How Much Solar ? First Hand Report

[RJsfishin]

Just got set up here in Quartzsite, two 100 watt solar panels on my receiver hitch mounted polar mount, moving it 3 times during the day.
Panes were partly shaded by an old power pole till 9 am, then full sun all day. Solar display was blinking by 2pm, batts near full charge. We are a little conservative w/ led lites etc, but still burn sat tv at least 6 hrs a day.
This 200 watts (190 actually) it more than enuff for us, ......if we can depend on the sun even 50% of the time.
All this hype about voltage drop,......undersize wiring, etc etc, is a serious waste of time IMO,
......my voltmeters looked better when I got up this morning, than they have ever looked running my generator. I am thrilled w/ solar here in AZ. I wish I could be 1/2 this thrilled in Oregon ! :))

[mena661]

NinerBikes wrote:
That a poly panel "wakes up" before daybreak is a good thing, it wipes out the parasitic drag on the battery early on, and covers it with a surplus right at start up.

Yeah that's really good info there. Sells me on poly.

[NinerBikes]

RJsfishin wrote:
Used MH 1 yr ago, 2 batts not labeled at all, but are 2 yrs old, and are 27s I think. I'd guesstimate about 50 AHs a day. Lots of sat tv, but all led, and no 12v heat.
It was a shakey solar day yesterday. reminds you that 200 watts is not too much. But before the day was over I almost broke even.....I think, accordion to the voltmeters this morning.

These are 105 amp hour rated.

diehard group 27 deep cycle RV battery.

Assume yours might be a be 95 amp hour each? Assume 190 amp hours and you are using 50 -55 a day. About 70% maybe 75% SOC when you call it a night and turn off the TV, a bit more at daybreak? That's barely a sweat on your batteries, no wonder a genny has such trouble in that app with your charge controller on board. 65 to 90% daily is probably troublesome.

What does your voltmeter read at O dark thirty before your solar panels start kicking in?

[NinerBikes]

Gotta watch out for those "accordian volt meters". Luv speelchek! I don't think satellite tv receivers are easy on the juice consumption, last I checked. 3 amps an hour or so. Another 3 or 4 for the tv, depending on the size of the tv. Call it 6amps an hour watched, plus water pump, plus lights plus parasitic consumption of 15 to 18 amps every 24 hours, maybe 12 in your case, cause daylight wipes out 12 of those with the solar panels for a net gain. That a poly panel "wakes up" before daybreak is a good thing, it wipes out the parasitic drag on the battery early on, and covers it with a surplus right at start up.

[RJsfishin]

Used MH 1 yr ago, 2 batts not labeled at all, but are 2 yrs old, and are 27s I think. I'd guesstimate about 50 AHs a day. Lots of sat tv, but all led, and no 12v heat.
It was a shakey solar day yesterday. reminds you that 200 watts is not too much. But before the day was over I almost broke even.....I think, accordion to the voltmeters this morning.

[NinerBikes]

RJ, what are you running for batteries/Amp hours with your set up, and how much usage per 24 hours are you estimating you're taking as SOC come daybreak?

Two 12 volt 110 amps each? Like Group 31's or ?

[russgary]

I am using 980 watts on an all electric rig, electric fridge Cook top etc. This charges a 400 amp hr AGM battery pack. The battery pack reaches saturation on most days mostly due to the very high charge acceptance rate of the agms . A vintage DC ammeter I installed will show as much as 70 amps. The panels are flat and fixed and the size was chosen by available roof space 7X14 feet.

[RJsfishin]

NinerBikes wrote:

RJsfishin wrote:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27422525.cfm

I think you linked it right back to this thread, the beginning? Was that your intent, or did you have another thread you started when you first bought and built that unit? I am thinking of maybe putting a 1 1/4" hitch on the bumper of my 21 foot travel trailer for a mount like that. Where did you get the mount from?

I just ordered a 1 1/4" receiver hitch that will fit on my bumper here, hope I got a good price.


----------------------------------------------------
Hitch looks good, plenty good for 1 panel for sure.
In reality, I haven't encountered any serious wind w/ my panel setup yet. But I can't see it going very far, hopefully ! 🙂
The link is correct, but placed on the wrong thread !!
That's happening more and more lately. 🙂
------------------------------------------------------

Curt 90100 4" trailer bumper hitch receiver.

[Gulfcoast]

Wouldn't it be nice to look out the window and adjust your panels with a toggle switch... just a thought.

[RJsfishin]

I made the polar mount from a swivel caster wheel, w/o the wheel. It is kinda crude and heavy, but works so good that I plant to rebuild it when I get home.
And I would be tempted to install one of the automatic 12v actuator kits while I'm at it.

[NinerBikes]

JiminDenver wrote:
Niner

be careful with your trailers bumper. A set up like this would put considerable torque on the bumper especially if a wind caught the panels right. RJ is using a real hitch connected to his frame.

No worries, I can have something fabricated to do likewise.

[JiminDenver]

Niner

be careful with your trailers bumper. A set up like this would put considerable torque on the bumper especially if a wind caught the panels right. RJ is using a real hitch connected to his frame.

[Gulfcoast]

That's a fine looking setup RJs, wish I had one...

[NinerBikes]

RJsfishin wrote:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27422525.cfm

I think you linked it right back to this thread, the beginning? Was that your intent, or did you have another thread you started when you first bought and built that unit? I am thinking of maybe putting a 1 1/4" hitch on the bumper of my 21 foot travel trailer for a mount like that. Where did you get the mount from?

I just ordered a 1 1/4" receiver hitch that will fit on my bumper here, hope I got a good price.

Curt 90100 4" trailer bumper hitch receiver.

[RoyB]

Thanks for the report RJ... I'm thinking my received training from all you guys is about to come into place here...

When I first started gathering SOLAR info it was all over the place what was working great an what wasn't...

When you narrowed it all down to actual use then the story always changed...

I got a chuckle about the Shadow of the pole hehe... The shadow almost looks like a wind generator is mounted on the top of the pole...

Roy Ken