Solar Requirements - Confirmation
I'm taking a 3 month mountain biking trip through British Columbia this summer. Most of the time will be spent camping at National/Provincial parks without access to electric. When I really break it d...
Forum Discussion
westend wrote:Boon Docker wrote:westend wrote:
You want polycrystalline modules, not monocrystalline.
Curious, why would you recommend poly over mono?
- Mono is more efficient.
- Higher output per square foot.
- Longer useful life.
Polycrystalline has better production in low light conditions, something the OP may encounter in the arboreal forest.
Think that's based on JimInDenver's results? Haven't seen anything else, so I'm not sure that's the case under all low light conditions, diffuse vs low light, cloud cover vs leaf cover, panel orientation.
We camp in low light and I've got fixed mono panels but primarily because they were the only 24V ones that would fit (72 cells but only 32" wide), were a good price and available locally.
Price, quality, size and local availability strike me as being most important when selecting panels.
And if in low light a lot, you'll definitely want more, no matter what they are made of!
Another issue when low light camping (without a generator) is that your batteries can go long periods without being fully charged. From what I've read here, that can be harder on an AGM battery than on a Flooded Lead Acid. At least with FLA you can later equalize them with high voltage to de-sulphate. Anyway, we've avoided AGM for this reason (as well as costs and weight). But if you use a generator to top regularly, this shouldn't be an issue.
