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Old 06-22-2014, 07:50 PM   #1
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My Renogy solar set up

Here is my set up now , i just added the second panel a week ago and
the 30 amp charge controller . each panel is 100watts, 200 watts total. haven't been able to camp with it yet but thought id put a couple pictures on to show set up, its portable with a bout 35-40 ft of cable so i can move it around camp site as we are always in the trees around here in northern wisconsin.
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Old 06-22-2014, 11:06 PM   #2
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Welcome to JOF

Looks like a nice solar set-up, definitely look forward to your feedback on how it performs during your next trip.

Bob
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Old 06-23-2014, 07:21 AM   #3
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Lookin' good! I like that you made it portable. I like to set up the trailer in the shade to keep it cool. The portable panels w/the 35' cable allow you to set it up in the sun while the trailer is in the shade. Best of both worlds!

Nice job!
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Old 06-23-2014, 07:50 AM   #4
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That looks good. Hope it works out for you. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 06-23-2014, 07:58 AM   #5
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Thanks Rustic Eagle and Brownie. I used the one panel and a sunnsaver 10 amp controller last summer and it worked great. I then thought 2 would be better lol. Will see how I do with it next time out hopefully. I'm just running one group 27 deep cycle batty now might wait till next spring to add a second batty to set up . This should help charge batt even on cloudy days.
I already have led lights in camper and just added the led light strip out side the camper with remote. Will have to get some pictures with the panels set up next time out.
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Old 06-23-2014, 08:13 AM   #6
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Welcome to SOLAR Camping!!! Keep us informed as to how it performs. Just remember not to let the battery voltage drop below 12VDC and it will last a lot longer.

Enjoy!!

Don
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Old 06-23-2014, 10:05 AM   #7
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I like the portable idea. Been looking at something for the camper and the shed to keep toys charged during the winter and this might just do the trick.
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Old 06-23-2014, 07:36 PM   #8
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Thanks Mustang65, its been fun learning a little about the solar side .
it was a toss up between a honda generator 2000 or learn about solar , glad i went solar so far .
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Old 06-23-2014, 07:42 PM   #9
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Stingray75 , if you look up renogy on amazon.com , renogy now offers kits that come with a 100 watt panel , 20 ft of cable and a 30 amp controller , when i started my thing last year i did not see the package kits like i see now but its been fun putting it together so far .
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Old 06-25-2014, 10:28 AM   #10
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Add a lock to them or they will develop legs and disappear.
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Old 09-05-2014, 05:49 AM   #11
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I also have a solar panel on my TT. I mounted it on the roof and connected it to a pair of 12v wires in my refrigerator compartment. The thing has worked flawlessly all summer keeping the batteries charges to 13 volt. Now, however as soon as the sun goes in or a cloudy day the batteries discharge quickly. One battery is one year old the other two years old. Any ideas why they are not keeping the charge? PS they are full of fluid.
Thanks!
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Old 09-05-2014, 08:45 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by tawoo View Post
I also have a solar panel on my TT. I mounted it on the roof and connected it to a pair of 12v wires in my refrigerator compartment. The thing has worked flawlessly all summer keeping the batteries charges to 13 volt. Now, however as soon as the sun goes in or a cloudy day the batteries discharge quickly. One battery is one year old the other two years old. Any ideas why they are not keeping the charge? PS they are full of fluid.
Thanks!
Do you have a charge controller???? You MUST have one of these or the panels will discharge your batteries over night.
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Old 09-13-2014, 08:36 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tawoo View Post
I also have a solar panel on my TT. I mounted it on the roof and connected it to a pair of 12v wires in my refrigerator compartment. The thing has worked flawlessly all summer keeping the batteries charges to 13 volt. Now, however as soon as the sun goes in or a cloudy day the batteries discharge quickly. One battery is one year old the other two years old. Any ideas why they are not keeping the charge? PS they are full of fluid.
Thanks!
There are a lot of possibilities.
- First question is, what are you using to drain the batteries? Regular light bulbs, LEDs, inverter, Tv...
- No solar charge controller between batteries and panels.
- The batteries are not the same age, what happens is the older battery has a different internal resistance than the newer one, which causes different charging characteristics. The older one will drain down the newer one to its voltage level.
- Batteries are not the same mfr, make, model, Ah rating.
- You need to get 14+ VDC to properly charge the batteries. 13VDC is just the level to maintain a voltage.
- Bad connection between charge controller and batteries
- Battery that is no longer capable of holding a charge.

