Solar pros and cons?

reed cundiff wrote:

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.

THIS is the battery bank to have.

The panels need sun, your oven-like RV does not. Remote panels make sense unless they run away. Use a long cable and tie all the panels together along with a heavy spare tire. This'll slow 'em down.

Hi Don

There was one that did at the last place I camped. It reminded me of why I don't like campgrounds.

Hi BFL13,

Yes, the birds do poop on your generator--but they have to aim extremely accurately to affect the energy output, and the target is much much smaller. I suspect that even a quiet Honda or Yamaha tends to keep the birds at a distance. But then, the generator doesn't run 24/7.

Birds don't poop on my generator.

Hi,

I hope to make solar practical for running my air conditioner this summer. Parts needed are a pure sine wave inverter, an additional charge controller, and a whack of panels to be installed on the drivers side of the class C.

Pros:

- Quiet
- Minimal maintenance
- If designed correctly, can provide all of your power needs (within reason)
- Quiet
- Free fuel
- Very reliable
- Fuel doesn't stink
- No exhaust
- Did I mention they are dead silent?
- Measure zero decibels at one inch (the loudest part is the occasional bubbling of electrolyte in the batteries)

Cons

- Almost worthless under cloudy skies
- Won't help you much at the north pole in December.
- Not practical for a/c - better off with generators for that, if required

I have a roof install on my truck camper. Panels tilt on one axis and I'm usually parked facing solar south and tilt for the duration (this is a big benefit in winter, when I do a lot of camping). I prefer this type of installation as opposed to a portable one since I can leave to go biking, hiking or whatever and not have much worry of theft. I don't camp in hot locations so am not concerned about parking in sun. The roof install also allows for solar charging while on the road.

RV Solar 101

I don't think this link was posted yet:

Forum Members Solar Installations With Pics

Meant to mention. The system we have has proven to be 100% autonomous. We have not hooked into line power or generator except to test and exercise system since system was fabricated by son Cary in June. We have run air conditioning for 3.5 hours using solar and batteries in conjunction.

We like to have wildlife around. In August we had two young Bull Moose fighting withing 25 meters of fifth wheel in Wyoming. This would not have happened if we had been using generator.

We do have a 1.0 kW Honda and we used it after drawing battery down to 2500 watt hours for fun and the Honda charged at 600 W and fully charged in 2.5 hours.

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