Yet another solar question

[mchero]

Been RV'ing for a long time & have been reading ALL solar posts with interest.

I was reading a recent solar post and one person brought up Solar Blvd. I visited their web site and ran across this deal;
http://www.solarblvd.com/Solar-Panels-&-Systems-Solar-Panels-By-The-Pallet/c1_250/p2815/10-LG-270-Wa...

10 LG 270 Watt 24V Solar Panels And 10 Enphase M250 Inverters for 3,499. A total of 2700 watts in panels. I also understand that the price also includes the M250 inverters.

It looks like this setup enables one to see what each panel is outputting. Also, it appears of one panel is in the shade the others will continue to produce power.

Is this a system for a fixed structure or can one use a system like this on an RV. I'm not sure what other hardware would be needed.

I'm amazed at the prices these days. Might5 be time to pull the trigger on Solar.

Thanks

[time2roll]

Try 35 to 45 cents in CA for that calc.

[Almot]

pianotuna wrote:
That's a mere 295 years.

Yes. With a system 3 times larger (not unusual for residential installation), and if you count not $0.04 that the grid pays you but $0.12 that you save on not paying to the grid ($0.13 average in the US, don't remember in Canada), it becomes 30 years. I think it's $0.20 in NY. So solar homes make sense, just not with this particular system.

In RV this mathematics is different. For occasional camping the solar will never pay off, in terms of money. For a seasonal cabin - probably so. With DIY installation - definitely so. Rates in RV parks are ridiculous, or there can be no shore power at all, so without solar you have to run a generator every day.

[Almot]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Oooooooo all that chocolate syrup means there has to be ice cream hiding in there somewhere.

A lot of ice cream. 96% inverter efficiency, sure, like this is gonna happen...

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I think you could "fool" the system into thinking it was on a grid if you had a good quality psw inverter running.

At 3500 bucks pay back where I live would be many years.

2700 watts x 6 hours = 16200 watt-hours

Saskpower will pay $0.04 cents per KWH so pay back on SUNNY days is $0.65 cents per day.

3500 X 2 (to allow for installation) = $7000.00 /$0.65 = 107692 days before break even occurs. That's a mere 295 years.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Oooooooo all that chocolate syrup means there has to be ice cream hiding in there somewhere. 2.7 kw charge rate would be appropriate for say 2K amp hours of batteries.

DREAM SYSTEM

NASA grade efficiency panels, with trackers
Lithium Batteries
Thermoelectric cooling
Everything direct current

But this is only for vacationing. The rest of the year I would live in my stateroom penthouse on "The World".

[BFL13]

Hey we all get to spend $3,499.00 of his money for him! Wheee!

He might be able to afford MPPT with that! 🙂

[JiminDenver]

Right. That system is for a fixed installation and 10 270 watt panels would take up a LOT of real estate. I'd be able to get two, maybe three on my trailer.

What are you looking to do with the solar. How much room do you have to mount panels. How many batteries do you have or plan to have. Most of all, what kind of loads do you run.

Since we know nothing of your needs, I can tell you how we use ours. We use a single 230w panel unmounted connected to a charge controller and then a battery bank. We are able to run the lights, fans, pump, and furnace as much as we want as long as we don't get too many cloudy days in a row.
Most times I can keep a inverter bank up too. We have used it for TV/DVD and other smaller items. With a large enough inverter we could run a hair dryer or warm stuff up in the microwave but we wont be cooking any turkeys in it.

BTW running the AC is doable but not practical.

So figure out your needs first, wants second and consider the limitations of room on the roof and battery bank. I bet they may be met for less than the system you were looking at.

[mlts22]

If you are wanting a grid-tie system that hooks up to the pole, this is what you want. The micro-inverters are very useful.

However, this will not help you if you want an off-grid system that goes to a battery bank, since the micro-inverters are making AC, not the DC needed for the charge controllers.

I ran into the same deal a couple months ago, then realized there are no off-grid micro-inverters made yet. Grid tie, yes, but not for RV use.