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Posted: 7/16/2022 9:12:13 PM EDT
[#1]
Solar is cool - esp for an RV.
How many amp-hours are your batteries? I have 200W Renogy panels and a 210 amp-hr battery and rarely get to anything less than 70% state of charge. Microwave, Keurig, truck fridge, interior lights. |
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Posted: 7/16/2022 10:00:00 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Solar is cool - esp for an RV. How many amp-hours are your batteries? I have 200W Renogy panels and a 210 amp-hr battery and rarely get to anything less than 70% state of charge. Microwave, Keurig, truck fridge, interior lights. I have no idea what the amp hours are on my batteries. The AZ heat kills 'em in about a year or so, and the one that came with the trailer is about toast. It's a group 24 deep cycle. I have a second battery, some kind of NAPA deep cycle group 27. They'll make it an entire day of running lights, radio, fans and stuff like that, but after this trip they're pretty much on their way out. I'm trying to decide if I wanna go with two 6 volts, or get a Renogy bad ass single battery. I can get 6 volts thru work for a good price, but I'm thinking I might have to drop the coin on a bad ass Renogy. |
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Posted: 7/16/2022 10:16:26 PM EDT
[#3]
AGM are very good, and about $700 for 200 amp-hours. You can discharge to about 30% state of charge without ruining them
Lithium are very VERY good, but about twice the price. You can discharge to zero without ruining them, and they are light. Costco had a two 100 amp-hour battery deal for $1200 or something like that. If they are located inside the RV, you need AGM or lithium. If outside, Costco golf cart batteries are a cheap lead-acid way to go, but don't discharge those beyond about 50% or you'll ruin them. Read up on the above, but I think my general numbers are in the right window. |
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Posted: 7/16/2022 10:29:07 PM EDT
[#4]
Replace your batteries with lifepo4 batteries. Even if they are twice the price they will last 10+ years
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Posted: 7/16/2022 10:29:54 PM EDT
[#5]
Batteries are outside, I'll probably go with 6 volts in the very near future.
I also have a Renogy 300 watt solar generator that absolutely kicks ass. Runs my CPAP for days on the 110 volt outlet, and never gets below 75% charged. I love all this new technology!! |
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Posted: 7/16/2022 10:30:44 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Replace your batteries with lifepo4 batteries. Even if they are twice the price they will last 10+ years I'll look into those, too!! |
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Posted: 7/18/2022 2:57:55 AM EDT
[#7]
Quoted: My plan is to get two more panels and mount them on the roof of the trailer once it cools down. If you mount them on the roof of your trailer, they will only work when you're parked in (VERY HOT!) sunlight - which means that you'll consume more energy attempting to keep the interior comfortable. Also, many campsites are intentionally designed so that the RV is parked in shade - because parking in full sunlight tends to make it VERY HOT... Often, you can't find any sites that get full sunlight exposure - in which case the panels on your roof are unusable. Portable panels are better - They can be moved throughout the day to follow available sunlight - while your RV remains parked in cool, comfortable shade. |
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Posted: 7/18/2022 4:30:56 PM EDT
[#8]
Just bought a cool old '93 Winnebago Warrior that the previous owner had set up with 2x 6V deep cycle batteries running in series. They are 10 years old, but still going strong. I'll replace them with a 12V AGM or LiPo at some point.
I was considering a pop up solar panel, because I'd be really nervous about drilling anything into the roof, then there's the CO snows and hail that would probably break all the things. OP, could you share links of what you bought for this project? 100W optimum for this you think? TIA |
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Posted: 7/18/2022 4:39:20 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'll look into those, too!! Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Replace your batteries with lifepo4 batteries. Even if they are twice the price they will last 10+ years I'll look into those, too!! |
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Posted: 7/18/2022 6:01:11 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: They can also be fully discharged effectively doubling the usable capacity. More like 20% extra capacity. Discharged 80 percent, any decent lead-acid deep-cycle battery will still deliver hundreds of cycles. |
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Posted: 7/20/2022 12:56:50 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Just bought a cool old '93 Winnebago Warrior that the previous owner had set up with 2x 6V deep cycle batteries running in series. They are 10 years old, but still going strong. I'll replace them with a 12V AGM or LiPo at some point. I was considering a pop up solar panel, because I'd be really nervous about drilling anything into the roof, then there's the CO snows and hail that would probably break all the things. OP, could you share links of what you bought for this project? 100W optimum for this you think? TIA Here's what I bought. Keep in mind I live in AZ, and it's almost always sunny here in the summer. We primarily dry camp, so moving the panel isn't an issue. For my needs, 100w is perfect. I had no problems with batteries or the solar stuff all weekend. I'll probably just stick with this one panel, and update my battery instead of getting another panel. I'll add more panels down the road, if needed. Panel Charge Controller Cables If you use Ebay, hit the Renogy store, as they had almost all of this in their store, with a decent discount. |
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Posted: 7/20/2022 12:58:10 AM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: If you mount them on the roof of your trailer, they will only work when you're parked in (VERY HOT!) sunlight - which means that you'll consume more energy attempting to keep the interior comfortable. Also, many campsites are intentionally designed so that the RV is parked in shade - because parking in full sunlight tends to make it VERY HOT... Often, you can't find any sites that get full sunlight exposure - in which case the panels on your roof are unusable. Portable panels are better - They can be moved throughout the day to follow available sunlight - while your RV remains parked in cool, comfortable shade. We primarily dry camp, and there's always an abundance of sunshine in AZ, so getting the panels sunlight isn't usually a problem. |
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Posted: 7/20/2022 12:59:36 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Replace your batteries with lifepo4 batteries. Even if they are twice the price they will last 10+ years Also much lighter, the way to go for RVs |
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Posted: 7/20/2022 1:02:07 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Also much lighter, the way to go for RVs Nothing I could do that would offset the amount of weight my wife puts in the trailer!! |
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Posted: 7/20/2022 1:38:51 AM EDT
[#15]
 While it not the end all be all. It is awesome. I have 200 watts and a 40 amp controller. So I have a little overhead to add panels if needed. But they have kept my 200 amp hours of batteries topped and floating regularly. I use the system pretty regularly for led lighting, and charging things constantly. Even running a Wii U occasionally. I have a 2800 watt Onan RV unit under the van that has never been fired since it's install. Typing this under the led lighting watching movies and charging phones in a campground. 
