I need advice on what solar panel to purchase. I have 2 group 31 batteries holding i think 220AH. All we do is dry-camp, only plugged into electricity a couple times. Electrical needs are very minimal, we do not run any electronic gadgets other then the radio/cdplayer. Even lights are not used all that much as we spend 90% of our time outside. In the winter this changes to more lights and more electicity used because of the furnace but i figure solar is going to do very little for me in the winter time if anything. Right now (in summer) we are able to camp for about 5-6 days with the batteries going down to about 12.1-12.2V and then i will run the generator. I am hoping to get away from this generator use all together.We live/camp in mountainous terrain so i would say 6hrs of good sunlight at best, probably fair amount of shadows during the day cast onto the panels from trees as well.I already have a solar panel controller (Specialty Concepts Mark15, 15amp) I was thinking a 100watt solar panel would maybe be OK, should I go bigger? Should I add more then just 1 panel? Tons of room on the overhead cab part of the camper but its slightly angled downward.What do you think? Good brandname? specs to look out for? Probably purchasing in quartzsite AZ unless you know of a good place to buy.

I had 100 watt factory installed panel and controller from Northwood. It worked OK but I realized I wanted more. I picked up another 120 watt panel from Solar Bills in Quartzsite 2 years ago and added it to the roof. Both of mine are over the cabover on my AF 1140. There are several solar dealers in Quartzsite and I found it to be a good place to get advice.

I have a Kyocera 135 on mine. Come spring I'll be adding a second. The 135 is discontinued but they now make the KD140SX, which is compatible. I found them at altestore.com for a very good price and reasonable shipping.

For just lights and little else, a 100 watt panel should be way more than enough. I would also suggest you look at replacing at least some of your bulbs with led bulbs. Get a good brand that will handle higher voltages which occur with charging. Better led bulbs also have warmer colors and are unlikely to interfere with radio reception. I had great luck with bulbs for ledtrailerlights.com.

Hi,Rule of thumb between 60 and 150 watts of panel per 100 amp-hours of storage, assuming an MPPT controller or tilted panels.So 220 amp-hours of storage go for a minimum of 132 watts with MPPT (or tilt). For PWM that needs to bump up to about 150 watts.While working on the system make sure the batteries are wired in a balanced manner.

Well you are using about 120AH in 5 days (pretty darn low BTW, my FW uses almost that in parasitic loads with fridge on propane) or about 25AH a day. A 60 watt panel would provide level of charging on a good day. Get the 100W one though for the days it is cloudy and to lessen the time needed for sunshine which will also help your winter concerns. I have a similiar battery bank (2 GC6volts, 235AH) and use a 125W panel. For your described use that should work well. Now if you are talking about being able to go weeks without generator I would double that and go with 250watts

Help me buy a solar panel | Good Sam Community

deltabravo
Nomad
Dec 29, 2012
kerry4951 wrote:
...Solar Bills in Quartzsite ...

WOW, that brings back some memories. Solar Bill and Donna are super nice people.

Back in the days when I worked for Heart Interface (inverter manufacturer) I went down to QZ at least three times and played the role of "on site factory inverter rep" to answer questions and what not, at Solar Bill's sales location.
2oldman
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2012
If you want to keep that controller, 260 watts is about maximum for your pv.
hmknightnc
Explorer
Dec 29, 2012
Well you are using about 120AH in 5 days (pretty darn low BTW, my FW uses almost that in parasitic loads with fridge on propane) or about 25AH a day. A 60 watt panel would provide level of charging on a good day. Get the 100W one though for the days it is cloudy and to lessen the time needed for sunshine which will also help your winter concerns. I have a similiar battery bank (2 GC6volts, 235AH) and use a 125W panel. For your described use that should work well. Now if you are talking about being able to go weeks without generator I would double that and go with 250watts
pianotuna
Nomad III
Dec 29, 2012
Hi,

Rule of thumb between 60 and 150 watts of panel per 100 amp-hours of storage, assuming an MPPT controller or tilted panels.

So 220 amp-hours of storage go for a minimum of 132 watts with MPPT (or tilt). For PWM that needs to bump up to about 150 watts.

While working on the system make sure the batteries are wired in a balanced manner.
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2012
For just lights and little else, a 100 watt panel should be way more than enough. I would also suggest you look at replacing at least some of your bulbs with led bulbs. Get a good brand that will handle higher voltages which occur with charging. Better led bulbs also have warmer colors and are unlikely to interfere with radio reception. I had great luck with bulbs for ledtrailerlights.com.
DWeikert
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2012
I have a Kyocera 135 on mine. Come spring I'll be adding a second. The 135 is discontinued but they now make the KD140SX, which is compatible. I found them at altestore.com for a very good price and reasonable shipping.
kerry4951
Explorer
Dec 29, 2012
I had 100 watt factory installed panel and controller from Northwood. It worked OK but I realized I wanted more. I picked up another 120 watt panel from Solar Bills in Quartzsite 2 years ago and added it to the roof. Both of mine are over the cabover on my AF 1140. There are several solar dealers in Quartzsite and I found it to be a good place to get advice.

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