solar project starting to come togeather.

[StirCrazy]

Parts have started showing up for me to install solar on my camper.

what I am planing is one 325 watt 120cell split panel on the roof, feeding a Renogy Rover 40 amp solar charge controler feeding two 6V 210Ah lead acid batteries. I ordered the bluetooth modual for it and the tempartue leads you atach to the batteries. I also ordered two 30Amp resetable breakers (one for the panel side and one for the battery side) to act as protection but also a way to disconcect the power to the controler if i have to do any work on the system.

One question I do have is when mounting the solar brackets to the alumium roof, do you put the dicore in the bolt holes and under the mounting feet and then over top when you screw it all in?

and the other big thing is where to mount the charge controler. can I put it in a closet? how hot do they get?

thanks.

Steve

[StirCrazy]

Lyuluck wrote:
325 watts 120 cell solar panel is low power, and bulky size. It's an old module and not achieve the most usage requirements. Because of the electricity loss in wire and sunshine angle on the roof is not ideal. The real wattage only 40-60% of the panel.

you can watch this video and there are lot's on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht1kl37pJ2E

its a split cell design as well as 24V also which is newer than most, as for big and bulky what do you mean its the same size as every other large wattage pannel out there and the efficiency rating on it was right there with the best. ghe wire I used it rated for 4 time the amprage that will be going throught it so realy shouldnt be much loss that way. I did check on solar.reviews and in 2020 (this year) they gave this panel an superior raiting, so not exactly getting what your talking about. every panel will have losses due to sun angle and undersized wires and so on, so your point isnt realy making much sence.

as for the video, I saw it, didnt learn anything from it aside that some trailers have factory roof racks which makes things way easier

Steve

[Lyuluck]

325 watts 120 cell solar panel is low power, and bulky size. It's an old module and not achieve the most usage requirements. Because of the electricity loss in wire and sunshine angle on the roof is not ideal. The real wattage only 40-60% of the panel.

you can watch this video and there are lot's on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht1kl37pJ2E

[jimh406]

I like your breakers.

[StirCrazy]

well got it all hooked up this morning.

closet where the controler is



screen shot of the phone app. very overcast, raining and batteries are already at 100%



Steve

[Geewizard]

.

[StirCrazy]

well, yesterday I got the panel mounted and cables ran down to the charge controler. Decided to step up the battery side cable to 8 ga so I had to go have a couple of thoes made and I should be able to have it all running today. in about 3 weeks I am going to be loading up the camper and touring around Alberta, so that will be a good test as it should be cool enough at night for the furnace.

mounting system for screws that dont hit a stud


panel all mounted and sealed in


panel wires done.


MPPT controler mounted with battery temp sensor and bluetooth cables conected.


grabbed two of these 30A breakers to use as disconects. I put one on the positive panel wire and one on the positive battery wire.


Steve

[DWeikert]

msiminoff wrote:
Hi Steve,
For everything that goes on my TC's roof I use either Dicor or butyl tape under the mounting surface (depends if I expect to remove it or not) and Dicor over the mounting bracket and over the screw heads. I don't personally think that it is necessary to put Dicor inside the screw holes.

Cheers
-Mark

^^^^
This.

When I upgraded the solar on my Northstar I used a strip of butyl tape under the mounting foot with the screws going through this layer of butyl to seal under the screw heads, then self leveling Dicor over the foot and screw heads.

[Geewizard]

Lwiddis wrote:
Setup, takedown, store, setup, takedown, store gets old fast. And watch it for theft. But on the roof...

Put up the ladder, clean the panels, walk on the roof, take down the ladder, move the RV into the sun, set up the generator, start up the generator, take down the generator. And watch it for theft. But, on the ground.......

My portable solar setup takes 5 minutes to deploy and produces more amps since it is aligned with the sun than a roof mounted solar panel at an angle to the sun.

To each their own, of course.