I would venture to say that they are just to old and have reached their life-cycle end.
When you purchase TT batteries they should be the mfr, model, Ah rating.

To test:
- Charge up both batteries (full charge 14+VDC)
- Disconnect the batteries from the TT and each other (assuming they are 12VDC batteries). You want to make sure there is no LOAD connected to them.
- Wait about 2-3 hours and take a voltage reading on each battery, and once again in 5 hours. You will probably notice one of them has a higher/lower voltage.
- The best way to test them is to go to an automotive parts store and get a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity of each cell ( write them down)

If the TT is not in the DIRECT sunlight ALL day, your not going to get a lot of power out of the 100 watt panel. The only time that you will even come close to 100 watts, will be at the peak solar time of the day (between 12 and 1ish) before and after that you may be in the area of 50 - 60%.

I would recommend that you purchase two new TRUE deep cycle batteries (they do not have a CCA rating) for any extended dry camping. Better to be prepared than have to worry about it while camping.

Just my thoughts

Don
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Old 03-01-2015, 08:22 PM   #14
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How much battery power do you need to run an 13500 AC unit?
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Old 03-01-2015, 09:14 PM   #15
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Good looking portable unit. Thanks for posting
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Old 03-02-2015, 06:33 AM   #16
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[QUOTE=slabat;274780]How much battery power do you need to run an 13500 AC unit?[/

More than you can carry.. A/C is the one thing that solar will not power.. I can run mine for about 15 min before the battery voltage drops to far. You also have to have a big mother of an inverter to supply the power.. I installed fantastic fans on every roof vent start them before the RV gets too hot and only have windows open on the cool side of the RV. This has worked in temps up to +100F
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Old 04-21-2015, 02:07 PM   #17
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[QUOTE=Seann45;274888]
Quote:
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How much battery power do you need to run an 13500 AC unit?[/

More than you can carry.. A/C is the one thing that solar will not power.. I can run mine for about 15 min before the battery voltage drops to far. You also have to have a big mother of an inverter to supply the power.. I installed fantastic fans on every roof vent start them before the RV gets too hot and only have windows open on the cool side of the RV. This has worked in temps up to +100F
15 min on a 660 amp hour setup? Wow, that is not much. Even when your panels are producing at their max?

I was hoping that my 800 watt solar setup might allow me to run the AC on the inverter, hooked to my 460 amp hours setup, but I guess not!!

Sean, you already have 88 days of boondocking this year? You must not be in Saskatchewan at this time!
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Old 04-21-2015, 04:08 PM   #18
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X2 on growing legs and wandering off. When we was bringing along our portable SAT DISH setup I always setup on the hard folding truck bed cover. This was easy to lash down and lock up but still able to use it.

It also reminded me to put it up when we all left the camp ground for things...

Have not thought about how to protect the SOLAR PANELS - I might be doing the same thing you have done. I want to supplement my 2kW Generator on re-charging my battery banks every morning. Once I get past the high current charging requirements the smaller DC CURRENT Solar Panels would work out great for us to keep charging when the sun is out.

Will be interested in what you come up with for making your SOLAR PANELS secure.

First the batteries, then the propane tanks, then the portable SAT dishes and now the portable solar panels... Everything you get to help out camping is more to worry about growing legs and wandering off... geesch....

Roy Ken
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Old 04-21-2015, 05:52 PM   #19
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May I suggest you give batterystuff.com a look. I have two 27's connected to my 100w roof solar cell , and they started loosing charge. Thought of buying new batteries. Long story short, I tried a bottle of their battery equalizer ($19.95) , brought the batteries home and recharged them. About a week later, I looked inside a cap, and the cells were full of short, brown particles, which disolved in a week.. The product had cleaned the plates, and one year later, my two old batteries are holding a charge. Not saying it will work for you, but for 19.95, it saved me a few hundred!
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Old 04-22-2015, 08:23 AM   #20
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[QUOTE=jfguay2;292871]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seann45 View Post

15 min on a 660 amp hour setup? Wow, that is not much. Even when your panels are producing at their max?

I was hoping that my 800 watt solar setup might allow me to run the AC on the inverter, hooked to my 460 amp hours setup, but I guess not!!

Sean, you already have 88 days of boondocking this year? You must not be in Saskatchewan at this time!
When it is hot enough to need the A/C the panels are at the max.. but the A/C takes a lot of juice.. Yep I winter in SoCal end of Oct-late March. Panels tilted to get the most from the sun..
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