Basic battery charging and solar question
I have a Surveyor 245BHS with 2 6v batteries wired in series. The RV dealer told me that when I'm plugged in to charge, the trailer doesn't recognize when the batteries are fully charged and will kee...
Forum Discussion
if you have 300 ma parasitic draw you need to replace 7.2 amps a day (.3 x 24)
if you get 6 hours of good sunlight to charge you battery with, you theoretically (panel efficiency comes in here) need 1.2 amps charging an hour.
a 15 watt panel will put out 1.25 amps (15 / 2) again - theoretically
Reality, is a 40 to 50 watt is in my opinion the bare minimum you need to make up for parasitic loads and running the water pump for a couple showers, etc. A 40w will (depending on sun conditions) top off your battery if you don't waste a lot of power and use less than say 20 amps a day. At a minimum it will allow you to replace some of what you use each day.
100 watts / 12v = 8.3 amps an hour theoretically (multiple by .6 to get closer to actual which will be around 5 amps) 5 amps x 6 hours will get your 30 amps to charge your battery with. (you will get more than this as you will have a couple less than perfect sun hours on either side of your 6 hours but this is conservative so a good value to use)
to sum up, if you are going to buy portable solar, I would recommend that you go a minimum of 100 watts, and if you are a heavier user of 12v or are in cloudy conditions or surrounded by trees, etc, then you will need more.
Again, this is what my experience has shown, I am not a solar expert, nor electrical engineer, and I dont play one on TV - so YMMV.
if you get 6 hours of good sunlight to charge you battery with, you theoretically (panel efficiency comes in here) need 1.2 amps charging an hour.
a 15 watt panel will put out 1.25 amps (15 / 2) again - theoretically
Reality, is a 40 to 50 watt is in my opinion the bare minimum you need to make up for parasitic loads and running the water pump for a couple showers, etc. A 40w will (depending on sun conditions) top off your battery if you don't waste a lot of power and use less than say 20 amps a day. At a minimum it will allow you to replace some of what you use each day.
100 watts / 12v = 8.3 amps an hour theoretically (multiple by .6 to get closer to actual which will be around 5 amps) 5 amps x 6 hours will get your 30 amps to charge your battery with. (you will get more than this as you will have a couple less than perfect sun hours on either side of your 6 hours but this is conservative so a good value to use)
to sum up, if you are going to buy portable solar, I would recommend that you go a minimum of 100 watts, and if you are a heavier user of 12v or are in cloudy conditions or surrounded by trees, etc, then you will need more.
Again, this is what my experience has shown, I am not a solar expert, nor electrical engineer, and I dont play one on TV - so YMMV.
