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bwarren View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Solar panels for RP177
    Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 2:53pm
Hello,
 I'm a new owner of an older Rpod and looking at solar panels  as a source of power to recharge batteries.  Any suggestions for info / website to gather information before purchase? Thanks, Bruce
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 3:12pm
Welcome.

It helps to know what your objectives are for your solar charger.  What items in the trailer do you want to be able to run from it (forgetting the a/c and microwave) and how many days do you plan to boondock at a time? Also, what battery(ies) do you have now? Do you usually camp in open areas or in shady spots? 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 4:18pm
Hi, the fridge is the important appliance for meds; and 5-8 days for boondocking. I have two 6 volt batteries and travel through the mountain west, so some sun, some shade.
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 4:39pm
Refrigerator is able to be run on propane and that is the proper way to run it when AC is not available. Even two 6V batteries will be killed overnight if you try to run them on battery power (I know because that was my experience). 12V is okay if your tow vehicle can both charge the battery and supply enough extra power to run the refrigerator, but once stopped, switching to propane is the best thing to do if shore power or a generator is not available.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2020 at 12:02pm
Originally posted by bwarren

Hello,
 I'm a new owner of an older Rpod and looking at solar panels  as a source of power to recharge batteries.  Any suggestions for info / website to gather information before purchase? Thanks, Bruce


Hi Bruce,

If you're lacking knowledge and experience, buy a kit.  I also recommend buying from a U.S. based company; let them deal with imports and shipping delays, never mind returns/warranty. 
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=solar+kit&link_code=qs&sourceid=Mozilla-search&tag=wwwcanoniccom-20

Here is a good place to start. 
https://support.renogy.com/en/support/home

And here:
https://www.solarpaneltilt.com/

The lifeline Battery Manual is excellent, and their batteries appear to be.
https://lifelinebatteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/6-0101F-Lifeline-Technical-Manual-Final-5-06-19.pdf

First advice, go big.  I started with a 25 watt toy system to light a work bench at home.  I've upgraded twice.  Now at 240w of panel and 150 A-Hr of battery.  Skip to a Max Power Point Tracking charge controller and run your panels at a voltage above your battery voltage.  I seem to get useful generation more hours of the day that way (24v over 12v).  Victron makes good controllers that are not stupid $$$.  Some will report to your smart phone. 

http://www.p3international.com/products/p4400.html
Measure, calculate and estimate your power usage per 24 hrs as best you can.  Assume 5 to maybe 6 hours of full power generation a day divided by the efficiency given in the tilt site above to size your panels.  Then add at least 10% for charging inefficiency.

i.e.

Loads (300 watts x 1 hour + 20 watts x 24 hr + 12 watts x 6 hrs)
= 612 w-hr/.712 = 860 w-hr
860 w-hr/5 hr = 172 watts + 10% = 189 watts. 
One 200 watt panel or two 100 watt panels will do it and the extra should make sure the battery is fully recharged. 

Size your battery for the number of days you might have to be without sun.  I use 3 days, but found this spring, I was wishing for 4+ days and had to stop using my system until the sun came out. 

So, 612 w-hr x 3 days = 1836 w-hr/12.2V (min voltage you ought to drag the batts down to) = 150 A-Hr + 10% inefficiency = 165 A-Hr. 
165 A-Hr is the allowable draw from your batteries which is 50% of its capacity if they are Pb-SO4.  Times 2 to get battery size = 330 A-Hr for the battery bank size. 

Detailed, as engineering is, but not difficult. 


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2020 at 12:04pm
OTOH, I have just a 25 watt panel and Battery Tender controller to keep my battery hot in storage.

I use an Aims 300 watt inverter in my home system for the stuff that is 120V. 
https://invertersrus.com/product/aims-pwri30012s/
Remember that "go big" thing?  Had I known that, I could have just bought the inverter in the beginning and not had to make and buy 12V lights.  Now I have both.  The Aims will fit behind the breaker box in my 180 and could run my TV and laptop. 
John
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2020 at 12:35pm
For my 177 I built a solar suitcase (permanently added hinges, folding stands etc using aluminum and riveted it all together) using 2 x 100w Renogy panels from Amazon.

