Looking to go solar and would appreciate some input

[Van on 66]

All the events of the past few weeks made me realize that it is time to get solar for my van.  I boondocked in the Fort Mohave, Arizona area for the winter and charged my laptop and cell phone batteries, etc. at libraries, internet cafe's, etc. but then all those places closed their doors because of what is taking place.  Fortunately for me, I have friends to hang with at a house south of Phoenix so I am doing okay with things at the moment, but the future lies ahead.

I have been doing research on what is available and have decided on the Go Solar 130w portable system combined with the Go Solar 300w pure sine inverter and an AGM battery.  I did not want to go with something permanent at this time so I liked the flexibility of it all.  And since I don't have a lot of electrical needs I figured that this would be sufficient. All that being said, I wanted to put this out there so that I could get feedback from those who have a lot of experience with solar.  I realize that there are companies out there that offer kits such as these at a lower price, but I liked the reputation, build quality, etc. of the Go Solar set up and since I am living in my van full time, it seemed to be the best choice. 

I do want to throw in the fact that I do live on Social Security so funds are a big issue for me.  However, I figured that this would be a good investment of my stimulus check which is very timely, needless to say.

I would appreciate any feedback.

 

[DannyB1954]

The advantage to a portable system is you can aim the solar panels at the low sun in the winter. Solar panels are rated at their maximum output which you may never truly see. Maybe they figure on the equator at noon. If you keep the amount of energy that you need low, you may never need more than what you described.

On my builds I link a house battery up to the vehicle battery while driving. I use inexpensive constant duty solenoids. the whole setup costs less than $50. I shy away from battery isolators as the voltage usually drops going through them. Trying to charge a battery with lower voltage takes a lot longer and may not even be complete. When I drive, (almost every day), the house battery gets charged. This battery runs things like interior LED lights. I also have a lot of battery operated tools, which get charged while I drive. A small inverter is enough to charge these. Ryobi makes some nice camping lights that can run off of those batteries as well. I am a part timer and when on the road I go to bed early. This reduces the needed lighting.

I live in Southern Nevada and put 960 watts of solar on a van to run a window air conditioner, but I still put a charging solenoid into that as well for days I may not get sun.

 

[jonyjoe303]

go solar 130 on amazon is over 500 dollars. You can find 120 watt panels on craiglist for 100 dollars and use a 15 dollar pwm controller and your good to go. The battery is where you want to spend your money and get a good quality (heavy) one. If I were you I would do more research especially on which battery you will get, thats one area you want to get right the first time.

Even the "kits" require some assembly, might as well assemble your own kit. You don't need fancy wiring. I used 8 gauge wire on my 240 watt panel. Made my own connectors (xt60) .

The solar panel has 2 wires, they go into the controller PV in, the controller Batt out goes into the battery. Then you connect your devices/inverter to your battery. You use fuses to protect everything. Just make sure all polarity (plus/minus) goes in appropriate places.

My recommendation is get a big panel (240 watt) or higher and use 4 L-brackets and bolt to the roof of your van. 240 watts with a 100 dollar mppt controller will get you 12 amps of charge power. I see 240 watt panels on craiglist for 150 dollars.

When I first started to get into solar, I got a 120 watt panel. That was too small, and I had limited power requirements, I was never happy with it. a year later I replaced it with 240 watts and it was a major improvement. In other words get the biggest panel and do it once only.You won't regret it. The difference was from barely being able to charge my battery, to fully charging my battery every day.

picture of my 240 watt panel on my small astrovan. If it wasn't for all the vents on the roof (4 of them) that I don't use, the panel would be flat on the roof. Even flat on the roof I get between 9 and 12 amps of power. I had the panel (bought on craiglist for 200 dollars) for 7 years, its a very good investment for me, I only charge my battery with solar.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I wish you had provided a link, because I 'googled around' and did not find anything matching the items you mentioned, called 'Go Solar'.

Maybe my search engine is on the fritz!

I did find the 'Go Power!' products and I own one of their 700 watt inverters and it has been working well for me. 

As far as the size of the system components mentioned, they will likely work for you. The portable panel is kinda pricey, but that is fairly common for suitcase style portable panels. 

