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Old 07-04-2018, 03:48 PM   #21
Skoolie
 
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Please consider using handy bibs solar as a starting point to learning all of this. Pretend it’s a college course. Learn all ac and dc that you can. It’s best to have a full knowledge of everything you install in your bus

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Old 07-04-2018, 05:18 PM   #22
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I have 2 renogy 100 watt panels and am going to connect them in series from a charge controller-batteries-inverter set up I’m going to use 2 t105s is that a suitable set up?
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Old 07-04-2018, 05:56 PM   #23
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Use a charge controller- run with more power on the roof. Contact the folks at Outbackpower.com. Tell them what you want to do then listen to their advise. My farm and two houses are off grid- been that way for 12 yrs and going 300 w panels on the roof will supply you. But you must know your amps and wattage usage.
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Old 07-04-2018, 06:01 PM   #24
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So it seems that from what everyone is saying is that panel wattage should be close to equal battery amperage to get in the "zone" for good chargeing. In other words one watt of solar should be paired with about one amp of battery capacity? Hope I am saying this clearly.
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Old 07-04-2018, 07:11 PM   #25
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Sort of. If
I’m in a area with shadows, I will need morenpanels to fill
My battery in a shorter amount of time. More panels is always better- charge controller tells charger when battery needs juice, and when to stop pouring juice into the battery. Keeping the batteries always topped of means more life cycles out of the battery. So more panels is better. I use outback power for my operations. They will be setting up my bus when I get the $$$ since I have 100 other priorities. I like the larger battery system. My house is 48 volt system but my bus will be 48 because I want to be able to add my bus panels to the house system when it’s parked.
You are on the right track though.
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Old 07-04-2018, 08:20 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronnie View Post
So it seems that from what everyone is saying is that panel wattage should be close to equal battery amperage to get in the "zone" for good chargeing. In other words one watt of solar should be paired with about one amp of battery capacity? Hope I am saying this clearly.
That will work, sort of, but it's not ideal. By doing that you'll be charging the batteries at the lower end of the recommended 5 to 13% charge rate. My feeling is that it's best to aim for the higher end of that range on a bus or RV roof, simply because it probably won't be ideally oriented most of the time to the sun, especially in winter when the sun is lower. FYI, I have a smidgeon over 2kW of panels to charge about 900aH of FLA batteries, and that calculates to be about a 13% charge rate. My plan is to have all the batteries fully charged each day even in winter, so in summer I'll probably have excess power that I can then use for water heating, arc welding, smelting aluminum, jump-starting nuclear power stations, mining Bitcoins, etc.

John
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Old 07-04-2018, 08:55 PM   #27
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Join Date: Oct 2017
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So that puts you at about 2 watts per amp. 400 watts of panels (most likely the Renogy kit) is what I am planning, and that suits my loads, but have not decided on batteries yet.

My foundry furnace is oil fired, so only a little electric needed for that.....
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Old 07-04-2018, 11:09 PM   #28
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I would only use this set up for charging a couple things no tv or computer probably a fan and occasional cooking utensils
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