TCS with Solar - Rooftop or Portable
Hi folks, I'm still exploring Solar power for my new TC. In another thread I shared a rooftop system I was considering and several people suggested I go portable instead. I had not considered portable...
Forum Discussion
Best single resource I found was Amsolar.com for solar installation products and information.
I installed two panels on the roof and once installed they require none of my time and work whenever there is daylight whether the truck is parked or on the highway or the camper is being stored. They start recharging the two camper batteries as soon as it is daylight and I need to do absolutely nothing. Nothing to setup and nothing to put away and nothing to get stolen. Nothing could be easier to operate once the system is installed.
It if is raining the panels get cleaned of road dust. If it is windy they are still working and still secure from damage. No matter what our usage has been during the night by noon the following day the batteries are back at 100%.
A 100 Watt panel will provide 5-6 amps per hour to recharge your batteries. If your digital monitor or Trimetric indicates you are now using 25% of a 100 AH house battery you know that the solar panel providing 5 amps will need 5 hours to get the battery back to 100%.
There is a tendency toward overkill. In the example of the 25 amp hours of consumption that takes 5 hours to replenish, there is no advantage to having 10 amps of panel output and charging the panels in half the time. In most situations only 3 amps will recharge the panels by nightfall.
But you are flying blind without an accurate digital charge monitoring device like the Trimetric. It is like trying to decide on whether to buy a larger fuel tank when you don't know how many miles per gallon your truck consumes. The factory provided gauges are marginal and can be off by 20% or more.
If you know how much battery capacity you actually need it may be enough to add a second battery to cover the period of time when your truck alternator is not charging the camper battery or you do not have shorepower available to recharge it. With our 220 AH battery bank we have 110 amp hours available and that is enough to go 3 days before needing to have any means of recharging whether it be the truck alternator or shorepower.
I installed two panels on the roof and once installed they require none of my time and work whenever there is daylight whether the truck is parked or on the highway or the camper is being stored. They start recharging the two camper batteries as soon as it is daylight and I need to do absolutely nothing. Nothing to setup and nothing to put away and nothing to get stolen. Nothing could be easier to operate once the system is installed.
It if is raining the panels get cleaned of road dust. If it is windy they are still working and still secure from damage. No matter what our usage has been during the night by noon the following day the batteries are back at 100%.
A 100 Watt panel will provide 5-6 amps per hour to recharge your batteries. If your digital monitor or Trimetric indicates you are now using 25% of a 100 AH house battery you know that the solar panel providing 5 amps will need 5 hours to get the battery back to 100%.
There is a tendency toward overkill. In the example of the 25 amp hours of consumption that takes 5 hours to replenish, there is no advantage to having 10 amps of panel output and charging the panels in half the time. In most situations only 3 amps will recharge the panels by nightfall.
But you are flying blind without an accurate digital charge monitoring device like the Trimetric. It is like trying to decide on whether to buy a larger fuel tank when you don't know how many miles per gallon your truck consumes. The factory provided gauges are marginal and can be off by 20% or more.
If you know how much battery capacity you actually need it may be enough to add a second battery to cover the period of time when your truck alternator is not charging the camper battery or you do not have shorepower available to recharge it. With our 220 AH battery bank we have 110 amp hours available and that is enough to go 3 days before needing to have any means of recharging whether it be the truck alternator or shorepower.
