Electrical thoughts after a 12 day road trip

[deadwood]

I just did a 12 day road trip up the California coast with my daughter. I live in AZ and my setup is a 315 watt panel up top with a 260 Ah battery. My electrical needs are fairly light. 12v fridge, lights, water pump, charge up phones. Nothing power hungry and I don't even have an inverter to run AC powered stuff. 

I've had everything up and running for about six months now. In AZ I don't think a day has gone by that I didn't get back to 100% SOC before the afternoon. I was feeling confident that I might only need solar and not need another source to charge up because it has worked so well.

Until I met Norther California weather. After 3 days of fog and then the first sunny day I was in the Redwood forrest shaded by trees all day. Follow that up with more cloudy days and more trees up on the Oregon coast and my solar was just not doing the job. I've gone a cloudy day in AZ but it bounced right back. It was eye opening to experience something so different. 

So now I'm thinking that I will be hooking up an alternate source to charge while driving to help it keep up. I'm leaning towards a Blue Sea ACR. If anyone has recommendations I'd love to hear what you think. I looked at the Sterling battery to battery charge but it's very pricey and probably more then I need. I'm hoping with an ACR I can get some bulk charge while driving and then have the solar keep things topped up.  

I started full timing it in the begging of October. But today I'm at a friends changing the van back from road trip with daughter to set up for living again. I have it on a battery charger to get it charged up again. I'll be in AZ for most of the winter so I'm hoping that the solar will start keeping things fully charged but I plan to hook up an ACR or similar very soon. 

So what do you think tribe?? ACR? B to B charger? Something different??

 

[Blanch]

I’m in the Redwoods area three or four months out of the year. My solar just doesn’t cut it here I use a small and cheap generator I bought for $125 to top off the batteries everyday. But I’m in a TT so I can keep it in the back of the truck.


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[deadwood]

As an AZ person I've been a little spoiled by the sun. After spending some time in Northern California I can see where solar just isn't enough. The one sunny day we had was in the Redwoods but the sun didn't make it to the van under all those magnificent trees.

And if you get to spend a few months there a year you are a lucky person. I'm still amazed at the views we saw.

 

[Blanch]

]My adult children live here and I get my medical care here. It is my home base. I can tell you the magic of the redwoods has never worn off!


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[Reducto]

I've had a Blue Sea ACR for a year now and am very happy with it. I've had two cheaper systems fail on me and wanted to just be done with it.

 

[deadwood]

I like the Blue Sea products for the same reason. I never regret buying quality products. Most of the things I have put in the van were made for a boat. Fridge, water heater, fuse block, wire, heater. That's why I was thinking the Blue Sea ACR. Glad to know it is working good.

 

[regis101]

Whelp.  Not that I know shiza from shinola but what if you used that ~300 watts of panel to charge one battery? Series would help.   Perhaps things would end up better.  Your daily load seems low.  Your panel to batt ratio is in the 3/2 range.  Maybe a 3/1 range would bring you back up to norm .  Or, add a second controller for the second battery. Instead of adding more components, perhaps work with what ya got?  Just askin', just sayin'

 

[deadwood]

I'm only charging one battery. It's a single AGM. 260Ah 12D battery. Only one panel up top as well. It's a single 315 watt panel. It's been working flawlessly until I spent 5 days with no sun. I'll probably be fine in AZ over the winter. But then again I might not. I had originally planned for a second source to charge the house battery. And with winter coming I'm thinking the sooner the better. I don't like the idea of being dependent on just the sun to keep things charged up. Better safe then a dead battery.

 

[regis101]

Further thinking is that your only 75 watts greater than a 1/1 set up.  It does seem that a 2/1 ratio , 2:1, is more acceptable and I've read that a 3:1 can be even better.  My set up is smaller at 110 Ah with 200 watts of panel .  Dunno.  Just throwing it out there. I'm hip to having shore power or even a generator if off grid for that extra push

 

[tx2sturgis]

My electrical needs are fairly light. 12v fridge, lights, water pump, charge up phones. Nothing power hungry and I don't even have an inverter to run AC powered stuff. 