130 watts will not win any power wars, but if you only need to charge a laptop and cellphone once a day, and assuming nice, sunny days, it might do the job.

 

[Lemonbox]

How much do these panels weigh? Are there any calculations if they are worth it on vehicles? They probably are if you camp much more than travel, but I'm not. My concern is gas consumption, trying to reduce it as much as possible.

 

[Tom_M]

Home Depot is selling a 100 watt panel for $69.99
WindyNation 100 watt panel


Pair that with a controller for $19.79
Renogy 10 amp controller

 

[highdesertranger]

what do you even need an invertor for?
kits are way over priced.
have you done your homework to address your needs? cost is zero

1. figure out daily usage and add it all up
2. match a battery to your daily needs
3. match your solar to your battery

you may find that you need less of everything.

remember it is always cheaper and easier to conserve power than it is to make it.

Ft. Mohave, I am right down 95 in Mohave Valley on occasion.

highdesertranger

 

[bass_sears]

There are some good replies above, I'll throw in a couple of thoughts.

First, always consider the "why" of which items you're picking.

For example, why non permanent solar? Just to be stealth? Limited storage space? Just answering that question could steer you toward a single 100w panel (you can store in the van for stealth assuming you have the storage space), but if storage is an issue maybe you need a folding pair of 50w panels.

How do you plan on getting power from outside the van to inside? You'll need some sort of plug through the body of the van, not hard but a consideration.

Where are you going to place your battery? If it's just going to be sitting in the living area of the van it really should be lithium because no off gassing (but very expensive), although AGM is *probably* alright in your living space (they're sealed but do occassionally vent). But AGM is still expensive. Trojan 27-AGM is ~$400 and gets you 89ah. BUT, if you could put in a battery box vented to the outside, you could use regular FLA battery... Trojan 27TMX (flooded) is maybe $200 and you get 105ah... or go with two Deca 6v golf cart batteries in series from Lowes for a total of $288 and get 230ah (not sure exactly what you're driving, this is about 150# of weight so there's that, and there's the making up of the battery interconnects).

Do you want to "set and forget" your panels or do you plan to "tend" them (moving them around and pointing them optimally)... given you're talking about portable I'm thinking tend but don't know. If you're tending your panels, and they're run as 12v panels, an inexpensive PWM charge controller should be fine... if you're doing "set and forget" on the roof of your van you'd benefit from a 24v panel setup and a (mildly) more expensive MPPT controller.

Think long and hard about whether you need a small inverter or not. We have an inverter on our van that just gathers dust... these are all things I do directly off the 12v batteries: lights, furnace, water pump, stereo, charge phones, charge tablets, charge laptop. Laptops you just need an appropriate 12v charging cable. If you have things like rechargeable batteries for tools then that might steer you toward a small inverter, just make sure it's big enough to charge some of these fast charge batteries.

As high desert mentioned, kits are not a good deal. I THINK this is the kit you meant?:
https://www.amazon.com/Go-Power-Valterra-GP-PSK-120-Portable/dp/B009MIPH4K
... if so, $527 is super expensive for 130 / 120 watts of portable power (listing says 130w, bag say 120w, hmmm).
I would avoid anything with alligator clips if possible, if you're doing a full install (instead of just temporary drag it all out set it up stuff it all back in when done) go with ring connectors to the battery.

Least expensive (and then you know how it all works) is to put your own setup together. I did it on my van in about 2 days learning from scratch, 100w @ 24v mounted on the roof to an MPPT with readout, best thing I ever added to the van. You can get two 70W NewPowa (I've used this brand before, they're decent) panels for $136 TOTAL... or two 80W Renogy for $180 total, that's 140w-160w right there. If you want to get slick hinge them together, wiring them in series and hook them to an MPPT controller as a 24v system and you have your own folding panels.

