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 Post subject: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:18 pm 
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Who likes free electricity? You? Me?

We all do. Solar panels harvest the suns energy and transforms it into useable energy.

There are many different types of solar panels on the market but there are 2 of which that the public can actually afford:

Monocrystiline
Polycrystalline

I'm not going to describe the two, but I will provide a link describing their benefits and advantages.
http://energyinformative.org/best-solar-panel-monocrystalline-polycrystalline-thin-film/

Batteries:

Most people use 6 volt batteries and run them in series and parallel. 12 volt or 24 volt systems are the most common set ups. 12 volt is by far the most common. And 24 volt systems are more efficient due to the higher voltage. Any battery type will work, but depends on the load your intending to put on the batteries. for example, a 12 volt 10 AH battery will not be able to start a car. Why? Because the battery was simply not made to start a car. Any type of car battery will work with a solar panel system. Its just which one is better and how much do you want to spend?

There are so many links on the internet about properly sizing your system. Going to YouTube is a great place to find many good systems and very poorly designed systems.

Charging:

When its 12 pm and the sun is directly over the panel, the batteries even if they are full, are getting charged. This cooks the batteries if the current is over 2 amps.

I would highly recommend a charge controller on any system regardless of the systems size.

Charge controllers know when the batteries need to be charged and most know when it is daytime or night time and can turn the intended load on or off depending on the time.

Solar panel size:

In this case, bigger is better. We only have so many hours of light. A 100 watt solar panel that is powering a system that draws a total of 400 watts is undersized. More batteries in this case would be better for the tinny solar panel.

Battery isolation or strapping:

Flooded lead acid batteries emit a minute amount of hydrogen (which in the perfect conditions, explode). This is the reason why almost all batteries are in the engine bay outside the car (besides it being inconvenient to place a battery else where).

If you do go with putting a battery in a confined area, ventilate the area from time to time and put the battery or batteries in a battery box in case of leakage.

If the battery is in a non confined area or area specifically made for the batteries, a battery tray or box is a good idea as well as strapping to hold the batteries down.

If installed in the exterior of a trailer a strap or straps are necessary to hold the batteries in place. A battery tray is recommended, but not required.

Wire size:

The smallest gauge that should ever be used on a system is 12 gauge. For a solar panel, stranded wire is recommended, more surface area versus solid wire and less brittle when cold.

EDIT 1: lfhoward had brought this up for his trailer build;

my system is 60 volts, so the dual gauge runs are necessary for the lighting conditions (seasons).

lets say you buy a 24 volt panel at 100w, 12 gauge would be a perfect average. a 12v 100w panel at 12 gauge would be perfect for summer but detrimental for winter.


winter has longer days, therefore more light but weaker; producing higher voltage but less amperage. smaller gauge wire carries the voltage more efficiency then (lets say) a 12 or 10 gauge run.

summer has a stronger ray, but the rays stay out for a very brief time so a perfect gauge is required. meaning not under or over.


Being tidy with your wire loom is key to preventing tangles and confusion down the road.

Fuse:

Oversize the fuse by no more then 10% of the max load. Meaning if your inverter draws 100 watts max, the fuse will blow near 110 watts. Reason being, you want a serviceable fuse blowing before the internal fuse blows on the inverter.

Just like a car, have the fuse closest to the battery and when in doubt, fuse it. Even the solar panel. No one likes being shocked!

Inverters:

There are 2 different types of inverters:

Pure sine wave;
Very clean and efficient inverter. Most of the time they are cleaner then your house electricity. They are expensive!

SEE PHOTO BELOW

Modified sine wave;
Common; cheap; inefficient. When sensitive electronics are plugged into a modified sine wave inverter, some buzzing or unnecessary flickering will be seen.

Image

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Last edited by PALiftedKK on Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 12:57 am 
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Thanks for the info, PAliftedKK!

Is there any way you could post a wiring diagram for a simple 12V system that would work in, say, a camping trailer? I would assume it would need panels, batteries, a charge controller, and an inverter.

