Solar Set up

[byrdz1]

so this is 60 watts, but in a sieries. the Inverter won't get it done, but the cables and everything is all there. I only use the bed power to tweek it a little if I have it to hard or too soft. I always try to check it out before I leave home, but short of sleeping on it all night I never really know after I change the sheets if I have it right until I am off and camping.

Again I really appriciate your thoughts and looking up the bed draw was REALLY nice, I looked but couldn't find anything.

http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50048-60 ... =solar+kit

[bdosborn]

Another option, I done this on both my camper and waggon.
I placed two solar modules on my roof (partly for space requirements and since buying two modules was a good deal money-wise)
There is a toggleswitch wired for series to parallel operation. Normally the switch stays in the parallel mode, But when the sunlight is less than optimal I can switch to series and still receive charging. Being too much a cheapskate to buy a MPPT type controller its a good compromise.

That's an interesting idea, have you seen an increase in performance in low light situations?

Bruce

[bdosborn]

so this is 60 watts, but in a sieries. the Inverter won't get it done, but the cables and everything is all there. I only use the bed power to tweek it a little if I have it to hard or too soft. I always try to check it out before I leave home, but short of sleeping on it all night I never really know after I change the sheets if I have it right until I am off and camping.

Again I really appriciate your thoughts and looking up the bed draw was REALLY nice, I looked but couldn't find anything.

http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50048-60 ... =solar+kit

Uhhggg, this is bottom of the barrel stuff. I would use the panel in your original post and we can help you sort out everything else. You can get all the wiring from the home center.

Bruce

[H.A.]

Another option, I done this on both my camper and waggon.
I placed two solar modules on my roof (partly for space requirements and since buying two modules was a good deal money-wise)
There is a toggleswitch wired for series to parallel operation. Normally the switch stays in the parallel mode, But when the sunlight is less than optimal I can switch to series and still receive charging.

That's an interesting idea, have you seen an increase in performance in low light situations?

Bruce

The quick answer is yes,
Often I am camping in winter when it rains for days on end, or sometimes at altitude with snow when the module output is 9-11volts or such.
When the input to the controller is lower than the batteries its supposed to be charging at of course the results to capture is zero.
At least in series I receive something of a charging vs nothing, but I never have followed up in details to measure exactly the current available.

[bdosborn]

You should check the current. Here's an I-V curve for a solar panel. Notice how the current drops with irradiance levels. My hunch is that there isn't much current being generated if the panel voltage is lower than battery voltage so putting the panels in series won't do much. But, I'd like to be wrong and I'll rewire my panels if I am.



Bruce

[byrdz1]

Thanks all!

I bought the solar panel from costco as well as the inverter, I went with the inverter from costco becuase of their return policy.
I also bought:


HQRP Pair 144 inches (3.66m) 1x4mm² Photovoltaic Solar Array Cables with MC4 Connectors
Battery Tender 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger (it is a kit, and has the alligator clips as well as a ring terminal harness)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CI ... 00_s00_i01
Battery Tender Deltran Cigarette Lighter Adapter 081-0069-5
Morningstar SunSaver SS-10-12v Charge Controller 10A 12V

so my next question is how do I connect the cable(s) with the MC4 connectors (that is what the panel outputs too) to the charge controller? is there some sort of "converstion clip"? It looks to me like the controler wants the cables(s) wrapped around the screw(s), and that implys that I have to take the clips off one end and strip the wire, but that can't really be right, can it? I have made CAT5 and other cables before, as well as done some SIMPLE phone and electrical wireing, so I am not afraid per se of stripping the wires, but I would rather not, and I dont' want to be wrong. Do I need a MC4 to ring terminal? if so is that the male end or the female end?
Then I need to get from the controller to the battery tender. what do I need for that?

[bdosborn]

Don't cut the mc4 cables off the panel as that will void the warranty. Get an MC4 extension cable and cut it in half. That will give you a male and female connectors you can terminate on ring terminals or whatever. More to come when I'm not on my phone ....
Bruce

[bdosborn]

Okay, now I'm at a real keyboard. I got my MC4 cable off eBay:

eBay Linky

I cut a 3' extension in half and soldered regular wire onto the MC4 extension cord. I used those wires to connect to the solar panel. You just need to run + and - wires from the panel to the controller and + and - wires from the controller to the battery. # 12 wire should be fine as far as voltage drop goes. You want to try and mount the controller as close to the battery as practical but don't sweat it if you can't. Teardrops aren't really big enough to cause voltage drop problems. You should install a 20A fuse in the + wire from the battery to the controller.



