Solar Panel for charging battery, What do I need?
Solar Panel for charging battery, What do I need?
humboldt chrisandrobin |
Jul 7 2011, 12:39 PM
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#1
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Group: Members Posts: 7 Joined: 7-July 11 Member No.: 5,526 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Northstar Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Toyota Tundra 4WD Access Cab Type of Tiedowns used: Happijac Truck and Camper Setup: Northstar T-650 Pop-Up |
I'm new here and undoubtedly there is a thread already somewhere, so bear with me please! We want to get a solar panel to charge our battery while boon-docking for days at a time, especially in Baja and the western U.S. There are a lot of panels out there, but we have heard from an rv repair guy that you need at least a 55W panel to "heat the battery up enough to accept a charge". Can anyone enlighten me on this? A less expensive panel would sure be nice but I want something that will work.
Thanks in advance for any information. |
redrocker |
Jul 12 2011, 11:38 AM
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#2
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Group: Members Posts: 13 Joined: 24-September 08 Member No.: 2,970 Favorite Truck Camper(s): lance Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: f250 crew 4x4 7.3 Type of Tiedowns used: happijac Truck and Camper Setup: airbags |
QUOTE(humboldt chrisandrobin @ Jul 7 2011, 05:39 PM) I'm new here and undoubtedly there is a thread already somewhere, so bear with me please! We want to get a solar panel to charge our battery while boon-docking for days at a time, especially in Baja and the western U.S. There are a lot of panels out there, but we have heard from an rv repair guy that you need at least a 55W panel to "heat the battery up enough to accept a charge". Can anyone enlighten me on this? A less expensive panel would sure be nice but I want something that will work. Thanks in advance for any information. check these guys out solarwholesaler.com |
humboldt chrisandrobin |
Jul 12 2011, 12:02 PM
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#3
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Group: Members Posts: 7 Joined: 7-July 11 Member No.: 5,526 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Northstar Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Toyota Tundra 4WD Access Cab Type of Tiedowns used: Happijac Truck and Camper Setup: Northstar T-650 Pop-Up |
Lots of info there! Thanks a lot!!
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kerry4951 |
Jul 13 2011, 09:37 AM
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#4
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Group: Members Posts: 25 Joined: 26-December 10 Member No.: 5,121 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Arctic Fox Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Chevy Silverado 3500 dually Crew cab Type of Tiedowns used: Torklift w/ Fastguns Truck and Camper Setup: Chevy Silverado 3500 dually w/ Arctic Fox 1140 DB Torklift tie downs w/ Fastguns Supersprings, Air bags, Helwig sway bar, Bilstein shocks, Torklift stable loads, Front timbrens |
Ordered our TC with 100 watt panel from the factory. Did OK but felt I wanted and needed more. Added another 120 watt on my own. Seems to be the consensus that 200-300 watts is ideal for a TC. I have (2) 12 volt AGM batteries, we do alot of boondocking and dry camping and thats where the extra wattage is nice. If you stay at CG's every night, then solar is not as important. Depends alot on how you use your RV.
I would recommmend going with a controller that can handle the extra wattage if you decide to upgrade. In my opinion the beefier controller is better in case you want to add panels in the future. The factory installed a max controller at 240 watts when they put in my 100 watt panel, so I was limited to not go over 240 watts. |
aqualung |
Jul 19 2011, 07:50 AM
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#5
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Group: Members Posts: 165 Joined: 3-February 10 Member No.: 3,725 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Adventurer 90FWS Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Dodge 3500 Dually Quadcab 4x4 6.7L Cummins Type of Tiedowns used: Torklift Truck and Camper Setup: 2008 Adventurer 90FWS Torklift Tiedowns with SuperHitch and SuperTruss Firestone Air Bags Torklift Load Stabilizers Fastgun Turnbuckles |
I just recently finished my solar installation. I went with 2 GS100 panels from AM Solar (http://www.amsolar.com/) and used the Morningstar SunSaver MPPT controller (http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/sunsavermppt). I also included a Xantrex LinkLite Battery monitor (http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/power-accessories/linklite-battery-monitor.aspx).
BTW you don't want to "Heat Up" the battery, its all about charge voltage at the battery. Check your battery manufacturer specs, they'll tell you what the "daily charge" or "Absorption" voltage is supposed to be plus the "Equalization" voltage and the proper "Float" voltage. If you don't get the charge voltage right, you won't get the charging current to charge the batteries properly. You then need a proper solar controller that is programmable like the Morningstar controller so you can set the proper voltages. Having the battery monitor will tell you how much battery charge you use in a day plus it will give you the actual charge level in the battery in AmpHours. Using a voltage to measure battery charge is very inacurate. I would install the battery monitor first and do some boondocking. This will tell you how much battery you actually use on a daily basis. Once you know this, you can figure out how much solar panel you need. A good 100W solar panel will deliver approximately 30AHrs of charge on a sunny summer day in the northern part of the lower 48. If you're further south, expect more charge per day. With my system I get about 60AHrs per day but I live in Eastern Ontario at about the same latitude as Oregon. I bought all but the battery monitor from the people at AM Solar. This is a good knowledgeable outfit and they specialize in solar installations for RVs. So they've figured out all the installaton headaches and build kits for you with everything you need. Do yourself a favor and give them a call. One other thing, don't skimp on the wire. You'll spend a bunch of money on panels and controllers so you don't want to throw away the power in undersized wires, upgrade to the heavier 6guage wiring (controller to battery) and use the heaviest wires you can everywhere to minimize voltage drop. For more details on solar systems, check out "Handy Bob's Solar Blog" he's done a ton of research over the years on solar systems for RVs and has some good points. http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/ Hope this helps. |
jeniD4u |
Jul 22 2011, 05:41 AM
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#6
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Group: Members Posts: 3 Joined: 30-June 11 From: Brookville Member No.: 5,514 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Bronco folding truck camper Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Medium duty truck Ford f350 Type of Tiedowns used: none Truck and Camper Setup: F350:has a great mileage of around 89,811 ,its engine specs is Powerstroke ,has air bags |
For implementing solar panel for your rv you must have either 50 watt solar kit or 60-watt,and if you want more speed than you can also go for 95-watt solar-kitt.
