Went ahead with solar install

[2 for Him]

Went ahead and ordered 3 85 watt panels after building one 60 watt. I have one bit of advice for anyone thinking they want to try building their own. DON'T! After paying for solar cells, glass, frame, encapsulation material, and junction box it works out to about $180 for 60 watts with no warranty. Sunelect.com has crystaline panels (B grade I think, cosmetic flaws) with 20 year warranty for $157, that ship UPS.
So today I hooked up the fuse panel and the charge controller, couldn't connect the panels in the rain but all the heavy wiring is run to the roof so it should be an easy job Monday.
Could this be the final mod? Only if I don't read any more of Ozz's posts.
Tom

[simonsrf]

quote:Originally posted by 2 for Him

Went ahead and ordered 3 85 watt panels after building one 60 watt. I have one bit of advice for anyone thinking they want to try building their own. DON'T! After paying for solar cells, glass, frame, encapsulation material, and junction box it works out to about $180 for 60 watts with no warranty. Sunelect.com has crystaline panels (B grade I think, cosmetic flaws) with 20 year warranty for $157, that ship UPS.
So today I hooked up the fuse panel and the charge controller, couldn't connect the panels in the rain but all the heavy wiring is run to the roof so it should be an easy job Monday.
Could this be the final mod? Only if I don't read any more of Ozz's posts.
Tom

amsolar.com

[REPO]

quote:Originally posted by 2 for Him

Went ahead and ordered 3 85 watt panels after building one 60 watt. I have one bit of advice for anyone thinking they want to try building their own. DON'T! After paying for solar cells, glass, frame, encapsulation material, and junction box it works out to about $180 for 60 watts with no warranty. Sunelect.com has crystaline panels (B grade I think, cosmetic flaws) with 20 year warranty for $157, that ship UPS.
So today I hooked up the fuse panel and the charge controller, couldn't connect the panels in the rain but all the heavy wiring is run to the roof so it should be an easy job Monday.
Could this be the final mod? Only if I don't read any more of Ozz's posts.
Tom

I would be VERY interested in some pictures of your mounting, and how/where you ran the cables up to the roof. This is something that I intend to do this summer, as we rarely ever camp anywhere that has power, and rely on the batteries to supply us what we need.

[Ozz]

Good Job! You are the man. I appreciate your info on the awning, by the way.
I think I will wait on the Solar, with the small Hondas recharging my batteries, we will see.
We will be following the install, good luck and forge ahead!

[2 for Him]

Repo,
Here is a link to some pics, http://cid-a673f2d3b1d06efb.photos.l...olar%20project
You got to understand I have a shop full of metal from past commercial jobs, so i used 3/16" aluminum angle for brackets and 3/16x1 1/2" strap for the braces when I tilt them.
To keep the wires as short as I could I took out the plug next to the vanity and used a 4' flexible bit to drill up through the roof and down through the floor inside the wall. In our '05 2955 the bottom hole came out in the right side propane compartment. DON'T do this if you are not familiar with running wires in hidden areas! You have to be VERY careful where you drill out.
Easy to get from there to the disconnect box. I ran 1 fish tape up and another down then tied them together to pull some 6 gauge very fine stranded jumper cables I had to get from the junction box to the disconnect box. They are sun bleached but not cracked at all and I had them, very flexible.
The disconnect is an A/C disconnect that pulls both the panel feed and the battery outlet lead to the controller with one pull. Had a little trouble finding small amp enough fuses for the size box i had, but did.
I was going with a Rogue MPPT controller, but when I went to buy it they are in the process of changing models and still don't have the new one. So I built a PWM controller from a kit to get by, but it is working fantastic. http://www.cirkits.com/scc3/index.html

Here is a really good site to learn a lot of real world stuff about solar installs. Kind of rant-y (is that a word?), but every thing he says about electricity is right on according to my electronics schooling and electrical experience. Read all the posts http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/t...ging-puzzle-2/
Following his guidelines I have less than 1% voltage drop in my system and can get full amperage from my panels to the battery.
I have a 3000 watt Boliy that we used for the last 3 years that it looks like we won't have to run at all.
We'll know when we boondock in Utah in June.
I'll post a pics of my homebuilt panel with the electronic tracker that follows the sun tomorrow, quite the Rube Goldburg contraption.

