Adding more Solar and DC-DC charger
Hope all is well guys and girls About 6 months ago i came here with a plan to leave my high priced NYC apt and move into my truck camper full time , well , its been one hell of a ride so far ! O...
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I'm not very knowledgeable about electrical things but I did install my own solar system so I can tell you what has worked for me for the last seven years as a full-timer that boondocks 95% of the time, mostly in the winter in southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, and southern Texas. And yes this is the set up I have on my fifth wheel and not a truck camper. But I'm in the process of selling my fifth wheel and buying a truck camper so this thread interests me. And this solar system is approximately what it takes for me to be comfortable as a long-term boondocker no matter what RV I'm in.
840 Watts of Kyocera solar panels, 400 amps of BattleBorn lithium iron batteries, a 60 amp MorningStar solar controller, and a 1200 watt pure sine wave inverter.
I know some people need a lot less, and some folks need a lot more but for me, this works out just right. It won't run my air conditioner of course but it runs everything else I need to run.
In the summer when the sun is directly overhead this is way more panels and batteries that I actually need. But during the winter when the sun is low and days are short, this gives me all the power I need, even after three or four days of cloudy weather. And I have enough panels that I don't have to climb up on the roof and orient the panels toward the sun, they just lay flat all the time.
As for the cold weather, yes it does get pretty cold sometimes even in the Southwest so I put my BattleBorn lithium iron batteries under my bed where they stay warm, and yes I'm safe with them under their. But I did put a smoke alarm under my bed just in case!!
Theboondork.com
840 Watts of Kyocera solar panels, 400 amps of BattleBorn lithium iron batteries, a 60 amp MorningStar solar controller, and a 1200 watt pure sine wave inverter.
I know some people need a lot less, and some folks need a lot more but for me, this works out just right. It won't run my air conditioner of course but it runs everything else I need to run.
In the summer when the sun is directly overhead this is way more panels and batteries that I actually need. But during the winter when the sun is low and days are short, this gives me all the power I need, even after three or four days of cloudy weather. And I have enough panels that I don't have to climb up on the roof and orient the panels toward the sun, they just lay flat all the time.
As for the cold weather, yes it does get pretty cold sometimes even in the Southwest so I put my BattleBorn lithium iron batteries under my bed where they stay warm, and yes I'm safe with them under their. But I did put a smoke alarm under my bed just in case!!
Theboondork.com
