Forum Discussion

352's avatar
352
Explorer
Jan 02, 2015

Solar power

Brief scenario. Small slide in pop up camper. LED lights (4). 12 volt water pump. 12 volt furnace fan on occasion. Florida. Gas stove. No carbon monoxide or gas detectors hard wired. I have 9 volt battery operated ones. No water heater. I plan on being in the woods for several days at a time. I am wanting an education on solar panel chargers. My research tells me I could use between an 18 to 30 watt panel with a controller to do what I need and keep a charge on the battery. Battery is marine with 50 AH. I also have a diesel which means I have an additional back up which I prefer not to use but will in
emergencies only. If you have a solar system you are happy with please further educate me on the brand that you have.
  • BFL13's avatar
    BFL13
    Explorer II
    Jan 02, 2015
    352 wrote:
    Brief scenario. Small slide in pop up camper. LED lights (4). 12 volt water pump. 12 volt furnace fan on occasion. Florida. Gas stove. No carbon monoxide or gas detectors hard wired. I have 9 volt battery operated ones. No water heater. I plan on being in the woods for several days at a time. I am wanting an education on solar panel chargers. My research tells me I could use between an 18 to 30 watt panel with a controller to do what I need and keep a charge on the battery. Battery is marine with 50 AH. I also have a diesel which means I have an additional back up which I prefer not to use but will in
    emergencies only. If you have a solar system you are happy with please further educate me on the brand that you have.


    50AH battery with usual story of not going below 50% unless desperate, means you have 25AH to play with daily. This might be enough (average camper is said to use 50AH daily-- might be true)

    You can get enough solar to replace 25AH daily assuming sunny days every day. If it is cloudy one day, the battery is too small to get you through till the next sunny day. Florida is supposed to be sunny

    Ok, so how much solar to replace 25AH a sunny day? At least an 80w panel or bigger if price is close to the 80w.

    A controller to run up to a 100w panel would be a "10 amp" which costs under $25 (eBay has dozens to choose from)

    As soon as the OP discovers inverters so he can watch TV, all this goes out the window of course! :)
  • JiminDenver's avatar
    JiminDenver
    Explorer II
    Jan 02, 2015
    Ok well good that we got that out of the way. lol

    We have solar and are thrilled with it. It isn't a brand name system like zamp or go power. It is a collection of parts that fit our needs. we take 230w for the trailer and three times as much to run a big inverter and bank.

    18-30w is pretty small. Close to the range people use to keep their battery from self discharging in storage. One rule of thumb is a watt to a watt and a half per Ah of battery. 50 Ah is not much but 18w will do little if it gets low.
  • 352's avatar
    352
    Explorer
    Jan 02, 2015
    OK. My definition of being in the woods is being in the middle of no where. Not under the trees.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Jan 02, 2015
    hwybnb wrote:
    Being "in the woods" does not sound compatible with solar. It does not work under trees.
    agreed.
  • hwybnb's avatar
    hwybnb
    Explorer
    Jan 02, 2015
    Being "in the woods" does not sound compatible with solar. It does not work under trees.

    Aside from that a 20 watt panel will keep a small battery like yours charged if it is lightly loaded as you say. You do not need a charge controller for a panel that small.

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