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Posted: 7/20/2022 3:06:47 AM EDT
[#16]
Solar on the roof is a good thing even if you camp in partial shade. I have 2 190w panels on the roof and 200ah of LiFePO4 battery capacity. We had one trip this year where we were down to 30% on day 5 in a USFS campground that was shade most of the day and it rained everyday. This is with using the furnace a lot and a 12v compressor fridge. Last trip was sunny and with 50% shade the roof panels pulled in enough to top the batteries by dinner. It’s awesome and trouble free.
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Posted: 7/20/2022 3:22:58 AM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The AZ heat kills 'em in about a year or so Quote HistoryQuoted: The AZ heat kills 'em in about a year or so Put water in them and they'll last a lot longer. Quoted: Portable panels are better - They can be moved throughout the day to follow available sunlight - while your RV remains parked in cool, comfortable shade. I get the theory... the problem in practice, is that you need to minimize energy loss in the path between panel and battery, and the further you go, wire gauge goes up at a geometric rate. |
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Posted: 7/20/2022 3:51:55 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Replace your batteries with lifepo4 batteries. Even if they are twice the price they will last 10+ years Also, lifepo4 are much safer in comparison to lithium ion batteries. li-ion have some terrible thermal runaway issues that can be triggered by physical damage or even, in some cases, overcharging. However, li-ion are currently unmatched in pure power storage capacity, IIRC. |
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Posted: 7/20/2022 7:09:29 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I get the theory... the problem in practice, is that you need to minimize energy loss in the path between panel and battery, and the further you go, wire gauge goes up at a geometric rate. Maximum output of a typical 100 watt solar panel is a little under 6 amps at 17 volts. At 6 amps, 50 feet of 12 gauge wire has a voltage drop of around 1.2 volts - which still leaves you with around 15.8 volts at the batteries. Typical solar charge termination of lead-acid batteries is 14.5-14.75 volts - so you're never going to need all of that 15.8 volts anyway. If you're really concerned about losses, a MPPT charge controller gives you some flexibility - particularly if you're using higher panel voltages to minimize wire losses. |
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Posted: 7/21/2022 10:06:38 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Here's what I bought. Keep in mind I live in AZ, and it's almost always sunny here in the summer. We primarily dry camp, so moving the panel isn't an issue. For my needs, 100w is perfect. I had no problems with batteries or the solar stuff all weekend. I'll probably just stick with this one panel, and update my battery instead of getting another panel. I'll add more panels down the road, if needed. Panel Charge Controller Cables If you use Ebay, hit the Renogy store, as they had almost all of this in their store, with a decent discount. Excellent, thanks! I just bought a Renogy suitcase 100W that was much more expensive than that panel you linked, but it had the charge controller attached to it and came with some cables. We're going off-grid camping this weekend for the first time with the Winnebago, so I needed something in a hurry. I will probably return my suitcase (yay Amazon) and build a kit like yours. |
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Posted: 7/21/2022 11:21:56 AM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Excellent, thanks! I just bought a Renogy suitcase 100W that was much more expensive than that panel you linked, but it had the charge controller attached to it and came with some cables. We're going off-grid camping this weekend for the first time with the Winnebago, so I needed something in a hurry. I will probably return my suitcase (yay Amazon) and build a kit like yours. Excellent!! Glad I could help a fellow ARFcommer out!! |
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Posted: 7/21/2022 1:05:30 PM EDT
[#22]
Another option for solar panels are the BougeRV CIGS thin film panels. They come in 100W and 200W sizes with MC 4 connectors.
they are really thin, light, flexible and can be put on curved surfaces using the adhesive on the back of the panel. I'm actually able to roll mine up to transport and place it on top of my ez-up to run my 12v cooler at baseball game. |
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