Transporting Solar Panel In A Toad's 4' X 6' Roof Rack

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Mex,

The consensus is that below 400 watts it may ultimately be cheaper to have nominal 12 volt panels and a GOOD pwm controller with adjustable set points.

Yes, cheaper. Though it can be easier to install panel mounts and route the wires for 2*200W than 4*100W. Not to mention that in the space taken by 2*200W you can install 2*250 or 2*270W, same size as 200W.

I think setpoints in Sunsaver 20 are not adjustable. But it's small, black, inobtrusive when you nail it to some chicken shed.

Sr Mex, calmate y dime que es la pregunta.

Browsing from "over there" can be slow, and google.mx is a different creature from google.ca. Some pages just don't display properly (and localized Mx OS and browsers may work differently from the original software).

24V panels in the 200-280W range are all - 99% of them - in the same size 39"x65". Panels 4x6ft or larger are not very common.

I can yack and dance circles but common sense tells me Solar Blvd is two hours north of the border. Then I can stop in Tijuana on the return leg. They have 30" tall 460 A/H L-16s that I'll take a gander at. This means driving a long way to place on a truck to Lazaro Cardenas.

Check prices here. SunElec.com

You might find that driving a long ways to get a lower price panel might be expensive on gas! That website is in Phoenix AZ.

I would prefer to recommend a pair of 140 watt panels that they sell for $229 each. They are 12 volt nominal, so will work well with a cheap PWM controller if you like. I bought one for about $14 at AilExpress.com Search for 20A PWM controller and then click on lowest price first. You will get several results, and it will show up in about 3-4 weeks.

Until you get a controller, you can directly hook up a 140 watt solar panel to your battery, and the CO meter, propane detector, and refrigerator will discharge the battery enough that the solar panel will not be able to overcharge the battery. Just make sure that you are not using the solar and battery charger at the same time. If you start with a full battery, then charge it all day, it will certainly overcharge it! You can just hook up a switch or unplug it while not needing the power!

I am planning on installing a 120 watt solar panel and PWM controller on the handicap van I am buying. I will not be using it daily, or perhaps weekly, and want to keep the battery full. I also plan on installing a fantastic fan to keep the van cool while parked in the sun.

Good luck,

Fred.

have you tried setting Google as your default browser, instead of the blue "e" internet explorer?

I prefer Woodall's over rv.net for surfing, you might want to try it too.

Are you loading the U.S. google or is it a Mexican Google website? This happens in PR and I have seen it in Canada too.

In a 39 inch by 65 inch sized panel, you could easily get up to 275w in a mono panel. That range in a poly are longer and have Voc's in the 40's. So you could easily have 500-550 watts and you could go PWM if you ran a 24v bank. I went poly because of the weather here but if you have good light go for the mono's.

That said I believe I recently got a email from solarblvd for their 230w panels at around 60 cents a watt. 460w should put you in the 30a range with MPPT at 12v.

I haven't seen complaints for the adjustable MPPT controllers from Tracer. Probably the least expensive way to go and still get temp compensation.

I thought about asking if anyone south of us wanted a few of those 250w polys brought down to Texas. A bit far for you though Mex.

Hi Mex,

The consensus is that below 400 watts it may ultimately be cheaper to have nominal 12 volt panels and a GOOD pwm controller with adjustable set points.

used Kyocera KC120 120 watt nominal 12 volt panel

Kyocera KC120

Specifications:
Maximum Power: 120 watts
Maximum Power Voltage: 16.9 volts
Maximum Power Current: 7.10 amps
Open Circuit Voltage: 21.5 Voc
Short-circuit Current: 7.45 amps

Dimensions (LxWxD): 56.1" x 25.7" x 2.2" (1425 x 653 x 59 mm)

Sunsaver 20 amp charge controller

Standard Controller Features:

Temperature compensation
High level of lightning protection
Computerized production testing
Ambient temperatures of -40°C to +60°C
Expected 15 year life
Parallel capability for higher current ratings
Easy to use
No need to derate- 25% design margin
Constant voltage, PWM series charging
Reverse current protection (at night)
ISO 9002 manufacturing
High efficiency, low self-consumption
Tropicalization-Epoxy or conformal coating
Five year warranty

Go to preferences in Google and try turning off Google Instant and see if that helps with performance.

Preferences

I guess I had more

This site loads fast from the office.
This site loads almost unusably slow from home.

I think the difference is name lookup (DNS) is better from work than home. Has to lookup not only the site itself, but all the Ads on each page and some of those seem to be slow lookups from home.

That's all I got.