Solar extension to my shady spot

[Scottnyht]

I'm new to Van life and solar. I would like to try to do it right the first time. I'm looking into getting a renogy 200 watt suitcase and a good plane car battery. I'm still working out the inverter for how much power I will need. Right now it is just cell phone, laptop, small fans and minimal lights. The shady spot I found has a good source of sunlight but it is about a hundred feet away. Is it possible to extend that distance? I would like some advice on wire gauge, connectors, fuses and anything else that might be relevant. I want to thank everyone in advance 4 any and all advice that can be given to help this newbie get started.

 

[Kristalsdreamtrip]

Ok I'm trying to figure out how to post a pic here??

 

[highdesertranger]

1. Kristal when you posted in the "Newcomers corner" you were given a link to "Tips, Tricks, and Rules" In there you will find how to post pictures.

2. Scott you need to go to the "Newcomers corner" and give us an intro.

In the mean time,

100 feet is a awful long way to push the low voltage of Renogy solar suitcase. You will loose a significant amount of power.
Also I am assuming by plane battery you meant plain battery. actually you want a deep cycle battery not a regular car battery.
again at 100ft you would need huge cable to mitigate the voltage and power drop. You need to rethink this. 20-25ft is much better.

Highdesertranger

 

[hugemoth]

Another way to do it is put the battery and inverter next to the panels and run 110 ac through the long extension cord. Much less voltage loss.

 

[Scottnyht]

I think I could make THAT work.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Oh geeze, 100' is a long way for that many amps. You would need like 1gauge wire! Like HDR said, you be looking at 20-25' of 10gauge to be practical. Putting the inverter at the panels is a great solution!

 

[Tom_M]

Granted you will get some loss going 100 feet but I do it quite often. I use two 50ft lengths of #10 zip cord that I purchased on Amazon.

Link: 10 gauge red/black zip cord

[img=300x149]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/716we3ppUeL._AC_SL1500_.jpg[/img]


For connectors I use Anderson SB50 Powerpoles.

[img=100x64]https://powerwerx.azureedge.net/pow...50-amp-anderson-powerpole-kit_3_580.jpg[/img]

Link: Powerwerx Anderson SB50 Powerpole

These connectors are color coded and you have to use only one color because they are keyed differently for each color. You can use any color but yellow is commonly used for 12 volt systems.

You can also find these connectors on eBay or Amazon.

 

[ldsreliance]

You are working this problem backwards as most people do when they are starting out with solar. Since you said you want to do this right the first time, I highly suggest that you take an hour and sit down and define your loads. I have learned through painful experience in the past that you cannot skip this step.

You need to know the energy consumption of each device you are planning to plug in to the inverter, how long you intend to run each of those devices per day, and whether any of those devices has any special power needs (pure sine wave, high surge current/inductive load, etc.).

I can already tell that you have too many loads for that small of a solar panel system. During the peak of summer time in a southern US state with near perfect conditions you will produce around 1.2kWh with that suitcase. After factoring in some losses to the inverter and wiring you probably have around 1kWh. That might be enough to power a laptop for an entire day, recharge one smart phone, run a few small box fans for a few hours during the hottest part of the day, and then power a few LED lights at night for a few hours. But if you don't have good conditions (partly cloudy, panels not aimed perfectly all day, etc.) or it isn't the height of summer then you are definitely going to have problems. And that is if you have a large enough battery to hold 1kWh (i.e. not a car battery).

 

[highdesertranger]

^ The above is very good advice.

Everyone should figure out there needs before buying anything or you are going to be wasting money somewhere. and that money could be spent more wisely on better components or other unrelated items that you need.

Highdesertranger

 

[Uncle Todo]

I'll throw in too, some things won't need to plug into the inverter such as your phone and maybe fans depending on what you use.
Whatever you can run from 12v, go directly to your battery instead of the inverter.