PWM controllers are silly cheap, you can get a 10A Renogy (decent, middle of the road manufacturer) PWM for $20. But consider that wiring in the charge controller from panels to batteries is one of the more time consuming parts of this project and consider oversizing to allow for future expansion... 20A controller (could handle 240 watts of panels) is only $50.00

Renogy makes a nice looking (no personal experience although have some other Renogy panels, have been happy with some, had a warranty headache with others) 100w suitcase for $219.99 with free shipping:
https://www.renogy.com/100-watt-12-volt-monocrystalline-foldable-solar-suitcase-w-o-controller

Wire on a female 12v power port and use one of these either on the battery itself or in the van's powerport when driving:
https://www.amazon.com/AUOPLUS-Cigarette-Splitter-Extension-Chargers/dp/B07C4HN23X/ref=sr_1_3
... and you can charge most anything (don't draw too much on these cigarette lighter style things, they claim to be good for 15a but you'll burn things up that way the connection is just not a good one, just the legacy we're stuck with in vehicles and boats).

-- Bass

 

[user 423]

Go Solar 300w pure sine inverter and an AGM battery. 

For charging a laptop or batteries you don't need a pure sine wave inverter. I've been using a $35 Cobra 400w for years now.

I have flashlights, LED push lights and other devices that use AA or AAA batteries and use this Panasonic charger:

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-BQ-CC17SBA-eneloop-Individual-Indicator/dp/B00JHKSLM8

 

[Van on 66]

The advantage to a portable system is you can aim the solar panels at the low sun in the winter. Solar panels are rated at their maximum output which you may never truly see. Maybe they figure on the equator at noon. If you keep the amount of energy that you need low, you may never need more than what you described.

On my builds I link a house battery up to the vehicle battery while driving. I use inexpensive constant duty solenoids. the whole setup costs less than $50. I shy away from battery isolators as the voltage usually drops going through them. Trying to charge a battery with lower voltage takes a lot longer and may not even be complete. When I drive, (almost every day), the house battery gets charged. This battery runs things like interior LED lights. I also have a lot of battery operated tools, which get charged while I drive. A small inverter is enough to charge these. Ryobi makes some nice camping lights that can run off of those batteries as well. I am a part timer and when on the road I go to bed early. This reduces the needed lighting.

I live in Southern Nevada and put 960 watts of solar on a van to run a window air conditioner, but I still put a charging solenoid into that as well for days I may not get sun.

[font=Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,Sans-Serif]Hello DannyB1954![/font]

[font=Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,Sans-Serif]Thanks for the response and all the information.  As my needs, at least for now are low, I don't think that I would need much so thanks for confirming that for me.  The majority of the time I am not driving much so charging a battery from my main van battery would not be something that I would get much use out of, but that is still something that I can consider so thanks for that tip![/font]

 

[Van on 66]

go solar 130 on amazon is over 500 dollars. You can find 120 watt panels on craiglist for 100 dollars and use a 15 dollar pwm controller and your good to go. The battery is where you want to spend your money and get a good quality (heavy) one. If I were you I would do more research especially on which battery you will get, thats one area you want to get right the first time.

Even the "kits" require some assembly, might as well assemble your own kit. You don't need fancy wiring. I used 8 gauge wire on my 240 watt panel. Made my own connectors (xt60) .

The solar panel has 2 wires, they go into the controller PV in, the controller Batt out goes into the battery. Then you connect your devices/inverter to your battery. You use fuses to protect everything. Just make sure all polarity (plus/minus) goes in appropriate places.

My recommendation is get a big panel (240 watt) or higher and use 4 L-brackets and bolt to the roof of your van. 240 watts with a 100 dollar mppt controller will get you 12 amps of charge power. I see 240 watt panels on craiglist for 150 dollars.

When I first started to get into solar, I got a 120 watt panel. That was too small, and I had limited power requirements, I was never happy with it. a year later I replaced it with 240 watts and it was a major improvement. In other words get the biggest panel and do it once only.You won't regret it. The difference was from barely being able to charge my battery, to fully charging my battery every day.

picture of my 240 watt panel on my small astrovan. If it wasn't for all the vents on the roof (4 of them) that I don't use, the panel would be flat on the roof. Even flat on the roof I get between 9 and 12 amps of power. I had the panel (bought on craiglist for 200 dollars) for 7 years, its a very good investment for me, I only charge my battery with solar.

Hello jonyjoe303!

