Tested my new Solar Panel today
Purchased a NewPowa 150 Watt 12 volt panel on Amazon for 159.00 figuring that all the talk about raising tariffs mean prices will be going up soon. It was shipped for free and came well packaged and p...
Forum Discussion
Traveler7 wrote:
The one I have will autodetect the AGM and has settings for AGM, Gel or Flooded as well as Temperature Compensation.
This is what West said - cheap controller with minimum setting capabilities (read - none at all). It will have fixed voltages for Absorb and Float. Different for AGM/gel/flooded, but fixed - not adjustable. AGM can be finicky, requiring a higher or lover voltage depending on the brand, but voltages in your controller can't be adjusted.
As to the autodetecting AGM, gel or flooded - other people will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is either Chinglish or intentional misleading. It will only auto-detect the battery voltage - 6, 12, 24V.
30AH for small 3 cu.ft 12V compressor fridge? Yes, about that much. 150W flat panel (where? Lat 40?) will collect, say, 30AH on an average day in Spring and Fall, leaving nothing for other loads. In June it will collect 50 AH "average" - it means it may shoot higher on some days, giving you more energy that you need - ops, you can't store it if battery bank is small. On other days it will drop to 30 or less, and the battery will go lower than you would like it to - because it's too small again.
Big compressor fridge is a burden on solar. For 150W solar, 3 cu.ft. fridge is already "big" :)
Like Red31 said - you should not run 3-way absorption fridge on battery. They consume horrible amount of energy. You need 12V compressor fridge that doesn't work on propane at all, like those in 8-wheelers and yachts. That one could draw 30AH a day, yes. Exactly - 12V fridge, NOT a 120V household 3 cu.ft fridge. Dometic, Novakool, Isotherm, Engel, Vitrifrigo and others make it. Not cheap, 3 cu.ft. model will cost $900 or more. Novakool 3 cu.ft - prices in $CAD since this is where they make it. Dometic is former Tundra. Australian Engel is most expensive of them all.
"Small generator"? People don't like carrying it in truck campers, you won't like it in a small van either. Besides, with budget constraints it will have to be cheap Chinese model, loud and not too reliable.
