How To Solar panels

[Camper2]

Any information on adding solar.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

They sell books on diy solar.

Of course if you asked more pointed questions we might not have to write a book, so what are you trying to do?

 

[Jim]

Any information on adding solar.

https://rvforums.com/search/84508/?q=solar&o=relevance

 

[Camper2]

Yes Thanks. Just purchased my travel trailer last year. Maybe I should check with the Mfg.
But I got a solar plug on the side of my trailer. My questions would be.
1) My main use would be at this point to keep my battery charged when not is use.
2) How big of a unit should or can I get?
3) How would I know how to switch it off or on, when going to shore power, or would this be automatic because the solar plug in was factory installed?
4) what type of unit would work.

I could contact the mfg. but that is sometimes a challenge.
Any info would be appreciated.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

You will not need to switch it off when on shore power.

On the roof there may already be a panel, you will have to look.

Any panel that plugs into the plug will be restricted in size based on the user manual for the rig. That is likely available online.

A cord cap that is compatible with the outlet can be found second source. Panel has to be compatible with the max voltage of the solar controller.

Hope that helps

 

[B52Bombardier1]

Don't laugh but I use an inexpensive Harbor Freight solar panel kit that comes with 100 watts of solar generation, a simple charge controller and a few solar lights. Its not going to run my air conditioner but it, combined with a good battery, keeps the LED lighting and a little heater blower activity going at night.

The big take away here is to manage your expectations for solar. Small solar is great for small things. It gets really expensive for panels and batteries to do a lot with solar power.

Rick

 

[LMHS]

HandyBob's Blog

Making off grid RV electrical systems work

handybobsolar.wordpress.com

Read the "FAQ's Read This First" and then "The RV Battery Charging Puzzle".

First things first, you have got to stop thinking about how to run things off solar. You don't. You run everything off of your battery bank/inverter. Your battery bank is then recharged by shore power, a generator and/or solar panels. you also have to learn enough to custom build your own system. This is not really a "plug and play" despite what some folks will lead you to believe.

I power a truck camper with a small residential refrigerator off two group 27 deep cycle marine batteries (cheap lead acids) from WalMart that are recharged by two 100 watt mono panels from Harbor Freight. My 30 amp controller is a $15 cheapie via Amazon. The truck hasn't been plugged into an electrical outlet since Sept 2021. We turn the refrigerator on before we head into town and off after we empty it from grocery shopping. The two batteries are not enough to keep the refrigerator going overnight if the charging day was overcast and/or a short winter day and run the LP furnace fan for a few hours in the evening. Needs two more batteries for a total of 4 batteries. Batteries can be added but they need to be less than 1 year old (oldest to newest). And added in even numbers (12v x 2, 4, 6, etc) or the equivalent of pairs (6v golf cart batts X 2 to =12v and then 2 pair, 4 pair , 6 pair, etc).

I also have 3 solar powered motion activated lights on the outside of the camper. I turn them off when we will be traveling close to dusk but otherwise they stay on 24/7. No wires to run! 115 Lumen Wall Mount Solar Security Light, Black

My "solar system" cost under $400 or $450 thanks to sale prices plus a 20% employee discount but I also reused some old long battery cables to go from battery bank (on the roof) to the cheap HF inverters. Wiring is expensive. The camper was an exercise in "how low can I go" when building a 12vDC system charged only with cheap solar panels and it still work and work well. I also expected to kill the battery bank in the first year as the cheap battery monitor died right after the return window. The solar controller still tells what the battery bank level is. I do need to add/replace the batteries this summer and replace the battery monitor with another cheapie. I would like to replace with gels as the battery bank is on the roof of the truck camper. Hard to get up to for monthly testing so they don't get tested and watered like they should. That would be avoided with gels.

Build up your battery bank, then decide on how to recharge the batteries. And don't buy expensive batteries up front. You will likely need to kill a few battery banks before you learn how to take care of a battery. READ ALL OF HANDY BOB! and then go read some more to learn how to size your battery bank and then how to size a solar array to power the battery bank. Because it's all about the batteries.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

HandyBob's Blog

Making off grid RV electrical systems work

handybobsolar.wordpress.com

Read the "FAQ's Read This First" and then "The RV Battery Charging Puzzle".