Thanks for your response and all the information!  As you understand, all of this is pretty overwhelming and I want to keep the learning curve to the minimum.  And that is one of the reasons for me considering the kit systems.

I also own an Astro Van that I bought a little over a year ago and customized myself to live in.  That being said, you can appreciate the space considerations.  I like the idea of having a permanent set up on the roof,  but at this point in time,  I am not sure about what I will want to add in the future such as roof vents, fantastic fan, etc so I am a little leary of doing something now that would get in the way of that in the future.  I also like being stealthy.  There are a lot of considerations for sure and the reality is sinking in for me that I still need to do more research into all of this.

If you have a link to the $100.00 mppt controller I would appreciate it.  All the mppt controllers I have seen so far have been very expensive.

 

[Van on 66]

I wish you had provided a link, because I 'googled around' and did not find anything matching the items you mentioned, called 'Go Solar'.

Maybe my search engine is on the fritz!

I did find the 'Go Power!' products and I own one of their 700 watt inverters and it has been working well for me. 

As far as the size of the system components mentioned, they will likely work for you. The portable panel is kinda pricey, but that is fairly common for suitcase style portable panels. 

130 watts will not win any power wars, but if you only need to charge a laptop and cellphone once a day, and assuming nice, sunny days, it might do the job.

Hello again tx2sturgis!

It has been awhile since I have been on the forum, but I posted some things 2-3 years ago about traveling Route 66 (which I am still doing by the way) and you responded with some good information.  So, thanks again for that.  

You are correct that I should have posted that link.  I also posted the wrong name (that's what I get for making a post so late at night!  )  The correct name is Go Power and not Go Solar.  The link to the kit I was referring to is: https://gpelectric.com/products/130-watt-portable-solar-kit/

You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned how satisfied you were with the product from them that you own.  I do take the time to read reviews for all the things that I buy and the reviews from Go Power are very high.  Yes, they do cost more and I DO need to save money, but then again what price are you willing to pay for the inconvenience of things when they breakdown especially when you are out in the middle of nowhere?

 

[Van on 66]

How much do these panels weigh? Are there any calculations if they are worth it on vehicles? They probably are if you camp much more than travel, but I'm not. My concern is gas consumption, trying to reduce it as much as possible.

Hello Lemonbox!

Thanks for the response and for the considerations.

The panels weigh around 30 lbs.  And as I am stationary/camping more than I am traveling I thought that this would be a better consideration for me.  Weight and gas consumption are also a concern for me as well, but I felt that these were less a priority than having a set up that works for me practically as being able to run and charge my laptop as well as my small batteries is a high priority.

 

[Van on 66]

what do you even need an invertor for?
kits are way over priced.
have you done your homework to address your needs?  cost is zero

1.  figure out daily usage and add it all up
2.  match a battery  to your daily needs
3.  match your solar to your battery

you may find that you need less of everything.

remember it is always cheaper and easier to conserve power than it is to make it.

Ft. Mohave,  I am right down 95 in Mohave Valley on occasion.

highdesertranger

Hello highdesertranger!

It has been awhile since I have been on the forum page, but I remember all the great feedback that you gave me both for travels on Route 66 as well as on the trouble that I had with my 2002 Dodge Ram Van.  I don't know if you remember all this or not, but my Dodge van broke down a year ago on Valentine's day in Kingman, Arizona for the 3rd time in 18 months due to a faulty pcm.  And it was that stranding that led me to buy a used Chevy Astro Van which, though it is smaller, I am very happy with.  As a side note, my old Dodge van is sitting on the front row of a salvage yard west of Kingman facing old Route 66!

Anyway, I spent this past winter in and around the Fort Mohave area, mostly hanging out on the BLM land near the Boundary Cone.  So when I needed to charge things up I simply went into town and also up to Bullhead City to the libraries, internet cafe's, etc. to charge things up.  Then all this virus stuff hit and all my options to charge things went away.  Needless to say, I knew that I needed to come up with some kind of a solar set up. 

