Solar panel System

[GoLuckyDog]

Hello all 1st post hope I found the right spot otherwise a Mod please move.
My wife and I bought a new travel trailer last year and I want to make it so that we could be self sustaing for a longer period of time since the kids are getting older its time for US to be comfortable and AWAY :lol: I am thinking of installing solar panels to virtually power the camper with/without batteries for say a week at a time. Without having to start my generator for anything. I have gone to ebay and found a few systems. I am thinking a 2x100 watt panels however I am seeing one kit with a 1500w inverter and one without. I am not sure if the inverter is overkill or not we dont much in terms have any powered kitschy stuff but listening to the stereo so I am not sure if is entirely necessary, unless we are using the microwave and Im not sure if that would do the AC for long.
Any thoughts or opinions ??
Oh and I am getting 3 golf cart batteries to put in serial if that changes anything.

Thanks

[2oldman]

GoLuckyDog wrote:
xpensive. Has there been a discussion of 12v vs 6v banks and preferences amongst the members here?

oh just a few hundred discussions.
12v or 6 Dec 2013
2- 12v or 6v June 2013
12v vs 6v batteries 2013
12v vs 6v batteries 2006
More 12v vs 6 2006
12v vs 6v 2010
Why 2 6? 2006

Anybody had one 6v fail?2010

maybe 12v is better 2010

[doughere]

2 100 watt panels and an inexpensive PWM controller will keep 2 GC's charged under most conditions. From what you describe a your usage, 2 GC's should be fine. For radio, standard radio/CD in most trailers are 12 VDC off the battery. Unless you have a REAL reason to use a microwave, I'd not get a large inverter (almost all you see in these packages are modified sine wave and will not run a microwave). A good 150 Watt Pure sine wave inverter will cost $150, and will run a decent sized TV and a DVD player.

You will need to change all lighting to LED.

We have 2 60 watt solar panels flat mounted on roof, and a 100 watt portable panel. Seldom need to run generator (has happened in a few densely wooded sites where there was NO solar to be had). We have a 2000 watt Honda inverter which was purchased before we got the solar panels, if I were to do again, would get the 1000 watt Honda; the difference in price would have paid for a lot of the solar, and wouldn't be so heavy to lug out of the storage bin.

Good Luck and Happy Camping,
Doug

[GoLuckyDog]

I had been reading from one of the links posted and it didnt occur to me to include that I am using a CPAP as well. As it reads I should use a generator and a decent battery bank for the power I would need over all is quite expensive. Has there been a discussion of 12v vs 6v banks and preferences amongst the members here?

[JiminDenver]

There is another advantage to getting the parts separately instead of a kit. Kits can be very plug and play, especially the portables. Buying separately forces you to learn why this panel is better for you than the next. What the difference between MPPT and PWM is and what the advantages are of each. Why one controller is 3 x as much, etc, etc. In the end you will understand your system better.

[GoLuckyDog]

Thanks for the information and links! We camp a lot at beaches so sun is "usually" pretty good. Im not overly concerned about the microwave honestly but a medium sized fan would be most excellent. I was told by the person selling the camper that the 6v batteries are the way to go. If getting 3 12v is better I would like to hear about it. I thought duration and charging would be better as well? would all batteries charge when using the panels? There is a kit w/o the inverter if that would work as well there are smaller 100w system as well but I thought 200 would be about right.

[beemerphile1]

GoLuckyDog wrote:
Sorry yes I meant 2 6V in a series I dont know where 3 came from? Would 4 6V be excessive? other than finding enough room

Only you can determine what works for you and it takes experience to figure that out.

Look around on the forums, there are hundreds of threads discussing solar and hundreds of threads discussing battery systems. You will find it easier to learn from others rather than designing a system on your own.

[2oldman]

Solar basics

[diveman52]

I'd check out these guys: http://www.solarblvd.com/
I have checked out some of the stuff on ebay lots directly our of China so it you have a problem? what do you do send it back to China?
If you have the room and can handle the extra 120 pounds for all means go for 4 - 6 volt batteries.
And get a MPPT charge controller.

[time2roll]

Forum Members Solar Installations With Pics

[JiminDenver]

GoLuckyDog wrote:
Sorry yes I meant 2 6V in a series I dont know where 3 came from? Would 4 6V be excessive? other than finding enough room

Four 6v would be good for running a microwave.

[JiminDenver]

If the batteries are 6 volt, you will need to run two of them in series for 12v. A second set can be added in parallel but you need to stay at 12v. three 12v batteries can be run in parallel.

There are a few sources for the 200w kits but you need to look at the components for quality and even if the hardware is usable. You may be better off buying the parts separately and getting items that fit your needs better.

For a 1500w inverter to run a microwave, a few things have to happen. First the fun output of the inverter has to be accessible from one outlet. Some split the output between the outlets. Second is you have to have enough battery to keep the voltage from dropping too low for the inverter to run. two 6v may not be enough, three 12v may do it.

Solar is part of a balanced system including knowing your needs, conserving where you can without sacrifice, enough battery to fill those needs for a few days when the sun doesn't play well and finally a means of recharging when the solar wont do it.

Your needs sound on the light side without using the microwave, so if you camp in a sunny local, 200w may serve you well. Living without the microwave makes it easier as you don't need a lot of battery and you can go with a smaller inverter too. Pure sine wave is recommended.

Even though we take 230w of solar with us and have never needed the generator, we still take it with us. Some day there will be a cloudy week and we will have to recharge, plus it also runs the AC when it gets hot. You can use your truck and a set of jumper cables as a last resort, it just takes a while.

On the conservation side you can save a lot of power by replacing your incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Those can be picked up at ebay for a few dollars or less each. The difference for us is we can light the trailer end to end and use less power than a few incandescent bulbs would.

Another way to save is with your TV. Some use power bricks that convert 120v to 12v to run the TV. You can replace the cord with a 12v cord and run it off of the battery instead of a inverter. Newer TVs also use much less power.

We use our panel portable meaning I can keep it aimed at the sun. On a normal sunny day it collects twice the power it would mounted.

You can't really run the trailer without battery but that doesn't mean the system wont run your trailer either. Our battery is usually in float by 9am. For the rest of the day I can turn on lights, fans, even the furnace and the battery never losses a volt. The controller will up the output to cover the load while the battery stays in float. Even with every light, fan and the furnace on, the controller only needs to put out 11a and the panel is good for 16a. So we are really only on the battery over night and we rarely use 20% even with using the furnace.

So if you really need the microwave, set it up to handle it. Otherwise it is much easier without.

[GoLuckyDog]

Sorry yes I meant 2 6V in a series I dont know where 3 came from? Would 4 6V be excessive? other than finding enough room

[TucsonJim]

"3 golf cart batteries to put in serial"

I believe you mean series? Are these 6V or 12V batteries? If they are 6V, putting them in series would give you 18V, if they are 12V batteries, then you'd have 36V in series. Either way, that is excessive voltage.

If you are using 6V batteries, put two in in series to = 12V. If you want more than two, you'd have to use at least 4. For a four battery (6V) set up, you'd have two banks of two batteries set up in a series/parallel combination.

If you are using 12V batteries, put them all in parallel.