[StirCrazy]

msiminoff wrote:
Hi Steve,


I do have to ask why you are going with the lead acid GC2 batteries???
A single 100A LiFePO4 battery from LifeBlue or BattleBorn will give you the same usable capacity, faster charging & discharging, and be 1/4 the weight of the two GC2's.
Yes the LiFePO4's a expensive.... Pay now, play later :C

Cheers
-Mark

well , I got them cheep on sale and they worked. Plus I didnt know I could build my own 280AH lithium pack for about 600.00 at that time eigher or I would have went that way. I dont have anything that is 110v in the camper, might add a microwave at a later date, so the biggest usage would be my furnace. I have had 4 batteries in m y 5th wheel for 12 years now, they are just starting to show there age, so I will be looking at building a LiFePO4 set up there, just have to figure out where I want to move the batteries to so they will be warm in the winter. I do a lot of camping in temps below 32 also.

Steve

[msiminoff]

Hi Steve,
For everything that goes on my TC's roof I use either Dicor or butyl tape under the mounting surface (depends if I expect to remove it or not) and Dicor over the mounting bracket and over the screw heads. I don't personally think that it is necessary to put Dicor inside the screw holes.

As long as you mount the charge controller in the orientation specified by Renogy, a closet should be fine. The controller will get warm, but not hot. Keep in mind that you want to keep the wires from the panels to the controller as short as possible. I don't know how long your cable-run is, but I'd consider 10ga to be the bare minimum... same goes for the wires from the controller to the batteries.

I do have to ask why you are going with the lead acid GC2 batteries???
A single 100A LiFePO4 battery from LifeBlue or BattleBorn will give you the same usable capacity, faster charging & discharging, and be 1/4 the weight of the two GC2's.
Yes the LiFePO4's a expensive.... Pay now, play later :C

Cheers
-Mark

[StirCrazy]

Lwiddis wrote:
Yes, in the drilled hole, under the bracket and over the bracket.
Mount the controller as close to the batteries as possible in a dry, protected place. A closet seems too small. Dimensions?
What wire sizes are you using?

using 10ga from the panel to the controler as it is only 8 amps and a short run, acording to the charts I can use 10 ga to the bateries also so I might try it and decide if I need to upgrade the clable later.

Steve

[StirCrazy]

Kayteg1 wrote:

StirCrazy wrote:

Geewizard wrote:
I wouldn't put a solar panel on the roof. I'd set it up to be on the ground with a 50' cable so you could park in the shade and put the soler panel out in the sun. Yes, you have to move it once or twice in a day to catch optimal solar input.

Im the opposit, I wouldnt put it anywhere but the roof, I have a 480 watt setup on my 5th wheel and I dont want wires running accross the campground or the extra time worrying about where to put them. they work just fine on the roof.

Steve

That shows how differently we use our campers.
In BC most of the year you want the camper to sit in sunlight, to get some so needed heat.
In central states you rather park in the shade to keep it cool.
I camp mostly in Southern states and I would pay high premium to have trees available to camp under.
Month ago we went to Lake Powell, AZ and mid-week we had about 100 campsites to choose from. Only 1 site had tree about 18" tall so we pick up this one. Turned out that trees in AZ turn the leaves vertically, so sitting under - you still have sunlight on you.
Bottom line AC runs 24hr, unless campground forbids running generator at night.
Last summer I took front-mounted generator to Alaska.
Turned out to be dead weight for 8000 miles.

ya for me is is an anomily, I live in the "hotest city in canada" the summer 4 or 5 months it is between 90 and 118 degrees most of the time, but where I go camping it is out of the valley in the mountians, down on the coast or a different provence. so the temps fall to under 90 most of the time. they way they design most of the provincial parks it would be hard to find a site that is full sun, but the pannels on my 5th wheel have shown me they still work.

Steve

[towpro]

StirCrazy wrote:

Freep wrote:
I never use Dicor. I use commercial grade caulk, Sikaflex.

What kind of truck camper do you have?

I have a 1991 slumberqueen 100WS. it has a 1 piece alumium roof.

Steve

Aluminum I would use this.

[Lwiddis]

Setup, takedown, store, setup, takedown, store gets old fast. And watch it for theft. But on the roof...