Which solar panel?

[padlin]

Please don't feed the troll.

No offence meant to Steve.

[Donna D.]

Solar kind reminds me of calories. With calories, what comes in and what goes out I will either gain weight, lose weight or maintain weight. After four years, I finally took Ten Forward to ETI and had the roof-top solar put on. Solar in, power out. When I'm dry camping, every thing I want to work, works. So, how is that useless? I AM careful of power usage and yeah, I'd love to run my microwave, watch TV, have a cube heater running AND charge a couple of phone batteries all that the same time. But, I know I can't and it still doesn't worry me much. If that was the case, I'd either run a generator, hookup to power or stay home.

[MikeS]

Originally Posted by padlin

Please don't feed the troll.

No offence meant to Steve.

LOL

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by padlin

Please don't feed the troll.

No offence meant to Steve.

What did I do or say this time ?

[cpaharley2008]

I'm not following him myself either Steve?

[padlin]

Sheesh! I knew exactly what I was getting at.

You weren't the troll today Steve.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by padlin

Sheesh! I knew exactly what I was getting at.



You weren't the troll today Steve.

I got it. I got it.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by algonquin50

1, roof mounted solar iS mostly useless.
2. Most panels I see at Harbour Freight, Amazon, etc, are junk.
3. I use German panels from ML Solar and mount them outboard with an MPPt controller.
4. 95% of dealer mounted solar I see are wrong.
I've been doing solar powered camping for over 20 years. Hope this helps.

Didn’t help a bit. The ETI installed 150 and 170 solar on our two
Escapes has been flawless, a joy to use, and one of the most useful options we have had the good fortune to enjoy. “Reach me a big shot of that Escape Kool aide Nigel. And put a jigger of that Wisconsin Rye in it too. Thanks”
Iowa Dave

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by padlin

Sheesh! I knew exactly what I was getting at.

You weren't the troll today Steve.

I ‘ll take that as a compliment so THANKS

[Mike Lewis]

I had an external 12V socket installed on my trailer. I wired it to the load side of the shunt used by my battery monitor. If I buy a portable panel with its own solar controller, can I plug it into this socket to help charge my batteries?

[algonquin50]

My bad an 8 cylinder car running on two cylinders is not useless....just highly inefficient as we usually camp in the shade and the sun is not directly overhead most of the year anyway. However, I doubt that most people on this forum have 20 years experience with solar, and are EE, and I have installed hybrid and solar /wind powerplants all around the world. If it works for you great, I just wouldn't even think about running a microwave off of battery... and I have over 200 aH of batttery....not installed by Escape. I was simply trying to help someone and not start a fuss. 340w panel with a PWM means you are effectively getting only 238w out of your 340w panel. Seems inefficient to me......but , again, if you're happy.....great! Not my opinion..... please look this up, I would love to see a microwave with the 1000w inverter not adversely affect a battery supply. I am glad to hear that most people on this forum have more experience and education than me as it does help me understand math and the fact that the hundreds of system I have installed are wrong. I can't believe my clients fell for it..............although they do seem pretty happy. DONE

[sclifrickson]

Rich, just a few facts for you going forward, so you don’t sabotage your credibility by getting them wrong:

1. Everyone who gets factory solar installed by ETI has over 200 Ah of battery. You can’t order solar without also ordering the dual 6V battery option, which, with the batteries ETI is currently installing, provides 225 Ah each at 6V, or 225 Ah at 12V when combined, which, as an EE I am sure you know.

2. Your Bio indicates that you received a degree in Anthropology, and mentions nothing about your EE background. Perhaps you should update that information?

3. ETI does not install 1000W inverters. The factory inverter option is for a 1500W model.

Outside of this, I note from your last post that your dislike of roof solar stems from your camping style of camping in the shade. This of course makes perfect sense, and a portable in this situation can be far more valuable. Understand, however, that not everyone constrains themselves to these limited parameters. Everyone camps differently. And in a broad swath of other circumstances the roof units work fabulously.

Math is math. My Bogart Trimetric and my BlueSky 3000i MPPT solar controller do the math for me and speak the truth. And the truth is that my roof solar works outstandingly well.

YMMV.

[Mike Lewis]

At this point I have three rooftop panels totaling 355 watts on my trailer. I have traveled extensively with the trailer, sometimes going without hookups for weeks on end. Under ideal conditions, i.e. the sunny summertime, the rooftop panels work great and charge my batteries quickly without my paying much attention. But in the six months centered on the winter solstice, or continuous bad or cloudy weather, they don't work so well and I have to pay attention to the state of charge of my batteries.

It would help to augment the rooftop panels with something else: a portable panel, a BtoB charger from the tow vehicle, or even a generator if necessary.

Once I was camped at Mora Campground in Olympic National Park. My batteries were already weak because I had foolishly parked under a tree at my previous campground (that's another thing-- you need to plan ahead when relying upon solar power). My trailer was in the shade the whole time I was at Mora, but a bright patch of sunlight moved slowly through my campsite every day, never coming closer then ten feet to the trailer. Arrgh. A portable panel would have really helped in this situation.

Other solutions don't seem to be forthcoming:
Me: You have plenty of shade here. Why don't you clear-cut one of these camping loops, such as Loop C, and make a nice meadow so that RVs with solar panels can soak up the sun?

Mora ranger:

Me: Yeah; I mean, it's not like you're running out of trees here. We're trying to help the environment by using solar power, so do some clear-cuttin'.

Ranger:

They just don't see things my way.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

At this point I have three rooftop panels totaling 355 watts on my trailer. I have traveled extensively with the trailer, sometimes going without hookups for weeks on end. Under ideal conditions, i.e. the sunny summertime, the rooftop panels work great and charge my batteries quickly without my paying much attention. But in the six months centered on the winter solstice, or continuous bad or cloudy weather, they don't work so well and I have to pay attention to the state of charge of my batteries.

It would help to augment the rooftop panels with something else: a portable panel, a BtoB charger from the tow vehicle, or even a generator if necessary.

Once I was camped at Mora Campground in Olympic National Park. My batteries were already weak because I had foolishly parked under a tree at my previous campground (that's another thing-- you need to plan ahead when relying upon solar power). My trailer was in the shade the whole time I was at Mora, but a bright patch of sunlight moved slowly through my campsite every day, never coming closer then ten feet to the trailer. Arrgh. A portable panel would have really helped in this situation.

Other solutions don't seem to be forthcoming:
Me: You have plenty of shade here. Why don't you clear-cut one of these camping loops, such as Loop C, and make a nice meadow so that RVs with solar panels can soak up the sun?

Mora ranger:

Me: Yeah; I mean, it's not like you're running out of trees here. We're trying to help the environment by using solar power, so do some clear-cuttin'.

Ranger:

They just don't see things my way.

We had a similar situation in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula once as well. Not even a portable panel added to our roof setup helped us, with such a lush, thick, impenetrable canopy, under the lush, thick, rain-filled clouds up there somewhere. It’s true, solar is not a panacea - roof mounted, portable, or even both working in conjunction. And yet for the four continuous months prior to that week we had been camping continuously as we slowly scooted our way up the west coast, without plugging in but once that whole time. I still give the point to solar, despite its weakness in the rainforest, and yet that particular experience did lead me to the conclusion that there are two situations where I would consider use of a small, quiet generator: the rainforest, and Death Valley in the summertime.

[Jim Bennett]

When we are in heavily shaded campstos, which does not seem to happen very often, I will put out the (now stolen) temporary panel or often just watch what draw we put on our batteries. Evening lights and furnace fan are the only thing we really need and we can get days of use without charging from the sun, though even with shade we do get a slow charge. Just one of the things we need to watch using solar on an RV.

[MyronL]

Stolen?? That gets my attention.

I just don't want to put anything on the roof. I do dislike the inconvenience of having to deploy my two portable panels. But, my electrical needs must be exceptionally (sic) light. Have deployed these only 1-2 times, so far. The ML's, I think, are really nicely built.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Stolen?? That gets my attention.

Because of my physical condition after my fall we decided to leave our trailer out at our land. For the first time in many many years someone cut the lock on the gate, came in and busted the door window in my trailer, after trying to bust open the door lock, came in and still quite a few hundred dollars worth of stuff. My daughter's Trillium was out there and was broken into causing lots of damage and lots of stuff still in there. They also cut the metal lid on our storage box that houses our 3000w generator and stole it along with a few other things.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Because of my physical condition after my fall we decided to leave our trailer out at our land. For the first time in many many years someone cut the lock on the gate, came in and busted the door window in my trailer, after trying to bust open the door lock, came in and still quite a few hundred dollars worth of stuff. My daughter's Trillium was out there and was broken into causing lots of damage and lots of stuff still in there. They also cut the metal lid on our storage box that houses our 3000w generator and stole it along with a few other things.

I’m sorry to hear about this. Both for your loss and attendant frustrations, and also because this goes against my personal desire to believe that all Canadians are Very Nice People.

Then again, maybe the perpetrators were hooligan Yanks from down south up on vacation?

Have to keep the dream going. Land of Poutine and all.

[padlin]

Think that's the 1st time I've heard of a solar panel being stolen, although not under conditions I ever see.

When it rains it pours, sorry to hear of your continued misfortune.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

I’m sorry to hear about this. Both for your loss and attendant frustrations, and also because this goes against my personal desire to believe that all Canadians are Very Nice People.

Then again, maybe the perpetrators were hooligan Yanks from down south up on vacation?

Have to keep the dream going. Land of Poutine and all.

Most Canadians are wonderful people, but unfortunately we do have a few of the evil kind.

Definitely will keep the dream going, and will keep having some poutine.

Originally Posted by padlin

Think that's the 1st time I've heard of a solar panel being stolen, although not under conditions I ever see.

When it rains it pours, sorry to hear of your continued misfortune.

Yeah, being stolen from a campsite is not even a concern, unfortunately not much I can do about this rare evil type person/people.