The best photovoltaic solar panels

HiTech wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
"Hell, I'm sure you'll find someone claiming the moon is made of Swiss cheese."

On this forum? You're an optimist!

Mozzarella

No! It's...

Cheddar!

You're nuts! It's...

Parmesano!

Freak! Check your facts!

"AMERICAN!"

Srsly? Green cheese.

"Green Cheese? Then I found a bit of the moon on a refrigerator door shelf day before yesterday and threw out part of the moon"

Hi Salvo,

130 watts of solar is adequate for a 200 amp-hour bank. But don't be running (large) inverters from a 200 amp-hour bank. Nor running a furnace for very long.

I wanted the rv to behave as if it were plugged into shore power all the time. It does, for the most part, do that.

HiTech wrote:
It would be better to have access to some kind of industry production data, but it seems to me I have seen a larger number of RVs with a single group 24 battery than any other configuration, with the next most common being one group 27-31 house battery.

Most I see out here are twin 24's.

Salvo wrote:
Strange thing to say. I bet most RV's have around 200AH capacity. IMO, that's plenty. Add 130W of solar and batteries are usually charged to 90% by noon. I don't need more solar or battery capacity.

And yes, square footage is a big deal. With all the stuff on my roof, I want the most efficient panel I can find.

Sal

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Since most RV's have woefully small battery banks--square footage to charge them is not much of an issue.

Kyocera panels are rated as third tier and number 6 in efficiency.

I checked on the Uni solar strips on ebay and they have doubled in price since I last checked.

It would be better to have access to some kind of industry production data, but it seems to me I have seen a larger number of RVs with a single group 24 battery than any other configuration, with the next most common being one group 27-31 house battery.

Jim

Strange thing to say. I bet most RV's have around 200AH capacity. IMO, that's plenty. Add 130W of solar and batteries are usually charged to 90% by noon. I don't need more solar or battery capacity.

And yes, square footage is a big deal. With all the stuff on my roof, I want the most efficient panel I can find.

Sal

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Since most RV's have woefully small battery banks--square footage to charge them is not much of an issue.

HiTech wrote:

Love to have all that battery and solar you have, but no weight carrying capacity nor space for all that with all the roof incursions I have unless I built a platform up over top of the AC unit.

Well, I don't have the solar yet! :) As far as battery capacity goes, one 400 Ah LI (125 lbs) should do the trick for ya. AND you can drain it down repeatedly to 20% SOC. The catch? It's $5000. About 5 times what an equivalent Ah AGM would cost. It is half the weight of that AGM (actually two 6V 400 Ah AGM's) including the management system the LI batt would require.

Loooong, thin spaces on either side of the AC I wanted to take advantage of, and direct mounting to the EPDM roof. My temporary mounting was just duct tape and it probably would have worked for years on its own. They are also light weight and no need to have an air space underneath to keep temps down. They are basically shingles that make solar power.

Love to have all that battery and solar you have, but no weight carrying capacity nor space for all that with all the roof incursions I have unless I built a platform up over top of the AC unit.

Jim

I actually have less roof space than my old 30 ft 5er. I MIGHT be able to get 3 230W panels on the roof. Two, for sure, three I don't know. My old 5er I could get 4 on the roof. I even thought about those 140W DMSolar panels because of the lack of space but as BFL pointed out, their output is low. I looked at those Unisolars a few years ago when PT brought them to my attention but I couldn't fit those on the 5er roof (definitely not the MH roof...too long). I don't know how you guys have the space for those but not for 230W panels.