Solar pros and cons?
I'm interested in boondocking techniques, and would appreciate any links to threads concerning the best way to use solar panels to recharge batteries, where to mount them, how to stow them for travel,...
Forum Discussion
You do not 2 or 3 times the solar panels unless the sky is really low on the horizon. The power density is Lambertian and goes as the square of the cosine. So that if the sun is at 45 degrees, you will only get 50% insolation since the square of the cosine of 45 degrees is approximately 0.5
LFP batteries charge almost linearly to 100%. We have 9.7 kW of LFP or 720 amp hours at 12 V. It is to be noted that LFP can be discharged to 10% for thousands of cycles. Thus we have the equivalent of about 1400 amp hours of normal PbS batteries. The battery suite weighs 160 pounds as opposed to perhaps 800 pounds or more for PbS. Large panels are now at about 50 cents a watt contractor cost. Our older son is in solar business and has contract for installing a 1.5 megawatt system for power company. His attitude is just put more panels on roof and now have us at age 73 messing about on the roof to adjust angle. We have 1.4 kW which may be overkill. As noted on another
LFP batteries charge almost linearly to 100%. We have 9.7 kW of LFP or 720 amp hours at 12 V. It is to be noted that LFP can be discharged to 10% for thousands of cycles. Thus we have the equivalent of about 1400 amp hours of normal PbS batteries. The battery suite weighs 160 pounds as opposed to perhaps 800 pounds or more for PbS. Large panels are now at about 50 cents a watt contractor cost. Our older son is in solar business and has contract for installing a 1.5 megawatt system for power company. His attitude is just put more panels on roof and now have us at age 73 messing about on the roof to adjust angle. We have 1.4 kW which may be overkill. As noted on another
