 70AH tilted aimed South, and 90AH aiming it while tilted. (sunny all day, no clouds)
So first you need to know how many AH/day you will have to replace. Then figure how much solar that will take depending how you do it (flat or?) and when and where. That will turn out to be a certain proportion of your battery bank size. But you could have one or a dozen batteries it doesn't matter for how much solar you need.
How much battery you need could be affected by how much solar you have though :)
If it takes a 200w panel to do that, then of course the 200w will be a higher proportion of the bank size with the two batts. That is not to be confused with saying you NEED a higher proportion, just that it IS a higher proportion.
You also have the time factor in the AH. If you have longer days of sunshine, you don't need as many amps. You can have a good set-up for the summer that would be no good in the winter with its shorter daytimes. Also you use more furnace and lights on longer in the winter.
Flat or tilted? Aiming? In May at 49.3 N Lat, with a 130w panel, I got 56AH/day flat, 70AH tilted aimed South, and 90AH aiming it while tilted. (sunny all day, no clouds)
So first you need to know how many AH/day you will have to replace. Then figure how much solar that will take depending how you do it (flat or?) and when and where. That will turn out to be a certain proportion of your battery bank size. But you could have one or a dozen batteries it doesn't matter for how much solar you need.
How much battery you need could be affected by how much solar you have though :)