I have addressed my needs best that I could and used the calculations pages on websites to come up with how much power that I needed.  Obviously price is an issue as well as space.  I also didn't want to get into something permanent at this time as I am not sure what I will do with the van in the future such as adding vents, etc.  Still I am realizing that I still need to do more research so I appreciate you pointing at all the things that I need to consider.

 

[Van on 66]

There are some good replies above, I'll throw in a couple of thoughts.

First, always consider the "why" of which items you're picking.

For example, why non permanent solar? Just to be stealth? Limited storage space? Just answering that question could steer you toward a single 100w panel (you can store in the van for stealth assuming you have the storage space), but if storage is an issue maybe you need a folding pair of 50w panels.

How do you plan on getting power from outside the van to inside? You'll need some sort of plug through the body of the van, not hard but a consideration.

Where are you going to place your battery? If it's just going to be sitting in the living area of the van it really should be lithium because no off gassing (but very expensive), although AGM is *probably* alright in your living space (they're sealed but do occassionally vent). But AGM is still expensive. Trojan 27-AGM is ~$400 and gets you 89ah. BUT, if you could put in a battery box vented to the outside, you could use regular FLA battery... Trojan 27TMX (flooded) is maybe $200 and you get 105ah... or go with two Deca 6v golf cart batteries in series from Lowes for a total of $288 and get 230ah (not sure exactly what you're driving, this is about 150# of weight so there's that, and there's the making up of the battery interconnects).

Do you want to "set and forget" your panels or do you plan to "tend" them (moving them around and pointing them optimally)... given you're talking about portable I'm thinking tend but don't know. If you're tending your panels, and they're run as 12v panels, an inexpensive PWM charge controller should be fine... if you're doing "set and forget" on the roof of your van you'd benefit from a 24v panel setup and a (mildly) more expensive MPPT controller.

Think long and hard about whether you need a small inverter or not. We have an inverter on our van that just gathers dust... these are all things I do directly off the 12v batteries: lights, furnace, water pump, stereo, charge phones, charge tablets, charge laptop. Laptops you just need an appropriate 12v charging cable. If you have things like rechargeable batteries for tools then that might steer you toward a small inverter, just make sure it's big enough to charge some of these fast charge batteries.

As high desert mentioned, kits are not a good deal. I THINK this is the kit you meant?:
https://www.amazon.com/Go-Power-Valterra-GP-PSK-120-Portable/dp/B009MIPH4K
... if so, $527 is super expensive for 130 / 120 watts of portable power (listing says 130w, bag say 120w, hmmm).
I would avoid anything with alligator clips if possible, if you're doing a full install (instead of just temporary drag it all out set it up stuff it all back in when done) go with ring connectors to the battery.

Least expensive (and then you know how it all works) is to put your own setup together. I did it on my van in about 2 days learning from scratch, 100w @ 24v mounted on the roof to an MPPT with readout, best thing I ever added to the van. You can get two 70W NewPowa (I've used this brand before, they're decent) panels for $136 TOTAL... or two 80W Renogy for $180 total, that's 140w-160w right there. If you want to get slick hinge them together, wiring them in series and hook them to an MPPT controller as a 24v system and you have your own folding panels.

PWM controllers are silly cheap, you can get a 10A Renogy (decent, middle of the road manufacturer) PWM for $20. But consider that wiring in the charge controller from panels to batteries is one of the more time consuming parts of this project and consider oversizing to allow for future expansion... 20A controller (could handle 240 watts of panels) is only $50.00

Renogy makes a nice looking (no personal experience although have some other Renogy panels, have been happy with some, had a warranty headache with others) 100w suitcase for $219.99 with free shipping:
https://www.renogy.com/100-watt-12-volt-monocrystalline-foldable-solar-suitcase-w-o-controller

Wire on a female 12v power port and use one of these either on the battery itself or in the van's powerport when driving:
https://www.amazon.com/AUOPLUS-Cigarette-Splitter-Extension-Chargers/dp/B07C4HN23X/ref=sr_1_3
... and you can charge most anything (don't draw too much on these cigarette lighter style things, they claim to be good for 15a but you'll burn things up that way the connection is just not a good one, just the legacy we're stuck with in vehicles and boats).

-- Bass

Hello Bass!