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Jun 30 2012, 04:48 AM
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#7
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Group: Posts: 0 Joined: -- Member No.: 0 |
great to here that you finally got the device you where looking for and the posted here might be helpful for others in choosing correct solar device for there vehicle which fulfills all there needs...
Happy camping |
Dexter |
Aug 17 2012, 12:05 PM
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#8
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50 watts is not going to recharge your batteries. I would be willing to bet you use that much power, about 5 times over in a day, which means you have a deficit still.
I recommend a 250watt solar panel kit, at the very least. Ideally you want to have 1.4x as much power in panels as you plan on ever using. This way in cooler/cloudy weather you still have enough power to recharge everything back up in a day. |
KY_Campers |
Aug 18 2012, 05:43 AM
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#9
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Group: Members Posts: 137 Joined: 14-June 10 From: ....... Member No.: 4,413 Favorite Truck Camper(s): ..... Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: ...... Type of Tiedowns used: ....... Truck and Camper Setup: ......... |
QUOTE(Dexter @ Aug 17 2012, 01:05 PM) 50 watts is not going to recharge your batteries. I would be willing to bet you use that much power, about 5 times over in a day, which means you have a deficit still. I recommend a 250watt solar panel kit, at the very least. Ideally you want to have 1.4x as much power in panels as you plan on ever using. This way in cooler/cloudy weather you still have enough power to recharge everything back up in a day. All good advice! And thanks for the link! -------------------- . . . .
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elkhornsun |
Aug 19 2012, 01:09 AM
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#10
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Group: Members Posts: 16 Joined: 1-December 11 Member No.: 5,741 Favorite Truck Camper(s): no favorite Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Chevy 2500HD SRW Diesel Type of Tiedowns used: undecided Truck and Camper Setup: Chevy 2011 2500HD diesel with short bed. Plan to add Supersprings and air bags and Big Wig anti sway bar. |
The larger the panel the higher the output and the lower the cost per Watt. It depends mostly upon the space available. With my TC all I have space for is two small 100 Watt panels from AMsolar. If I had room for a 30" x 61" panel I could get a 200 Watt one for the same amount.
Two panels equals roughly 12 amp and so check that the charge controller can handle that amount of current. Putting two panels in series increases the voltage so a smaller gauge wiring can be used from the panel(s) to the controller without significant loss. For checking the amount of current going out and into the battery bank you can use devices designed for a specific controller or get something like the Tri-Metric. Think of it as a gas gauge for your batteries showing what goes in and what comes out and the status of the battery bank at any point in time. |
Dexter |
Sep 4 2012, 11:07 AM
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#11
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Group: Members Posts: 11 Joined: 3-December 10 Member No.: 5,053 Favorite Truck Camper(s): aero stream Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Jeep cherokee Type of Tiedowns used: walmart special? Truck and Camper Setup: Tow behind, 1axle hybridhome built. |
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IrvingWW |
Nov 27 2014, 12:17 AM
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#12
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Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: 27-November 14 Member No.: 7,877 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Ford Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Presently none Type of Tiedowns used: Any available Truck and Camper Setup: Like I said, unfortunately I have no camper at the moment. |
That business about a minimum 55watt panel is BS. It really depends on how much charge you need. I use this little guy to keep the battery on my boat topped up. http://www.12volt-travel.com/solar-panel-b...er-p-20238.html
I've also taken it backpacking several times. I can connect this to a small motorcycle battery and recharge my cellphone from the battery, run a small TV or 2-way radio when needed. Since this battery tender panel only puts out 5watts you can't draw directly from the panel to run a device. You leave the panel on the battery until enough power has been accumulated. Here's a few larger panels that will do what you're looking for. http://www.12volt-travel.com/solar-panels-c-729_731.html Doesn't sound like you'd need a ton of power. Figure you'll get 8 hours of collection time with only about 4 of that being optimal. So a 100watt panel will give 100w for 4 hours and maybe 50 watts for the other 4 hours. This will buildup a surplus of power if you only use 100watts for less than 4 hours of power per day. Clear on this?? |
raztec |
Jun 14 2015, 08:27 AM
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#13
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Group: Members Posts: 13 Joined: 8-January 12 Member No.: 5,797 Favorite Truck Camper(s): outfitter Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Dodge RAM 3500 Type of Tiedowns used: torklift Truck and Camper Setup: Ram 3500 + Northstar Laredo SC |
Just reviving this thread and had a few questions:
1. How much wattage do people recommend for 10-14 day periods in the back country? 2. What's the estimated cost of say a 200W system? 3. Where can one install a second battery if the camper came with only one? 4. Finally, where in the US or Canada would you guys recommend for installation of solar panels on my TC? Thanks for any helpful advice |
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