The RV Battery Charging Puzzle

[cobra4856]

So I've posted this link a few times and followed it myself when outfitting my RV and planning my teardrop. One of the best guides for planning an electrical system, picking batteries, charge controllers, battery gauge, wiring, and everything. May even be worth a sticky...

https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the ... -puzzle-2/

[bdosborn]

Not really. Handy Bob is not well respected by those that really understand PV systems. Try browsing the NAWS forum; people there are much friendlier and very knowledgeable.

http://forum.solar-electric.com/forum

Bruce

[Shadow Catcher]

Handy Bob is yes very opinionated, but he has helped folks get to a usable system. It's hard to argue with what works, big enough wire is probably his largest gripe.

[MtnDon]

Opinionated, yes. He does have some knowledge but he also makes some errors, IMO. In other words not everything he states in his web pages applies to everybody or to all brands of equipment. I won't say anything more out loud in public. I do agree with his gripe about most people, especially factories, using wire that is too small a gauge.

[bdosborn]

I do agree with his gripe about most people, especially factories, using wire that is too small a gauge.

Interestingly enough, I just received my latest Solar Pro e-magazine with a good article about voltage drop. 2% is fine, probably conservative, which is how I sized both my systems. Of course you have to be careful scaling down from megawatt sized plants I suppose.

Solar Pro Mag

Bruce

[MtnDon]

Thanks for that link.

I aimed for 3% maximum drop on our cabin during planning stages and ended up with 1% max drop when I found a very good deal on larger wire than I had spec'd. Of course most of the time the system does not produce maximum current so the drop is even less. Too much of a good thing? Considering that most days the system gets to float well before the sun begins to wane I suppose so. But better safe than sorry when it comes to keeping the FLA batteries happy. Six years and still counting on the GC-2's.