solar power advice please

[Casa De Wherever]

I'm a newbie with a 23' 1993 Ford Jamboree motorhome. My brother-in-law is an agent? for "Go Power" solar and is recommending the Go Power Elite 320 except eliminating the battery charger and automatic transfer switch which are not needed for off grid campers.

This kit contains two made in the U.S.A./25 year warranty 160 watt solar panels which equals 320 watts charging power at 18.28 amps. Everything is included except for new batteries and installation and will need to go from its current two bank battery system to four batteries.

1500 watts of pure sine wave output and has a surge power rating of 3,000 watts... able to run coffee maker, microwave, toaster oven, laptop, lights, tv and fridge.

~Overlander GP-RV 1600 watt solar panel, GP-PWM-30 digital controller, mounting hardware & cable ($703.99)
~Overlander-E GP-RV-160E 160 watt solar expansion kit ($611.99)
~GP-HS 1500-12 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter 12 volt ($575.99)
~GP-DC-kit3 inverter install kit with fuse block ($163.99)
~GP-SWR-A inverter remote control ($31.99)
~(2) tilt mount kits for the solar panels at ($79.99 each)

Totals $2,627.93 including tax & shipping but does not include the cost of installation and 4 new batteries? So it looks to cost between 3 and 4 thousand dollars.

Once again, I am a newbie and not very tech savvy... is this a decent deal or should I just have it done in Quartzsite where I will be for 2 or 3 weeks in January ?

 

[cdiggy]

Seems very expensive. Especially the pwm 30 controller for $700. Check out https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/ for some great info. I was strongly considering go power package deal for my rig until I read his blog on solar power installs.

 

[rvwandering]

It seem expensive to me too but it looks like the $700.00 gets you a 160 watt panel and the controller. $611.99 is still a lot for the additional panel. Before you do anything measure the empty space on your roof to make sure the panels will fit. They're pretty big.

I also recommend using a larger gauge wire. You can get a lot of voltage drop on long wire runs.

As far as running a coffee maker, microwave, and toaster oven - you can do it but all of these will run your batteries down very fast. Use them sparingly.

Laptop, lights, tv - no problem with them.

Fridge - 12 volt should be find but not 110.

Handybob has a lot of good advice. It might also might be very helpful to ask about everyone's system at the RTR before you decide.

 

[Casa De Wherever]

That is terrific advice Tony, Karen and Diggy, thank you very much!


Is this a solid brand?

 

[AuricTech]

Northern Arizona Wind & Sun (with which my only relation is that I frequent their forum) offers a range of pre-designed RV solar kits, or you could "roll your own."

However, before you select any equipment, you need to have a firm grasp on the expected loads in Watt-hours per day. The expected load drives the battery bank size, which drives the PV array size. Here is where energy conservation pays off, as the cheapest PV Watt-hour is the one you don't have to provide. Ideally, you should have enough battery bank capacity to run your expected loads for one day, while only discharging to 25% depth of discharge. You would then want enough PV panel capacity to provide a charging rate of about 10% or so. Just be aware that due to system inefficiencies, your PV array will rarely produce its rated Wattage....

I strongly recommend against using electricity to generate heat, which rules out toaster ovens, coffee makers and absorption refrigerators (the kind that can use propane).

 

[Seraphim]

Sounds expensive to me as well

Renogy offers a 400 watt kit with 30 amp PMW controller for $660. 80 more watts, higher amperage.

Add inverter and battery cables. What are all those expensive install kits and expansion kits your're being quoted? Do you really need a remote for your inverter?

I just did a step by step install of a Renogy kit here. Not pushing Renogy on you, but it will give you an idea of what's involved...

---

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-6KW-10PC...01?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item461753039d

Are you sure Go Solars panel's are US made?

Found the exact same kit ( it appears) for the same price, above

Seller was topsolar_china

No criticism, merely curious...

---

Ok - the expansion kit is another panel, kicking you to 480 watts for another $611.

why is it you get 2 panel's and a CC for $700, then one more panel costs over $600?