First things first, you have got to stop thinking about how to run things off solar. You don't. You run everything off of your battery bank/inverter. Your battery bank is then recharged by shore power, a generator and/or solar panels. you also have to learn enough to custom build your own system. This is not really a "plug and play" despite what some folks will lead you to believe.

I power a truck camper with a small residential refrigerator off two group 27 deep cycle marine batteries (cheap lead acids) from WalMart that are recharged by two 100 watt mono panels from Harbor Freight. My 30 amp controller is a $15 cheapie via Amazon. The truck hasn't been plugged into an electrical outlet since Sept 2021. We turn the refrigerator on before we head into town and off after we empty it from grocery shopping. The two batteries are not enough to keep the refrigerator going overnight if the charging day was overcast and/or a short winter day and run the LP furnace fan for a few hours in the evening. Needs two more batteries for a total of 4 batteries. Batteries can be added but they need to be less than 1 year old (oldest to newest). And added in even numbers (12v x 2, 4, 6, etc) or the equivalent of pairs (6v golf cart batts X 2 to =12v and then 2 pair, 4 pair , 6 pair, etc).

I also have 3 solar powered motion activated lights on the outside of the camper. I turn them off when we will be traveling close to dusk but otherwise they stay on 24/7. No wires to run! 115 Lumen Wall Mount Solar Security Light, Black

My "solar system" cost under $400 or $450 thanks to sale prices plus a 20% employee discount but I also reused some old long battery cables to go from battery bank (on the roof) to the cheap HF inverters. Wiring is expensive. The camper was an exercise in "how low can I go" when building a 12vDC system charged only with cheap solar panels and it still work and work well. I also expected to kill the battery bank in the first year as the cheap battery monitor died right after the return window. The solar controller still tells what the battery bank level is. I do need to add/replace the batteries this summer and replace the battery monitor with another cheapie. I would like to replace with gels as the battery bank is on the roof of the truck camper. Hard to get up to for monthly testing so they don't get tested and watered like they should. That would be avoided with gels.

Build up your battery bank, then decide on how to recharge the batteries. And don't buy expensive batteries up front. You will likely need to kill a few battery banks before you learn how to take care of a battery. READ ALL OF HANDY BOB! and then go read some more to learn how to size your battery bank and then how to size a solar array to power the battery bank. Because it's all about the batteries.

I recommend the following if you want to go cheap, as I have done:

PowMr 60amp mppt controller available on Amazon (I use this product for my system)
Used house panels from San Tan solar (look on their web site for current pricing and locations)
I use Northstar Blues, a lead carbon tech AGM battery. don't just look at the price on the Northern Arizona wind and solar site. Also download the owners manual data sheet to see the real reason why I bought them. the 190 is 200ah max and as much as 7000 cycle life! when compared to Sam's Club 31 series 109 amp hr batteries and the cycle life the Northstar Blue has an exceptional value!

I will make you do some research, will give you a bone!
I paid 200 usd for each of my 1000w solar banks used from San Tan. don't have current pricing but have bought over 400 panels for people at the Imperial Dam LTVA.
I have recommended the PowMr controllers to more than 10 people who have had good luck with them, as well as my good result! that's another 100 usd.
I have two of the Northstar product, 450 usd each. That is another 450 that will last roughly 3 times the expected life of a LiFiPo4 battery, and has very high "C" values, but you will have to compare them, I won't do that for you, I did for myself!

Contrary to some publications. When I run my InstantPot or Inductive top in the middle of the day, very little of the power comes from the battery bank. Because the charge voltage is higher than the battery voltage the power comes directly from the controller.

The truth is when my 2 freezers and refrigerator are on during the day the panels provide all the power, not the batteries, The power that is left charges the battery bank.

My only reason for posting this is I don't want anyone falling in the trap of disinformation.