First try at solar.. which panels?

[riffraff]

So far I've got:

Battery: SLR125 VMAX Sealed Solar AGM Battery 12V Deep Cycle for PV Solar Panels 125AH

Controller: Blue Sky SB2000E 12V / 25 amp MPPT charge controller

A little unsure on which panels to get. I plan to mount them to a roof rack, haven't got one of those yet either. Dodge Cargo Van 2500.

I'm looking to get a 100w or 200w panel for the top of my van. Any suggestions?

---

Roof rack maybe I meant ladder rack? whatever is better/more stealthy.

 

[riffraff]

Would this work with? http://www.amazon.com/RENOGY-Listed...8&qid=1409222249&sr=1-21&keywords=solar+panel

---

The 250w one I posted a link to doesn't mention RV use.

Looking at something from Amazon (Prime 2-day free shipping). The RENOGY 100w should probably be okay: http://www.amazon.com/RENOGY-Monocr...F8&qid=1409222249&sr=1-2&keywords=solar+panel

Time is a priority as Sat may be the last day I can get a delivery.

---

Also looking at this isolator: http://www.amazon.com/WirthCo-20092...r=1-1-catcorr&keywords=wirthco+battery+doctor

So good so far?

---

Hmm also I don't fully understand the difference in the 125amp /150amp isolator and the 75/100 one: http://www.amazon.com/WirthCo-20090...r=1-2-catcorr&keywords=wirthco+battery+doctor

which one should I get?

 

[Zil]

roof rack, ladder rack, solar panel on roof. whatever.
Stealth exist only in the mind of the stealth-er. The businesses, the police, and most others know you are there.

 

[george warner]

If you order straight from the Renogy.com Aug 29 thru Sept 1 and use code LaborDay14 you can get a 10% discount on any item .....

 

[riffraff]

roof rack, ladder rack, solar panel on roof. whatever.
Stealth exist only in the mind of the stealth-er. The businesses, the police, and most others know you are there.

Once a solar panel goes up I suppose this might be more true than I want to believe.

 

[Reducto]

I just bolted my panel to the roof using L-brackets and was fine stealthing in San Francisco for 6 months. Just get the thing up there and you can always change it later.

Don't worry about whether it says for RV use. That's just a marketing thing. I'd recommend getting a large panel and probably a second battery to go with the one you have. You'll be glad you have it when it's overcast for a week in the winter.

Check craigslist for panels locally - I was able to get a 235 watt panel for $235, no shipping costs. He also sold me a controller a few bucks cheaper than I could have gotten from Amazon.

 

[riffraff]

Nice. Yeah I'll most likely just bolt it to the roof. Thanks for the info! I'll check CL as well.

 

[riffraff]

Still trying to figure out which battery isolator to go for. I'm now planning on 2x of the 125 AH batteries and 2x 100w panels.

reposting the link above, I'm thinking this one: http://www.amazon.com/WirthCo-20092...r=1-1-catcorr&keywords=wirthco+battery+doctor

But I noticed there's a 75/100 amp version as well. I don't know which to get (or another brand if appropriate)

 

[akrvbob]

The Blue Sky 2000E is a very good controller, but it will not handle high voltages. So whatever panels you buy need to be low voltage.

Voltages on panels are strange. They use the concept of 12 volt, 24 volt in the nominal sense--in name only. So 12 volt solar panels are usually 17-19 volts and 24 volt panels can be up to 36 volt. Nearly all panel much larger than 200 watts are high voltage and you can't handle them. So stick with panels that are listed as 12 volt but be aware that is usually 17-19 volts and you will be fine.

Get out your manual and see what voltages it will handle and stay on the low side of them.

This Renogy 100 watt panels is 18.9 volts so it is a good choice:
http://smile.amazon.com/RENOGY-Monocrystalline-Photovoltaic-Battery-Charging/dp/B009Z6CW7O/

Bob

 

[riffraff]

Wow great info from the man himself That renogy 100w model you listed is the kind I got. I actually got 2 of them, the 2nd one in a separate order. Do I need to cancel the 2nd one? It will make too much voltage coming thru for the blue sky controiller?