---

Casa De Wherever

My post above is totally screwed up - just ignore it, please.

 

[AuricTech]

I'm a newbie with a 23' 1993 Ford Jamboree motorhome. My brother-in-law is an agent? for "Go Power" solar and is recommending the Go Power Elite 320 except eliminating the battery charger and automatic transfer switch which are not needed for off grid campers.

I trust that you'll have some way to charge your battery bank under adverse weather conditions.

If it's the convertor that generally comes with an RV, keep in mind that most convertors don't supply sufficiently high Voltage to charge batteries fully. If you haven't done so yet, I recommend that you read HandyBob's essay "The RV Battery Charging Puzzle" before proceeding further into the world of RV solar power.

 

[MikeRuth]

I'm a newbie with a 23' 1993 Ford Jamboree motorhome. My brother-in-law is an agent? for "Go Power" solar and is recommending the Go Power Elite 320 except eliminating the battery charger and automatic transfer switch which are not needed for off grid campers.

This kit contains two made in the U.S.A./25 year warranty 160 watt solar panels which equals 320 watts charging power at 18.28 amps. Everything is included except for new batteries and installation and will need to go from its current two bank battery system to four batteries.

1500 watts of pure sine wave output and has a surge power rating of 3,000 watts... able to run coffee maker, microwave, toaster oven, laptop, lights, tv and fridge.

~Overlander GP-RV 1600 watt solar panel, GP-PWM-30 digital controller, mounting hardware & cable ($703.99)
~Overlander-E GP-RV-160E 160 watt solar expansion kit ($611.99)
~GP-HS 1500-12 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter 12 volt ($575.99)
~GP-DC-kit3 inverter install kit with fuse block ($163.99)
~GP-SWR-A inverter remote control ($31.99)
~(2) tilt mount kits for the solar panels at ($79.99 each)

Totals $2,627.93 including tax & shipping but does not include the cost of installation and 4 new batteries? So it looks to cost between 3 and 4 thousand dollars.

Once again, I am a newbie and not very tech savvy... is this a decent deal or should I just have it done in Quartzsite where I will be for 2 or 3 weeks in January ?

Don't mean to be offensive here but the Brother-in-law is giving you the walk off the street deal here. IE no deal.
Family should be worth something in a discount.
Listen to the others here and do some home work. You will come up with a better deal IMHO.

BTW I just purchased two Trojan T-105 batteries at $125.00 each, so multiply that times 4! and you need to have cores or you may have a core charge as high as $100.00 on 4 batteries.

 

[Seraphim]

Sorry for the above post - was rather random

I found this Go Power (320 watt) kit online - sounds like what you are getting, but it has a higher wattage inverter and slightly higher price:

http://www.amazon.com/Go-Power-Sola...keywords=Go+power+solar+elite#productDetails

Read the reviews

One review quoted $1300 for installation

Compare it to this, for $948

http://www.renogy-store.com/400W-Complete-Kit-p/kit-complete400d.htm

Add the cost of an upgrade from 1000 watt inverter to 1500 watt inverter, plus the price of 4 panel tilt kit. ( this kit has 4 100 watt panel's). Total rated amperage just over 21 amps.

I think the kit you've been quoted is way too expensive. In the boonies, we don't use microwave, or coffee maker and our fridge runs on propane. We have two 105 AH batteries, which lasts us four days without solar recharging. We just don't use a lot of electricity. We don't use an inverter. Just installed a Renogy 400 watt kit, similar to above. No experience with it in the field yet. I think running a lot of AC off your batteries will be limiting - too much power drain. Propane for cooking, fridge, heat, water heater - you can save yourself a lot of money. Consider your usage wisely.

Renogy has a four hundred watt non-inverter kit you can get for $660. They have the same kit with extra wiring for larger RVs plus battery cables for $819.

Brother-in-Laws can be the bane of our existence. I lucked out, and got a pretty decent one, though.