[Ozz]

Tom and Georgia, we will try and meet up in Utah, bring an extension cord..

[REPO]

That looks fairly straight forward! Some I have looked at are confusing. Your seems to be quite basic in design. I am not looking at anything overly complicated, just something that will provide a light charge to my batteries during the daytime.

How hard was that controller to build?

Also, I would love to see more pictures of your install if you are able to take more.

Did you install some sort of junction box on the roof, that all 3 panels run to and attatch to the large #6 cables that run to the controller? (In the pictues the wire seems smaller up on the roof)

[2 for Him]

Ozz,
We will be looking for you, really hope we can meet up sometime.

Repo,
I put a few more pictures up on that site
Yes on the junction box on the roof, I just used a regular weatherproof box that i mounted in caulking over the wire hole, then connected the wires inside it from the panels. I used waterproof cable entrances and siliconed them for good measure.
It took me about 2 hours to build the controller, but I have a variable temperature benchtop soldering station and years of experience with electronics. It is relatively easy because the parts are thru-hole (read large old style) and the instructions are very detailed. That said, I did it so that I would be able to repair it on the road, i am taking spares of the few parts that usually go out on electronic circuits with me. It actually took me lots longer to get it mounted in the box the way I wanted, hook up the 6 gauge wires to it, and design and build my own temperature controlled cooling fan circuit. As soon as Rogue gets their new model out I will probably get it.
And yes, it is a simple design. My pet theory has always been KISS. I already have remote voltage and current meters on the battery, the amp meter in the picture is not necessary, just tells me what the panels are producing from the front compartment. Basically it is panels, disconnect, controller, disconnect, battery, with the appropriate wires to connect them all. I just combined the disconnects into one box.
All of the parts I used are off the shelf at the local hardware or auto supply, you will pay 3-5 times as much from a solar distributor for the equivalent thing.
It really isn't rocket science, as long as you fuse everything to prevent fires low voltage is fairly safe. Remember, disconnect everything and remove rings, watches, and uninsulated tools from the area. Don't make yourself into a welding rod.
My latest fun project has been my tracker set up. I'll post links in the hobby forum.

[REPO]

That is a pretty good set-up in my eyes. As I had mentioned, some seem to be overly complicated.

Do you also have an inverter as well? I already own a Tripp Lite PowerVerter 3000 watts Model PV300HF

http://www.tripplite.com/en/products...xtModelID=2560

Would this work ok to use in the trailer?

[2 for Him]

Repo,
That looks like an excellent inverter, just remember to mount it as close as possible to the batteries, use heavy enough wire and fuse between it and the battery, then run the 110v wire to the circuits you will use it on. Ozz has some good posts on how to hook that up with automatic transfer relays to change from shore power to inverter.
That is probably a job for an good electrician. I have a cheap 400 watt inverter that runs the entertainment center hooked up like that, but I unplug the items I am not using, all electronics have phantom loads even when off that use battery power uselessly. I also wired a remote switch turn the inverter off in the basement, couldn't stand the fan noise and thinking of almost an amp of draw at idle. I finally took the inverter apart and designed a temperature controlled fan circuit that only runs as fast as needed to keep the inverter cool, which is really slow and quiet even with the TV on, now it uses less than 1/10 amp at idle. Yours has both those features built in or available as options.
Conservation is the biggest hurdle, turning off unused lights, changing at least the most used ones to LED, running the W/H only when needed, the fridge on propane, coffee on the stove ect. I believe I would have had to go with more panels and batteries if we wanted the big inverter for the MW, so I decided to try it without. We have mostly dry camped for the last 4 years without it, but time will tell if DW can survive without it once she learns it can be hooked up.
Lots of info out there, probably too much. And lots of salesmen who see nothing but dollar signs when you walk thru the door. I do believe RV salesmen and Solar salesmen go to the same school.
PM me for advice where to get reasonable parts.