 

[greybeard23]

Wow great info from the man himself That renogy 100w model you listed is the kind I got. I actually got 2 of them, the 2nd one in a separate order. Do I need to cancel the 2nd one? It will make too much voltage coming thru for the blue sky controiller?

I believe that if you wire the two panels in parallel the voltage will stay the same as a single and the amps output will double. If you connect them in series, the voltage will double and the amps will be the same as one panel.

I believe that is the way it works.

 

[riffraff]

Ahh okay. I'm still trying to figure out this amps/watts/volts stuff but sounds like I can use both the panels I ordered so sweet =) More built-in shade for the van too.

 

[highdesertranger]

old greybeard is correct. wire them in parallel, ie; +to+, -to-. this will double the amps of one panel so make sure you are ok on that end. no disrespect meant with the "old" comment greybeard. I am an old greybreard myself. highdesertranger

 

[greybeard23]

Ahh okay. I'm still trying to figure out this amps/watts/volts stuff but sounds like I can use both the panels I ordered so sweet =) More built-in shade for the van too.

Here is a web page that explains it much better. For me, pictures or diagrams always help.

http://www.partsonsale.com/learnwiring.htm


And this persons pages are sure helpful in helping to understand and install solar.

https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/

 

[riffraff]

Thanks greybeard23! so many helpful people here.

I should understand this stuff better already! I mean.. heck, I built amazing solar arrays in Minecraft that worked very well! =)

 

[TucsonAZ]

My Solarworld 230w panels are 30v max instead of the common 36v found in many 24v panels. You're also unlikely to see max voltages in real world situations so that would be something to give some thought to as it will add some advantages over 12v panels and save you some money while you're at it.

People preach the Renogy panels left and right, they are a great value, if you contact them directly they will do $115 shipped on the 100w panels, the larger ones add freight and aren't as good of a value. I personally was trying to avoid them but mostly to support local as I don't like the Chinese business practices and it cost me far less to buy US made anyway.

You may also struggle with a 3,000 watt battery bank and only 200 watts of panels, maybe you said you were going with two 6v batteries which would be better than two 12v for your application. Either way, running the system in an ideal way would mean needing 7 peak hours of light a day to recharge your bank, something you wouldn't be able to do so you may want to make an adjustment there unless you're only going to be using say 1,000 watts per day from your bank.

Today was a pretty damn cloudy day and with 1,380 watts on my roof I could only manage to collect 273 of those at the very best. Enough to top off the 900 watts I'd used during the night but still less than 20% of my panels abilities.

 

[Zil]

If you used 900 watts, topped off the battery, you collected more than 273 watts from the panel, lots more.

 

[TucsonAZ]

If you used 900 watts, topped off the battery, you collected more than 273 watts from the panel, lots more.

I have 1,380 watts of panels on my roof but that figure isn't the cap for the day, that's for the hour, I had 13.5 hours of light yesterday, let's call 5 of those "peak" so I'm sure I collected 1,500 watts or maybe even more, just never more than 273 in any given hour.

My drain at night is about 2-5amps at any given moment and normally by 7am I'm already bringing in enough to no longer be pulling from my battery bank.

 

[greybeard23]

I went with a continuous duty solenoid instead of an isolator. $20 compared to almost $100 dollars for the isolator.

Also went with breakers for the panels, batteries, inverter and fuse buses.

This will take you to a pic of my wiring.

http://davidswandering.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/021.jpg

 

[riffraff]

Nice setuip greybeard (and nice shag carpet haha) I called one of the 2 best known local van conversion places today and he said he will only use this: http://www.allbatterysalesandservice.com/browse.cfm/4,5736.html
(btw I thought solenoid and isolators were the same thing.. still learning)

I was planning on fuses but the breakers seem like it might be worth doing instead. Pretty fancy setup!