Flexible solar awning. solar power and other solar tips

[zumbrennen]

I have a class C camper I'm switching to solar, and to save time on research what batteries and solar panels work the best or would you suggest (power generation/durability? also I have found this solar awning but the company is in Switzerland any one use these or know a USA company that makes them?

http://iland-solar.com/193/solar-products/solar-awnings
iLAND Green Technologies SA
Chemin des Maladières 22
CH 2022 Bevaix
Switzerland

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I emailed for a price quote and the email bounced.

[tonymull]

I think you'd find that solar awing to be pretty expensive. Flexible panels sometimes fail early if they are frequently flexed, although this is not supposed to be the case with the awnings. Otherwise they work OK but may cup and hold water sometimes, depending on the application. The 100/100 works because you're only drawing down half of your AH capacity, so a 200AH bank only needs to recharge 100AH and 200w of panel will suffice.

[scrubjaysnest]

Do an energy audit of your usage. This will determine what size battery bank in aH.
A pair of GC-2's is about 225 aH, typical bulk charge is 22.5 amps which is about 400 watts of solar

Rule of thumb, which tends to be low for RV's, 100 watts of solar per 100 aH of battery. 400 watts of solar or higher consider MPPT for a charge controller.

Flexible solar panels tend to fail early.

many ideas here: https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28427857/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm