Solar Installation on 19

[John in Santa Cruz]

My 360W solar panel outputs 2-3 times my daily power usage, not sure I see the need for more.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

My 360W solar panel outputs 2-3 times my daily power usage, not sure I see the need for more.

I hear you John but it's maybe not so simple. Your solar irradiance is much greater where you are located compared to some of us. That puts you at a great advantage right there. My "600W" installed won't ever see close to full output. Everything else equal I simply need more panel just to try to match your output. On top of that I might run my mini-split A/C overnight and use 150AH. If I'm on a partially shaded site I still want to put back the maximum I can into the battery so I don't need the generator if camping multiple nights. When the trailer is in Erie PA for steelhead fishing in November in low winter sun I'd still like to have decent daily production to keep up with almost constant furnace use. It all depends on where you camp and your anticipated loads. If I'm going to take the time to do this install at all I'm going to put in a system that I hopefully never feel like I have to upgrade.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by viator36

I have been considering adding/upgrading solar panels on my 21C in conjunction with upgrading to LPF4 battery for some time. I intend to upgrade to 600W total solar capacity from my stock 170W but my trailer has the TV antenna in front of the Maxx fan so I can't use that spot unless I get rid of the antenna. I measured my trailer rear rooftop space from behind the A/C vent opening (I don't have rooftop A/C) to the back of my current panel rear edge and it has enough space to squeeze in two 200W panels. But the fridge roof vent on driver's side would be slightly in the way for one anchor support leg so I need to figure out a solution for it. The third panel will be between the two rooftop vents obviously.

I feel I know way too little about electricity and electronics to take on a project like this. But I still want to learn from the experts on here and I'll follow Dave's progress on this thread with great interest.

Btw the battery I am interested in is this Epoch 12V/460Ah battery which Will Prowse said is one of the best built on the market (

).

Jake: That looks like a really nice battery. Thanks for sharing. The solar install will be a Spring project so I'll post my progress so you can follow along. I think I have everything I need now so it's just a matter of finding the time.

[viator36]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

My 360W solar panel outputs 2-3 times my daily power usage, not sure I see the need for more.

You got me to think that if I can find a single 360-400W panel for the rear roof location and combine that with a 200W panel that would give me 93-100% of the total wattage I want. The tricky part is finding the panel with the right width that will not interfere with the fridge roof vent cover.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by viator36

You got me to think that if I can find a single 360-400W panel for the rear roof location and combine that with a 200W panel that would give me 93-100% of the total wattage I want. The tricky part is finding the panel with the right width that will not interfere with the fridge roof vent cover.

You might check out the Grape Solar 370W panel
https://mwands.net/pdf_files/GS-M120-370W-FAB1.pdf

Panels this big will most certainly all be "24V" so you'll need to pair it with a 200W panel with a Vmp that is close like the Rich Solar MEGA 200 Max like I am using
https://richsolar.com/collections/rv...lt-solar-panel

[viator36]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

You might check out the Grape Solar 370W panel
https://mwands.net/pdf_files/GS-M120-370W-FAB1.pdf

Panels this big will most certainly all be "24V" so you'll need to pair it with a 200W panel with a Vmp that is close like the Rich Solar MEGA 200 Max like I am using
https://richsolar.com/collections/rv...lt-solar-panel

Dave, Thanks for the Grape Solar 370W panel link. I'll check it out soon. And I'll surely take notes of your installation process.

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

My 360W solar panel outputs 2-3 times my daily power usage, not sure I see the need for more.

Despite having 600 watts of 24v panles on the roof, that start charging when the sun hits the panels, and only using 60-70 amp/hrs a day (Terry's CPAP uses 15-20 ah's) when in shade or multiple cloudy days, it sometimes just can't keep up.

I didn't buy 600 watts to get 500 or more watts. I bought it to get 80-100 watts on cloudy days to keep the batteries from depleting too much (and that's even failed twice so far at the end of 5 days of clouds). If all I did was camp in the sun we'd be fine with 360 watts.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fHi...ew?usp=sharing

Food for thought,

Perry

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

.... I didn't buy 600 watts to get 500 or more watts. I bought it to get 80-100 watts on cloudy days to keep the batteries from depleting too much (and that's even failed twice so far). If all I did was camp in the sun we'd be fine with 300 watts. ....

Cloudy days, partial shade, low sun angle at high latitudes / winter, etc, etc .... all the real-world things that preclude realizing the 'stated rated' maximum output from any given PV array.

Yep, 'tilting panels' can help in some of these situations, as can remote / portable panels, but I know both of those options involve setup effort / hassle I'm not willing to undertake. Maximizing the area of an efficient 'fixed' PV array best fits my 'KISS' camping style aimed at quick campsite setup and moving on to recreational fun. YMMV.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by Centex

Cloudy days, partial shade, low sun angle at high latitudes / winter, etc, etc .... all the real-world things that preclude realizing the 'stated rated' maximum output from any given PV array.

Yep, 'tilting panels' can help in some of these situations, as can remote / portable panels, but I know both of those options involve setup effort / hassle I'm not willing to undertake. Maximizing the area of an efficient 'fixed' PV array best fits my 'KISS' camping style aimed at quick campsite setup and moving on to recreational fun. YMMV.

This goes to the heart of the "big wattage" issue. Its your camping style that should determine your needs. In my hosting career I have seen folks put out as many as 6 portables, moving them around all day long to produce giga-watts of power (ok, a bit of exaggeration). But they don't catch many fish or go on long hikes.

On the other hand, wanting to have more recreational fun might require having an oversize battery storage and counting on the occasional full sun/no shade campsite (or full hookup, or generator) to replenish a depleted battery bank. And in addition, paying attention to your power requirements, careful monitoring of SOC, and perhaps forgoing an all night session on the Skylink internet.

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

On the other hand, wanting to have more recreational fun might require having an oversize battery storage and counting on the occasional full sun/no shade campsite (or full hookup, or generator) to replenish a depleted battery bank. And in addition, paying attention to your power requirements, careful monitoring of SOC, and perhaps forgoing an all night session on the Skylink internet.

Unfortunately, when I purchased the two 100 amp batteries Terry did not have a CPAP. Four months after purchasing the 200 ah's of batteries Terry's CPAP added an additional 15-20 amps/night. We've depleted our 200 ah's twice so far.

Perhaps if I had the ability to see the future I would have bought at least 300 ah's of batteries. So far, with our portable solar, and the ability to add 27 amps/hour with our F150 running a Victron IP22 charger we're OK. But running the charger and/or deploying our 100 watt portable is something we had hoped to avoid.

Food for thought,

Perry

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

.... Perhaps if I had the ability to see the future I would have bought ...

Ah, yes, my 'clairvoyant license' has expired, too!

We all make our best judgments and then hopefully figure out ways to comfortably adapt to what eventually comes our way.

Best wishes to all on that endeavor!

[rubicon327]

Got the AM Solar Rocker Mounts on all three panels today. These are bolted on through the bottom of the panel frame. Very high quality stainless steel. I’m going to use the large thumbscrews with lock washer for now to facilitate tilting but these must be occasionally checked for tightness as per AM Solar. If one does not plan to tilt you can use a small bolt and lock washer that comes with the mounts.

[dstreight]

^ FYI/FWIW/in case you are not familiar with Belleville style spring washers. If properly matched to the application load they are more secure than the typical split style lock washer. And they won't spin and potentially tear into the substrate or screw handle head.

More about them here: https://americanbelleville.com/produ...ville-washers/

I get mine from McMaster-Carr.

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Got the AM Solar Rocker Mounts on all three panels today. These are bolted on through the bottom of the panel frame. Very high quality stainless steel. I’m going to use the large thumbscrews with lock washer for now to facilitate tilting but these must be occasionally checked for tightness as per AM Solar. If one does not plan to tilt you can use a small bolt and lock washer that comes with the mounts.

I tilted our same Rich Solar 24v panels a couple of times this winter. I saw virtually no benefit worth climbing up on the roof to tilt the panels. Going on 75, it's getting harder and harder for me to be on the roof to install the tilt bars.

So far we've gotten over 550 watts a number of times in southern Arizona this winter. But a couple of days ago, traveling to Four Corners and then to northern New Mexico the panels put out 589 watts (according to Victron 100/50 controller history). That's pretty good considering the front panel is tilted a few degrees to run rain off the passenger side and the middle and rear panels are tilted to the drivers side so rain runs off. Therefore I guess are panels are not sitting flat with each other.

Since we're getting what we were hoping without tilting the panels, I doubt I'll ever tilt the panels again, especially since I'm not getting any younger.

Enjoy,

Perry