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 9:35 am 
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Image

Image

Image


to any one wanting a controller, I highly recommend Tracer products. they are 100% chineese made, but are of good quality. I have a similar model and its lasted me so far 2 years of constant use.

http://www.amazon.com/Tracer-2210RN-Charge-Controller-Regulator/dp/B008KWPH12/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424957566&sr=8-2&keywords=mppt+charge+controller

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 9:41 am 
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its better to buy 1 large good quality made panel. for one, that's one less panel that has potential to break and 1 expensive panel should be cheaper then 2 or 3 panels.

forgot one thing, your connectors for the panel for servicing. trust me, you'll need them!

something like http://www.amazon.com/Pairs-Female-Solar-Panel-Connectors/dp/B00A8TRKJW/ref=pd_sim_hi_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=17Y8ATFC108YFN3AMQ9C

easily accessible like:

Image

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:31 am 
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For any one thinking on doing this mod to a camper or trailer, the link below are about the best bang for your buck.

http://www.amazon.com/RENOGY%C2%AE-300Watts-Monocrystalline-Photovoltaic-Charging/dp/B00KI14U5C/ref=sr_1_90?ie=UTF8&qid=1424960655&sr=8-90&keywords=solar+panel

do remember these panels do not put out 12 volts, so a charge controller to handle the higher voltage is a must. they put out an 18 volt max power. so as stated above, I would recommend a TRACER mppt charge controller. they were specifically designed for odd input voltages.

make sure when reading charge controller specs, read the input voltage. very important. all mppt controllers are going to be able to handle a 12 or 24 volt system, its just what voltage they can handle form the panel.

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 11:20 am 
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here's a picture of my inverter, control box and battery box setup. all of my system is completely portable and has the option of being completely isolated from the vehicles power delivery. in winter it is hooked up and charging when the engine is on. in summer the system relies 100% on the solar panel since it can fully charge the batteries in 4 hours or less.

Image


here's another view of the set up. I was in a cleaning up phase at the time of this photo. in the small box: 400W inverter, 2 Agm batteries, and the Controller. in the large box: 2 tractor flooded lead acid batteries.

Image


I have my winter cord on these photos. my winter cord is thinner because it doesn't need to carry as much amps in the winter compared to summer. my summer cord is 12 gauge wire. the run is about 10 foot.

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 3:59 am 
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How about something like this to run a 12V refridge?
http://www.directron.com/rng100db.html


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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 11:37 pm 
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70AnvKK wrote:
How about something like this to run a 12V refridge?
http://www.directron.com/rng100db.html



post the specs of the fridge, inverter and batteries.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 10:12 pm 
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Last edited by m777eno on Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 2:22 pm 
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m777eno wrote:
Hi
I am really interested in your solar panel project and I've been thinking of executing something similar myself. I was hoping 1. that you still check up on this board. 2. if I can know about the specific solar panel you used, and what kind of power it is generating now that time has passed (about a year since you first posted) 3. that since I live in Boston, and it snows most of the time while summers a really a blink of an eye, what recommendations would you have for me?

Thank you so much for posting the original, I keep reading it again and again. I really hope you reply, that would be great :rockon:

ps. I plan on running a 15 inch tv in the back seat with it.



Im running a commercial grade solar panel that you will not find on line. Its a 180 volt panel at 380 watts rewired to output 60 volts still at 380 watts. A 100w panel is usually more then enough for most. The batteries are the most important. Spend the most you can on batteries. Running the right gauge wire. The rest is :google: .

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 10:32 pm 
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Last edited by m777eno on Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 10:38 pm 
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Renogy has various kits. Quality set aside, id say they're the best bang for the buck. A circut breaker panel is 100% over the top for a vehicle rig unless its installed in a camper van. All you need is a panel, battery or more then one, charge controller, and a 12v distribution block. The more you add the more that will go wrong.

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 Post subject: Re: solar panel installation guide
PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:38 am 
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Let's say that this number is 1100 kWh per month. Now divide your average monthly usage by 30 to get your average daily kWh usage. In this case, it would be about 37kWh per day. Assuming that you use about 37 kWh per day, you would need about 37 solar panels to meet 100% of your average energy needs.

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