New solar questions/ponderments/opportunities/gotchas

[Gunman9]

I was confused about what batteries until (a) I started to digest what was written about them in this forum and (b) I read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/096473 ... UTF8&psc=1.

I am on my third reading of it and each time pick up something new that I missed before. This was one purchase well worth the price.
So now I am going with 6V Golf Cart batteries. I am convinced that even though I will pay much more up front but over a period of time, I will be $$$ ahead.

I expect these batteries to last me until Lithium batteries have come down in price and the industry has resolved many of the negative issues. And my plans call for 100 to 200 W of solar panels to go along with them. But all in baby steps.

I just went through sticker shock looking at those golf cart batteries lol good lord are some of them pricey! Has anyone used this one its more in my price range:

http://m.advanceautoparts.com/mt/shop.a ... /2100013-P

[lrrowe]

Here is an interesting post on another site for these batteries (or ones similar).

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/electric ... ies-5.html

[Gunman9]

Here is an interesting post on another site for these batteries (or ones similar).

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/electric ... ies-5.html

Well that was confusing lol I see desertrat222 has two 6v deep cycles hooked up. Would these two 8v deep cycles be to much for the 100w panel?

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/duracell-g ... ction=push

[MtnDon]

You do not want 8 volt golf cart batteries. Two in series would make 16 volts and that is not what you trailer will be; assuming you are doing like most and are planning a 12 volt battery system. The 8 volt ones are used in some carts to make 24 or 36 volt systems.

[Gunman9]

You do not want 8 volt golf cart batteries. Two in series would make 16 volts and that is not what you trailer will be; assuming you are doing like most and are planning a 12 volt battery system. The 8 volt ones are used in some carts to make 24 or 36 volt systems.

The solar panel is mainly for running a few small things and that's it. So 2 6v batteries is what I'll get. They sell the 6v version on that battery at dames for $85. I did not put this much thought into a conversion when I placed the order for my trailer lol so much to consider!

[MtnDon]

They sell the 6v version on that battery at dames for $85.

There may be a :"core" charge as well unless you have an old battery to turn in for each one you buy.

[David Olson]

Watt meter.
I need clarification on hookup.
I was looking to get this watt meter.
http://www.rc-electronics-usa.com/ammet ... meter.html
I already have a Morningstar Sunsaver 10 charge controller.
http://www.morningstarcorp.com/wp-conte ... 01.EN_.pdf
The leads marked SOURCE on the watt meter, do they go to +/- connections for the battery? Then do the +/- leads marked LOAD on the watt meter go to the connections on the controller for BATTERY or LOAD?
Thanks for any help.

[professorkx]

I thought I would throw another wrinkle into the mix, as I selected the Optima Blue Top deep cycle instead of golf cart batteries for a couple of reasons:

1. It's s dry AGM battery. As I have noted elsewhere, I have my battery mounted in an aluminum tongue box, and when I am towing the trailer without the motorcycle, I have to remove the battery to reduce tongue weight. Using a dry battery eliminates acid leaching, a plus when moving a battery around.
2. Tongue weight is my enemy, so two batteries was not an option since I had no interest in mounting wet batteries inside my trailer. As noted here, wet 12 volt deep cycle batteries don't hold a candle to two golf cart batteries, and I am hoping the Optima will perform better than wet 12 volt deep cycle batteries. So far, the battery has shown to hold a charge for several days while running an inverter for the fridge, lights, water pump and TV. Time will tell.

The drawback is that the battery was $300.

[MtnDon]

The leads marked SOURCE on the watt meter, do they go to +/- connections for the battery? Then do the +/- leads marked LOAD on the watt meter go to the connections on the controller for BATTERY or LOAD?

The meter measures current flow in only one direction. It could be measuring current from something like a PV panel or battery charger going into a battery. Or it could be set up to measure current from the battery to something like a 12 VDC refrigerator or lights, etc. So depending on what is being measured the source is either the charging source or the battery. A person could use two of them, one to measure current going into the battery and one to measure current going out of the battery.

Hope that helps.

[Getting away with it]

My trailer is about half Ham/ARES and the occasional SET or field day. With the radios and some creature comforts I will be adding solar. If you care to make a ham (KJ4YXE) a deal i would love a few of those, I'm in Cherokee county. I don't QRP so a few hours set up for field day can do some damage to the SoC on the battery bank.

[Wookie97]

Professorkx, where did you buy your Blure top at? I bought the same thing brand new and it was $200 out the door!

Has anyone looked at the DIY solar kits? I was looking at them today and seem pretty reasonable on price. Yes I know it would take some time but I like building and tinkering with things. One site sold the solar cells for $1 per cell.

[MtnDon]

What size cell? How many amps?

IMO, the diy thing is wasted effort. A factory made panel is waterproof and is hail resistant. Those 2 things are difficult to achieve with long term reliability in a diy product. Some folks might get a kick out of the diy aspect, but I would advise taking a long hard look at the practicality. G/L.

[khigh]

My trailer is about half Ham/ARES and the occasional SET or field day. With the radios and some creature comforts I will be adding solar. If you care to make a ham (KJ4YXE) a deal i would love a few of those, I'm in Cherokee county. I don't QRP so a few hours set up for field day can do some damage to the SoC on the battery bank.

That's a lot of what I'm doing! Mine is triple purpose when I get it done. Camping, cargo, and radio/communications. When I get the folding bed done, I'll have a worktable that should fit two operators comfortably with any number of variously configured rigs. Definitely SET and ARES. Right now I have an inverter generator so I have good, quiet power for radios. The solar I'm more interested in for camping. I'm bringing it on field day, but in its other two capacities - as a camper we can take turns napping in, and filled with all manner of tools, tarps, rope, cables, doodads, etc to meet any need.

I haven't heard back from the guy but I'm supposed to meet him Saturday. The meeting I'm going to has some Cherokee club members represented (I'm in Gwinnett). I'll see what the deal is. If you want, I can pass along your contact information. I see an email for you on QRZ. Mine's on there as well under KK4WOG if you want to hook up off line. I think it would be fun to compare notes or maybe even get our trailers together for a play date. Do you have a build thread?

Anyway - If you like, I'll pass along your info and I'll have some news after the weekend.

[desertrat222]

mtn don just curious how long your 2 bats run your 12V fridge and how big your fridge is?

What type of battery are yall using for your solar systems?

Two GC-2 size golf cart batteries similar to what desertrat222 has; in series for 12 VDC.

I chose those because we wanted to have the operation of out 12 VDC refrigerator well covered.

[MtnDon]

4.1 cu ft 12 VDC Truckfridge.

Over a 24 hour summer period I've recorded usage from 300 to 500 watt hours. The GC-2's are rated at 210 amp-hours; @12 VDC = 2520 watt hours
We don't want to discharge the GC-2's by more than 50%.
So, 2520 / 2 = 1260 usable watt hours in the batteries.
Using 500 watt hours a day then the fridge should run for 2.5 days before reaching 50% SOC on the battery.

We've gone 2 days between recharging by either driving or by running the generator a little. We tend to run the generator once a day as we often want to use the electric kettle or coffee maker and I prefer not to run those off the inverter, though I have.