Thanks for the response and for covering so many good things and considerations.

First of all, I do like the idea of being stealthy as I tend to overnight in urban parking areas, however, I do spend most of my time away from them which is where I need the solar.  And, obviously, in urban areas I am spending time in libraries, etc. charging things and using the wifi as I do a lot of things on the net and manage several social media pages online, which is just fine with me.  And, since I am van dwelling in a Chevy Astro space is an issue so foldable panels appealed to me. 

Getting power from outside the van to the inside is basically a non issue as Go Power provides cables with quick connectors just for this, another thing that appealed to me regarding this setup.

As for the battery, I am glad that you brought this up as this is the least thing that I am familiar with other than seeing some of the prices on them.  WOW!!!  When I did the buildout for the van I left a space at the very back corner just for this purpose.  Still, I don't like the idea of even the possibility of any kinds of fumes so I guess that I need to go back and shop around for a lithium battery.

My biggest push at this point is a kit as it is basically 'plug-n-play' but I will still look into permanent scenarios and also look into the other things that you mentioned such as charge controllers and inverters which I assumed that I would need so that I could plug in to run and charge things like my laptop which have standard wall plugs on them.  

So, let me ask you this.  Is it possible to eliminate the battery from all this for the time being and just use the power from the panels to run and charge me small electronics batteries?  Obviously this does not give me stored power after dark, but I also use portable power banks.  If I could do things this way for the time being I would be goo with that.

 

[Van on 66]

For charging a laptop or batteries you don't need a pure sine wave inverter. I've been using a $35 Cobra 400w for years now.

I have flashlights, LED push lights and other devices that use AA or AAA batteries and use this Panasonic charger:

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-BQ-CC17SBA-eneloop-Individual-Indicator/dp/B00JHKSLM8

Hello slow2day!

Thanks for responding and for the information.  I have also been using an inverter similar to this for several years by means of the cigarette lighter adapter.  I just saw all the things on the web stating that you had to have a pure sine wave inverter, hence one of the reasons that I started this thread as I knew that there were people in this forum who would know for sure what I needed and didn't need. 

I also use Panasonic eneloop AA & AAA batteries and also have the same Panasonic charger that you have.  This is about one of the best things that I have ever spent money on and I love it and the batteries!

 

[user 423]

^
Most often I've read that a PSW inverter is mainly needed to efficiently operate a microwave.

BTW: A DC power 'brick' for your laptop would be the best way to go instead of plugging into AC.

That's on my list of things to buy with the stimulus check.

 

[nature lover]

Don't take this for gospel - I am not a tech guy. I have charged my laptop battery with one of those cheap cig plug inverters. I think I was told that I could charge it that way when the unit is off but not while it is up and running. One of you folks that knows about these things please let me know if that is right.

 

[Van on 66]

^
Most often I've read that a PSW inverter is mainly needed to efficiently operate a microwave.

BTW: A DC power 'brick' for your laptop would be the best way to go instead of plugging into AC.

That's on my list of things to buy with the stimulus check.

I actually bought a power bank for my laptop last fall that will give it one full charge.  Still, you have to charge these things, hence my search into solar panels right now.  

On that note, I have been looking into portable lithium ion battery generators today.  I am wondering if, based upon my needs, if I might just be better off with some kind of solar panel (and today I have been looking into flexible panels) and some kind of portable generator set up to be charged by a solar panel.  And the flexible panels would also work well for me as I can store them easy and still be stealthy.  So instead of having a regular battery to run off of, I can use the portable generator instead.  And this can also be carried somewhere and used by itself.  Here is an example of one that I looked at today.  https://suaoki.com/suaoki-s370-portable-power-station-322wh-generator/sk_1826266_027943163466.html

 

[Van on 66]

Don't take this for gospel - I am not a tech guy.  I have charged my laptop battery with one of those cheap cig plug inverters.  I think I was told that I could charge it that way when the unit is off but not while it is up and running.  One of you folks that knows about these things please let me know if that is right.

I have done the same thing too, but mostly I have just used this type of charging when my laptop was off and I was driving.  Still, like you, I am not a tech guy and am also looking for some expert advise.