Outlets Off while Boonedocking

[LongOverDue]

My wife and I are gearing up for boonedocking, and we just discovered that none of our outlets in the trailer work when not connected to Shorepower. Aside from a generator, what alternatives to we have here?

[rickeoni]

I think you guys scared the OP away.

[Boon_Docker]

rclifton wrote:

Veebyes wrote:
WOW!!:S

OK, you are in the East primarily therefore much of your camping is likely to be under trees not out in a desert with the sun beating down. This makes the solar being questionable for effectiveness for $$. It does not work under trees, under cloudy skies or at night.

I often wonder why folks constantly state that solar doesn't work under cloudy skies, trees, a bit of shade etc.. Does it work as well as in full sun? Obviously not, but it doesn't stop working all together. Case in point, I'm currently parked in Southern Oregon where it has been raining all day and yet my two 295W solar panels are putting 11.11A back into my battery bank as I type this. So far today in this crappy weather I have put back 46.9AH and it's only 1:30pm.

Makes me wonder also what they are talking about when it comes to shade and solar.
My 200 watts of solar was putting out an easy 9amps in the full shade of giant cedar tress on Vancouver Island.
Camped there for 30 days and the batteries (Pair of GC-2 6V) were back to full charge every day by mid afternoon.

[rclifton]

Veebyes wrote:
WOW!!:S

OK, you are in the East primarily therefore much of your camping is likely to be under trees not out in a desert with the sun beating down. This makes the solar being questionable for effectiveness for $$. It does not work under trees, under cloudy skies or at night.

I often wonder why folks constantly state that solar doesn't work under cloudy skies, trees, a bit of shade etc.. Does it work as well as in full sun? Obviously not, but it doesn't stop working all together. Case in point, I'm currently parked in Southern Oregon where it has been raining all day and yet my two 295W solar panels are putting 11.11A back into my battery bank as I type this. So far today in this crappy weather I have put back 46.9AH and it's only 1:30pm.

[Veebyes]

"OP should not expect to use high draw appliances off batteries."

He might do it once. He won't do it a second time. Good thing inverters shut down before the voltage gets too low for the lights to work some.

If solar is planned I hope the OP likes & can find plenty of sunny sites in the treed CGs of the East.

[georgelesley]

bfast54 wrote:

LongOverDue wrote:
I hoped that 1 outlet would have already been designated to work for a short time with an inverter, Bfast54. Thanks for your help. We Hope to go solar to recharge.

I am not aware of any RVs currently wired for An outlet --- off of an inverter

(No demand....)....besides......someone would plug an AIR CONDITIONER in......expect it to run all night.

Our MH has several outlets that work off the inverter. the satelitte and receiver plug, the bedroom tv and sat joey plug, the two on each side of the bed for medical devices I suppose and the one on the passenger side of the driving area to charge electronic toys. With these plugs active we can watch TV and prerecorded programming and even live TV if desired, but not all day or every day. We only do that when boondocking for a nite.

That being said, if and when an inverter is installed the installer could wire desired outlets to the inverter. However, as stated elsewhere, OP should not expect to use high draw appliances off batteries.

[djgodden]

You guys are a riot to read. The Electical Geeks are just as funny as the Weight Nerds or the Tire Fanatics.

[pianotuna]

Hi Phil,

In an ideal world there would be diodes between each and every cell. That is what UniSolar did. They also have three layers for three different frequencies of light. Unfortunately that left them with large panels so not as much wattage per square foot.

So far as I am aware some panels have 3 bypass diodes (one per string). Others may have only one diode per panel.

[2oldman]

I think the answer would be different depending on the panel's diode configuration.

[pnichols]

I guess my thinking that multiple panels wired in parallel provides better protection against total system voltage sag from one or more panels being shaded assumes that a shaded panel's internal resistance increases.

Is my assumption true ... does a solar panel's internal resistance increase or decrease as it becomes more and more shaded?

P.S. I guess that the SolarMagic solution for isolating a shaded solar panel from the rest of the panels in an array didn't work out?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SolarMagic

[2oldman]

pnichols wrote:
.. 24 volt solar panels be wired in parallel so that if one or more of them happen to be shaded (tree limb shadow, air conditioner shadow, etc.) ... total panel voltage level wouldn't turn out being too low going into the Magnum?

Diodes should take care of that.

[pianotuna]

Hi Phil,

I'd prefer an even number of panels and I'd wire in series parallel so 96 volts per string.

There is some discussion that the PT-100 can't do 100 amps output unless the input voltage is about 70 vdc.

If I were starting over I'd have battery bank voltage of 48. But being on a beer budget.......

[pnichols]

Don ... shouldn't multiple 24 volt solar panels be wired in parallel so that if one or more of them happen to be shaded (tree limb shadow, air conditioner shadow, etc.) ... total panel voltage level wouldn't turn out being too low going into the Magnum?

It seems like seven 24V panels wired in parallel would be a more reliable setup than wiring them in series.

[pianotuna]

Hi Mr Wizard,

Imarine is selling the PT-100 for 700.

https://www.solarblvd.com/products/ecosolargy-230-watt-24-volt-solar-panel/ $72 each $504 for seven totaling 1610 watts. If there is room you could add one more--so $576 gets you to 1840 watts.

That leaves about $700 to 800 for other materials.

The Magnum input voltage for a 12 volt output is a maximum of 187 volts. So the entire string of seven could be in series (168 volts).

MrWizard wrote:
Don
I thought that magnum was $1200,?
Where does someone buy 1650 watts of solar for $800

And don't forget all the install expense wire labor etc..
Please break it down and provide links

[colliehauler]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

My coffee pot consumes just 7 amp-hours for a full pot.

More and more folks are putting in solar panels that have enough oomph to run an air conditioner. If one has a capable inverter, the cost of parts to do so is under $2000.00 (Magnum PT-100 and 1650 watts of panels).

colliehauler wrote:

2 batteries and a solar panel will not run high current items, one pot of coffee or hair dryer and they would need recharged. Forget running the A/C on solar, just not practical.

Like I said education is the best answer to making a informed decision.

Like I said it's not practical, especially if you only have room for two batteries.

[Bobbo]

bfast54 wrote:

qtla9111 wrote:

Bobbo wrote:

bfast54 wrote:

LongOverDue wrote:
I hoped that 1 outlet would have already been designated to work for a short time with an inverter, Bfast54. Thanks for your help. We Hope to go solar to recharge.

I am not aware of any RVs currently wired for An outlet --- off of an inverter

(No demand....)....besides......someone would plug an AIR CONDITIONER in......expect it to run all night.

The 2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB (a 23 foot travel trailer) that I bought and will take delivery of this coming Thursday has a 1,000 watt inverter with 3 outlets connected as a standard feature. The outlets are the television location, the Blu-Ray player/radio location, and the outlet in the dining area. All 3 of the outlets are accessible to me.

Now that's cool!

Bobbo........
So....please tell us
Whats the PRICE????????
( hint...I have toured AIRSTREAM FACTORY..)..most recently 2 yrs ago.

My statement still stands

So far I have heard examples of $100,000 (+) BUSSES .. and this Airstream which I believe would be $65,000 -- or near that.

pianotuna wrote:
bfast54 air stream is $4000.00 per foot. 23 x 4 = $92,000.00

Actually, bfast54 is closer. However, I don't see his point. The quote

bfast54 wrote:
I am not aware of any RVs currently wired for An outlet --- off of an inverter

didn't stipulate a price point, and was responded to. I fail to see the significance of the price.