Actually that 12v fridge IS fairly power hungry, but while in AZ your power production exceeded your power use so all was good.

As soon as that power production dropped off, then the power hungry fridge sapped it.

You could have disconnected the fridge and used a cooler with ice, and reduced the power use, but that doesn't solve the long term problem.

Yes, while driving, you have a surplus of power available from the vehicle alternator...you might as well tap into that.

But parked during a few days of cloudy weather, and with low sun angles, even with no gorgeous trees in the way, you may still find that your system is marginal for your use. Along with the relay, you might consider another 100 watt portable panel to supplement your system. One that you can move during the day to gather whatever sunlight you have available, for as many hours as there is sunlight.

I'm a believer and user of roof and portable panels together. Why? because it works so well.

 

[John61CT]

Yes fridge is a heavy load, not light.

My minimum outside ideal conditions is a 400+AH bank (2 pairs GC 6V) and 600+W panels, or as much as possible

Or a small gennie run in the morning, longer when not as much sun

 

[deadwood]

It's definitely been a learning experience on this trip. I probably had a false sense of security because I get so much sun where I am at. I can't put anymore solar up because the one panel is quite big and covers a big chunk of the roof. Plus I have a fan in as well.

For now I think the best option is to add a second source to charge from. That is why I was planning to install a Blue Sea ACR. The van is my daily driver and I think it will put the extra Ah's in while driving and that the solar will be able to top it off and give it a full charge. But like everything with this build it is all an experiment to see what works and make adjustments along the way.

Even with all the cloudy days I didn't drop below 50% capacity. I just wasn't getting back to 100% each day. But after 5 days of no sun I was probably about to start dropping below the 50% point. And once that low it is just so hard to get the Amps back into the battery.

Overall the I've been super happy with my build and other then the solar not keeping up everything else has worked out pretty well.

 

[John61CT]

If your alt is capable of putting out the amps without overheating

and you do at least an hour or two of driving in the morning before the solar kicks in

that will help, but you still likely won't get to 100% full without a good day of sun.

A little gennie gives you more control.

 

[John61CT]

Obviously you should have a good shore charger to take advantage of mains when available

 

[jimindenver]

You can have 10-1 and it ain't gonna help you if you are under a canopy.I ran a generator for charge for the first time in 5 years after 3 days under cover. A extended monsoon like we had in Colorado can be brutal too.

 

[Reducto]

Another option if you only run out of power occasionally is to find a campground with hookups that allows vans. Once in a while I'll spring for the $20 fee for 24 hours of charging and a couple of nice long showers. I haven't done much research on battery chargers but I'm sure you can find one for not too much money that will keep your bank happy.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yes fridge is a heavy load, not light.
My minimum outside ideal conditions is a 400+AH bank (2 pairs GC 6V) and 600+W panels, or as much as possible
Or a small gennie run in the morning, longer when not as much sun

I can go 3 days before I get to 50% battery capacity running a refrigerator as my big load (<30 AH/day). 200W solar, 208 AH battery.

More solar and batteries is nice if one has the space/$$$.  I don't want to carry a gasoline filled appliance in my camper, so driving or shore power are my fallback charging.

Heavy canopy and hot weather are the problem for me; usually when overcast it is cooler.

 

[John61CT]

Yes, a plan B needs to be there when conditions go south.

For true solar-only, the system needs to be sized for worst-case, and that's not usually practical for mobile cases.

 

[lenny flank]

Many people also forget that "winter" and "summer" are entirely different, and that a system that works well in summer may not do so well in the shorter days and less-intense sunshine in winter.

 

[DLTooley]

I am still trying to figure the optimal alternator charging setup. I am thinking that with a larger panel you want a separate controller for the starter battery. In bad weather I like to go into town on day three and that’s my worst case. Panels are more efficient in cooler weather.

If your 12v fridge is set up as a freezer raising the temp to refrigerator level will reduce the draw and you should have plenty of time to eat the defrosting contents.