Here's a schematic but it doesn't show the fuse. I would put the fuse right at the battery. Or you can just run the wires from the controller right to your 12V fuse block if you have a spare space available.

Bruce

[Guy]

Dear Marianne,

You did well. I have camped with you a few times and that is a very cost effective system for the way you camp. Enjoy it.

[byrdz1]

Thanks Guy!
I am trying to make sure I do NOT recreate the smoke and sparkels from the last time I attempted to hook my bed to an inverter (Applegate). Scared the Beejubus out of me... Nothing like smoke inside what amounts to a fancy, rolling, coffin.... I dragged Chuck out of bed accross the lot in the rain and bounced around muttering, "I am safe" it is OK"..... and slept with a Chuck and Darleen's fire extingusher outside my door....

When all of the stuff gets here, I think I will have a better idea what I need to do. I know the panel only has connectors, no cables of it's own, so I got cables it uses the MC4 cables that I bought, I just have to attach them to the terminals on the contoller.

Fuse? Does the Battery tender take care of the fuse? I saw too (after I ordered) that battery tender has a waterproof tender. How worried about water do I need to be if it rains?

And what do I do with my current (nice pun that) 15 watt panel?

Hope it all gets here before IRG I would love to be set up out in the medow.

[Maureenm]

I'm bringing my fire extinguisher, so we'll be fine

[Lgboro]

I put an 80 watt panel and a Morningstar SS 10 an have yet to drop below 75%. That was running my computer fans (6), led lights and TV / DVD combination for hours. I haven't made time to log the sunlight hours my panel is getting where it is parked in my yard but even on "mostly cloudy" days it seems to be back at 99% in just a couple of hours. I only bought a 55 ah gel cell from Sam's figuring I could replace it easily if I needed to and wanted to save funds saved to use on other areas of my build. Really nice to have battery always charged should I need to bug out or just lose power due to nature (or man).

[eamarquardt]

The curves above provide some insight. Let's say a panel or panels in parallel puts out 12 volts. With any controller you get little to nothing into your batteries. If you put them in series you'll get 24 volts. If you use a std controller you get a bit more than half of the voltage/current into your batteries because anything over 14 or so volts is wasted. If you use an MPPT controller it will convert all the voltage/current to a charging voltage (very little loss) and you'll get 24/14 or 58% more juice into your batteries.

At that percentage increase it gets closer to "cost effective" and you get much better performance in low light.

Of course all of this is "theory" but I think that empirical experience will prove it to be in the right direction.

Cheers,

Gus

[byrdz1]

The curves above provide some insight. Let's say a panel or panels in parallel puts out 12 volts. With any controller you get little to nothing into your batteries. If you put them in series you'll get 24 volts. If you use a std controller you get a bit more than half of the voltage/current into your batteries because anything over 14 or so volts is wasted. If you use an MPPT controller it will convert all the voltage/current to a charging voltage (very little loss) and you'll get 24/14 or 58% more juice into your batteries.

At that percentage increase it gets closer to "cost effective" and you get much better performance in low light.

Of course all of this is "theory" but I think that empirical experience will prove it to be in the right direction.

Cheers,

Gus

Oh dear, my head just exploded. Does that mean that I am not going to get ANYTHING through the controller to the battery? "Let's say a panel or panels in parallel puts out 12 volts. With any controller you get little to nothing into your batteries"?


I have to go sit in a corner, rock and suck my thumb now.......

[bdosborn]

Oh dear, my head just exploded. Does that mean that I am not going to get ANYTHING through the controller to the battery? "Let's say a panel or panels in parallel puts out 12 volts. With any controller you get little to nothing into your batteries"?

I have to go sit in a corner, rock and suck my thumb now.......

You're fine. Just install the panel and park in the sun. The panel will do a great job of charging the battery.
Bruce