Solar Output in Shade?
I'm still toying with adding solar to alleviate running the genny every day. But since out favorite no-hookup sites are shaded, what % of rated output can I expect from a 24V panel and MPPT controller...
Forum Discussion
A typical 120WATT solar panel will produce around 6-7AMPS DC current when in High Sun.
It has been my experience to recharge my 50% charged state batteries to their 90% charged state I need to have 14.4VDC with 20AMPs or so of DC current per battery in my battery bank. The batteries will demand alot of DC current at first and then tapper back after 30 minutes of charging and continue to taper back demanding DC current until they reach a charged up state. going from 50% charge to 90% charge in my case takes around three hours of charging. This starts out at 14.4VDC for around an hour then drops back to 13.6VDC for two additional hours and then drops to 13.2VDC until something gets turned on demand DC Current which will then switch to 13.6VDC...
Getting 20AMPS of DC current from solar panels takes several panels in parallel. If you have full high sun all afternoon you can easily reach 90% charge state on a couple of batteries in parallel before you lose full high sun...
I don't have solar yet but planning on getting enough panels on the roof of my POPUP trailer to produce at least 20AMPS of DC Current. Then I plan on running my generator for the first hour to get past the very high DC current demand from the battery bank and when the demand gets down to around 6-8AMPS then shut down the generator and let the panels continue charging the rest of the high sun day.
I think this will work big time for my situation...
You might want to get a couple of portable solar panels that you can move around your camp site to keep in the high sun.
Having a generator insures me I have a recharging source of energy no matter what the conditions are. Adding solar panel for me will just supplements the generator on reaching my daily 50% to 90% charge state on my battery bank.
A downside to my way of camping is I can only do around 12-14 charge cycles of 50% to 90% charge states before losing battery performance and have to do a full 100% charge period which takes 12 hours or so of running my generator. This is usually when we head for the barn so to speak...
Just some things to think about in your planning
Roy Ken
It has been my experience to recharge my 50% charged state batteries to their 90% charged state I need to have 14.4VDC with 20AMPs or so of DC current per battery in my battery bank. The batteries will demand alot of DC current at first and then tapper back after 30 minutes of charging and continue to taper back demanding DC current until they reach a charged up state. going from 50% charge to 90% charge in my case takes around three hours of charging. This starts out at 14.4VDC for around an hour then drops back to 13.6VDC for two additional hours and then drops to 13.2VDC until something gets turned on demand DC Current which will then switch to 13.6VDC...
Getting 20AMPS of DC current from solar panels takes several panels in parallel. If you have full high sun all afternoon you can easily reach 90% charge state on a couple of batteries in parallel before you lose full high sun...
I don't have solar yet but planning on getting enough panels on the roof of my POPUP trailer to produce at least 20AMPS of DC Current. Then I plan on running my generator for the first hour to get past the very high DC current demand from the battery bank and when the demand gets down to around 6-8AMPS then shut down the generator and let the panels continue charging the rest of the high sun day.
I think this will work big time for my situation...
You might want to get a couple of portable solar panels that you can move around your camp site to keep in the high sun.
Having a generator insures me I have a recharging source of energy no matter what the conditions are. Adding solar panel for me will just supplements the generator on reaching my daily 50% to 90% charge state on my battery bank.
A downside to my way of camping is I can only do around 12-14 charge cycles of 50% to 90% charge states before losing battery performance and have to do a full 100% charge period which takes 12 hours or so of running my generator. This is usually when we head for the barn so to speak...
Just some things to think about in your planning
Roy Ken