---

Plus, the voltage/amperage numbers are ideal conditions and don't include power loss inherent in any system. You may only get 256 watts from that GoPower system. Renogy advised their watt system would produce about 340. The 400 watt system -at a guess - ought to produce about 5 amps more under ideal conditions.

Use your money to upgrade to an MPPT controller, and you may get 5 more amps over those figures. All theoretical of course. Normal mileage will vary.

 

[akrvbob]

Extremely overpriced! Not a chance in hell I'd buy that.

I've only owned one Go-Power product, a 300 watt inverter and it was extremely loud and broke after a year. Not a fan of Go-Power.
Bob

 

[TucsonAZ]

I second what's been said hear, WAY, WAY over priced! I also wouldn't buy anything Go-Power personally. There are a ton of other aspects I could touch on e.g. the instal kit is foolish for that price and I'm certain is undersized crappy wire in a nice package. Look around and trust N. AZ Wind & Sun, in fact, when you're in AZ ask around, see what others have and go from there.

Good luck to you!

 

[Casa De Wherever]

Boy am I glad I asked this great forum because this
neophyte was heading in the wrong direction.

Is there an outfit in Quartzsite you can recommend,
I do not want to use the generator at all.

Thank you all very much!

 

[akrvbob]

There are two solar stores in Quartzsite, Solar Bills and Discount Solar. Neither have great prices but they are very good at what they do.

If you're coming by Flagstaff on the way here, stop by and buy all the parts here at No Az Wind Sun.

http://www.solar-electric.com/

Great people, great prices. But they don't install. An outfit in town Called Buddys is where they send people for installs. Maybe you could buy all the parts from them and then get it installed in QZT. I don't know if they will or not, call the two places above. Be aware Flaggstaff just got a bunch of snow and it's cold up there.

There is a huge distributer in Phoenix which as as cheap a price on panels as you can find but they don't install and their selection on everything else is poor. They sell in huge quantities to house installers but they will sell you one or two panels, I've done it before. Here is their website:

http://sunelec.com/

Don't even try to buy anything online, it won't work, they are too huge. At the top of their page is the numbers of their two offices, one in Miami and one in Phoenix. Call the number and talk to a person and buy the panels then you will have to go to the warehouse to pick them up.

We did that one year at the RTR and three people went together and we drove over and got the panels. Everything worked fine. If you want to arrange it you can do it again, but I won't have time to help you. You'll have to do it all yourself.

Here are their panels:
http://sunelec.com/

They've got Sharp panel for as low as 71 cents a watt but you won't know until you call how many you have to buy. To get that price you may have to buy a pallet or a truck load.

Bob

 

[rvwandering]

Casa - if you get the parts and pieces Tony can give you a hand with the installation. It's not a difficult job just a little confusing if you don't have any experience.

 

[TucsonAZ]

Yes to everything Bob said, thank you for typing that all so that I didn't have to. Another call to make is http://www.wesco.com/ which is where I ended up getting my panels, if you're in Phoenix they may work out well for you and give you an alternative to Sunelec.

Good luck!

 

[highdesertranger]

well all I can add.......is nothing I agree with everyone here. way over priced. highdesertranger

 

[jimindenver]

Wow you guys pay a lot for solar. Buying the panels second hand but not used and testing non brand name controllers let me assemble my system of 720w for under $700.

There is a company in socal called SolarBlvd.com. There panel prices are incredibly cheap if you can pick them up. Over the Black Friday weekend they had 12v panels for under a $1 a watt. A 230w panel was $138 if I remember right.

 

[Baloo]

I am by no means an expert, but am learning. I am at 200w now planning for 300w, four batteries and a 30 amp controller and an 1800w msw inverter. I was going to make a much bigger system, but then decided to just use less power. I converted all my lights to led, using an iPad and a laptop rather than a tv. I do have a microwave and a hot plate that do run well off the system, but I usually just run the engine or the generator if I am going to be cooking for more then a few minutes. I use one of those ten day ice pelican coolers, might one day get a 12v freezer.