help figuring out solar

[Jaclyn]

I went out and measured to get a concrete answer to the dimensions of my van. The top of the van is 155"x60". I found a good solar panel here for pretty cheap. It is 78.3"x40". I could squeeze two of those on the top of my van with a tiny bit of room on the side. That would give me (rounding down a little) 700w of solar. Running through my calculation (700w x 4.53avg sun hours/day x .75) I get 2378.25Wh/day. I can make that work. If I use the batteries Riverman posted link here I could run two in series for 12v at 215Ah. If I ran two banks of two in series, that would give me about 5.16kWh of capacitance. What do you guys have to say about the feasibility of that setup? All of this (not counting shipping) would run me just shy of $800. Is that a good price for that amount of power?

 

[TMooney]

How much is shipping just curious

 

[Riverman]

Sounds real good but understand in the real world you'll probably get 500 to 600 watts. The panels are rated at full watts in a lab which is not the same in the field, plus panels laying flat lose another 15% or so. So many things affect solar.

 

[TMooney]

Two students here at least. So when someone says they have 400 on the roof they dont ever they just have 400 in panels. 15 percent less laying flat and one day doesnt equal another . So they never can actually count on the roof? I'm impressed with Jaclyn . I'm doing about the same as her and I didnt get that far in research yet. Great job finding the panels although shipping is unknown. I still think if you have done all you can do then you live with it as Bob really suggested not my idea. I guess she could add suit case panels on the ground . She could keep a small generator on board for the days that were against her as back up. Again I'm a student of this too. I appreciate all the help you guys give. Thank You.

 

[highdesertranger]

if you are in the southwest I would go to San Tan Solar,

https://www.santansolar.com/

save on shipping. shipping large grid tie panels is outrageous.

highdesertranger

 

[nature lover]

For what it.s worth -- Yesterday, in his live feed about Schoolies Bob said that Renegy is having a great sale on 100 watt panels.

 

[Jaclyn]

How much is shipping just curious

They are charging $175 in shipping for up to 8 of them.

 

[tripper]

I went out and measured to get a concrete answer to the dimensions of my van. The top of the van is 155"x60". I found a good solar panel here for pretty cheap. It is 78.3"x40". I could squeeze two of those on the top of my van with a tiny bit of room on the side. That would give me (rounding down a little) 700w of solar. Running through my calculation (700w x 4.53avg sun hours/day x .75) I get 2378.25Wh/day. I can make that work. If I use the batteries Riverman posted link here I could run two in series for 12v at 215Ah. If I ran two banks of two in series, that would give me about 5.16kWh of capacitance. What do you guys have to say about the feasibility of that setup? All of this (not counting shipping) would run me just shy of $800. Is that a good price for that amount of power?

That is a good price for that amount of power.  In the deep of winter you can assume 40% less power so your 700 watts would be 420 watts uf lying flat.  Sounds like  you are getting 72 cell panels, for  a bit more money you can get 60 cell panels that will fit your van width better with the same output.

 

[Jaclyn]

That is a good price for that amount of power.  In the deep of winter you can assume 40% less power so your 700 watts would be 420 watts uf lying flat.  Sounds like  you are getting 72 cell panels, for  a bit more money you can get 60 cell panels that will fit your van width better with the same output.

Yeah? Do you have some links of where I can find the 60 cell panels? I'm just about ready to move forward with this I think. I know I'm rushing into things quite a bit, but I need to get something up and running soon.