I went with a suitcase design instead of mounted panels so I can "track" the sun (ie. I pick up and move the panels).  I have two sets of 10 gauge MC4 cables (10' and 30') so I can also connect them end to end as well so the panels can be up to about 40' from the pod if needed.  I can connect them in series or in parallel.

I mounted a 20A MPPT controller permanently in the trailer electrical compartment and connected it to the battery lines in there.

I added an external marine 2 wire port to plug in the panels and created an adapter cable to go from MC4 to the marine end.  All completely waterproofed.  These things are SOLID!!



I currently have 105Ah of battery which is easily charged by only a few hours of sun every day for our use.  I use propane for fridge and converted all lights to LED.  The biggest draw I've found so far is the furnace.  I do NOT have an inverter so no AC though.  If you plan on using the microwave etc, you are going to the next level.

If I find this is not enough, I think the next just would be 2 x 6V golf cart batteries.  Would be about 3x the power in the one 12v battery I have now.

If I was REALLY serious about boondocking, I would be going lithium though...but that would also require new trailer electrical conversion too...big$$.

Grant
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jul 2020 at 6:13am
Originally posted by bwarren

Hi, the fridge is the important appliance for meds; and 5-8 days for boondocking. I have two 6 volt batteries and travel through the mountain west, so some sun, some shade.

OK, based on your usage profile I'd suggest you start with between 100 and 300 watts and keep it portable. The fridge should be left on propane as others have said. It does need 12V but uses a tiny amount while on propane. You will mostly be using lights, fans (cooling and furnace), and entertainment. Of those items the vent fan and furnace fan use the most, so tend toward the upper size range if you plan on cooling (fans only) or heating a lot, the lower end if not.  

On the entertainment side the stereo in the rpods runs on 12V but the TV's they install do not. I suggest swapping the TV for a dual voltage (12Vdc and 120Vac) one. That's a cleaner installation, otherwise you'll need an inverter to run the TV. 

The benefits of portable solar are ease of installation, no roof penetrations, and  when you are camped in the shade you have the possibility of placing your solar module(s) in a sunny spot. The downsides compared to roof mounting are setup time and theft risk. Your choice.

The batteries you have are as good as you can get short of investing in a custom lithium system. But, if you're boondocking somewhere for a week and run into a string of cloudy days you will run out of stored energy, even with a solar system. You might want to consider a small generator for that possibility. If you're moving every couple of days the batts can recharge from your TV alternator, and in a pinch you can use that to recharge them at the campsite as well. Here in the east cloudy weather is common enough that I carry a generator. 

You can buy a kit online which includes a mounting rack and charge controller as well as solar. That is the easiest but costs more.

Or you can make your own. The best bang for the buck would be to find a standard residential solar module, those are around 3.25 x 5.5 feet and produce around 250-300 watts. Weight is about 40 lbs. These can often be found on CL or Ebay leftover from solar projects for about 50 cents a watt. Try to buy locally to avoid shipping charges. You would need to make up some mounting legs for it and get an MPPT type charge controller (not a PWM controller). 

With either the kit or the homegrown version you can connect them directly to the battery, you don't need to use the solar port connector or buy the proprietary products meant for those. For safety, please do install a fuse at the battery + terminal and make connection from your charge controller to that. Don't relax safety standards just because it it 12V. You won't get shocked but a shorted unfused wire from a 12V battery can cause a fire just as easily as it could at 120V. 


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jul 2020 at 4:47pm
Thanks for all info!  I am thinking a Renogy 300 watt system.  I have been reading that the company website is going to be down and that the company is not delivering ordered items.  Any one have info on that situation?  THanks
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jul 2020 at 5:03pm
Okay, what was stated on the web site is that they are going to pause taking new orders so they can catch up with the backlog on existing orders. When in doubt, go directly to the source.

The store will re-open July 31st.
StephenH
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ouR escaPOD mods
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