Adding more panels to RV?

[Isaac-1]

No it does not. Any and every RV system should have an Isolator whether you have solar or not. In fact with the Isolator negates the need for any solar if you drive at least every other day. Solar is just for show and tell or for extending long stays. You still need a generator or Isolator to get charged up dry camping for extended periods. I do not know many people who park RV's where the summer blazing sun is on the RV from Sunrise to Sunset. Even if you did, orientation and tilt angles are not optimum. $60 for the Isolator that does the job, or thousands for panels and controller that cannot do the job alone.

I don't get where you are coming from with this statement, but I will start off with stating that my motorhome does have a battery isolator (diode type) . As to the rest solar does a lot. It allows one to store an RV in a storage lot that does not have electrical service while still running low draw items like exhaust fans for humidity control. It allows for extended off grid camping in locations where loud RV generators are not allowed such as National Forest Campgrounds (most have a 60 Db sound limit, which excludes all but the small inverter generators) And for cases like the point at hand it may allow one to extend the battery run time for an air conditioner.

For the other points I have not seen many tourist stops, dining establishments, or even Wal-Mart stores that have shaded RV parking, if there is shaded parking the branches on the trees are often so low as to not allow an 11+ft tall motorhome to park under them. This is not saying I would not part under them if given the chance. While is true tilt angle is rarely optimal for much of the southern and central US summer noon sun angles tend to be close to directly overhead, this is also the general part of the day when one would likely stop for lunch and need air conditioning. Now back to this magic Isolator of which you speak How does this "Isolator" let you draw 300 amps out of a pair of 200 AH effective capacity batteries over the course of 3 hours? A set of 50 AH output capacity solar panel effectively would (again use of round numbers to keep it simple)

Over the course of 3 hours of a 100amp draw by the air conditioner the batteries could supply 200AH and the solar panels could optimally add another 150AH (50 amps per hour for 3 hours) therefore exceeding the 300 AH needed to run the air conditioner for 3 hours. The alternative here would be to add another 100-150 AH of battery capacity which is not cheap when it comes to Lithium batteries, and weighs a lot with lead acid (much more than a solar panel).

[Sunking]

I don't get where you are coming from with this statement, but I will start off with stating that my motorhome does have a battery isolator (diode type) . As to the rest solar does a lot. It allows one to store an RV in a storage lot that does not have electrical service while still running low draw items like exhaust fans for humidity control. It allows for extended off grid camping in locations where loud RV generators are not allowed such as National Forest Campgrounds (most have a 60 Db sound limit, which excludes all but the small inverter generators) And for cases like the point at hand it may allow one to extend the battery run time for an air conditioner.

Isaac I am afraid you have misunderstood and backing up what I have said and do not realize it. Who said anything about storage and who cares. Sure the panels can get the batteries charged up with little or no load.

Yes, it only extends camping time, but as you admit falls short. If you are in National Forest and cannot run the generator,, you can run the engine on the RV if you have the Isolator. One way or the other, solar cannot do what you want. It is not home and called Roughing It for a reason. Going off in a RV is all about unplugging and getting away from TV, phones, and internet. If you want all the comforts, use an RV park with electric hook ups and pull a car.

For the other points I have not seen many tourist stops, dining establishments, or even Wal-Mart stores that have shaded RV parking, if there is shaded parking the branches on the trees are often so low as to not allow an 11+ft tall motorhome to park under them.

What are you talking about? I was referring to camp site. If you need to park in a Walmart for three hours, you are SOL. Leave the wife in the store while you go get the RV and get it cooled down, and picked her up at the front door. Personally if I were a RV'er I would do like I have in the past, pull a small car around to go shopping and site seeing. For Pete's sake you are wanting all the comforts of home to go. Sorry, you cannot have it. Walmart is not going to allow you to set up extra panels by opening the awning and taking up parking spaces so your RV can stay cool while you shop. You are not entitled to six parking spaces. If it is that important, bite the bullet, get a good lock/alarm system and let the engine run.

Lastly do not forget your FLA batteries have a maximum charge current limit. Depending on the type you have C/8 to C/6 is the limit. Try to push more is futile and destructive. That requires using Lithium. With 800 watts of panels I think you said you have generates up to 65 amps at 12 volts. That means you need a minimum 400 to 500 AH battery. If you re not aware if you put a C/4 load of 100 amps on a 400 AH battery means you now have a 275 AH battery and only 50% of that is usable. Mr Peukert is greedy. The physics does not work.

[Isaac-1]

I understand what you are saying here, but a lot of those issues, depth of discharge, charge and discharge rate, Peukert effect, go out the window when you start looking at the various Lithium chemistries like LiFePO4 I understand also the typical view of the economics of this, and your view of roughing it, but I am also weighing this as a health issue for my wife. Getting overheated and ending up in the hospital is not cheap either.

[Sunking]

I understand what you are saying here, but a lot of those issues, depth of discharge, charge and discharge rate, Peukert effect, go out the window when you start looking at the various Lithium chemistries like LiFePO4 I understand also the typical view of the economics of this

I already addressed that. You are preaching to the choir. LFP brings up a whole lot of other issues to deal with.

I am also weighing this as a health issue for my wife. Getting overheated and ending up in the hospital is not cheap either.

I understand that and empathetic. But Solar is limited, and you can work around it. Like I said leave here in the store while you get the RV and pick her up. She can ride in front with you in the cab with the AC blasting away. Your RV cab AC is at least 2-Tons of cooling aka 24,000 BTU's There are several things you can do. I wish you luck and good health.

[Wrybread]

I see this is a pro- FOSSIL fuel forum so I am going to bow out now. After about a month here it is clear it is pro Fossil Fuel FIRST and the constant digs against solar are not what I can tolerate anymore. Bye everyone. I'm gone. Enjoy the fumes.

@zoar: I'm getting the same vibe. If it weren't for a couple of voices of sanity here I'd give up on this forum too. I'm probably not far behind you, but because of the occasional signal among the noise I'm still hopeful. And ha look at the post above me as I type this. From someone with almost 20,000 posts!

Solar is just for show and tell or for extending long stays. You still need a generator or Isolator to get charged up dry camping for extended periods.

That is so profoundly against my 20 years of having solar in RVs (and a few years living full-time off-grid in a house) it's not even funny. I'd expect it elsewhere, but on a forum dedicated to solar it's flat out amazing.

[Wrybread]

And by the way Zoar I really really like the installation you did on your food truck, very very nice job. If you do find a DIY solar forum with a higher signal to noise ratio (basically one not dominated by a few anti-solar alarmist blow-hards), please PM me or email me at wrybread at gmail dot you know what.

You can see my thread fighting to get a little signal among the noise (and planning an expansion of my array) here:

https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...ps-on-my-setup

[Sunking]

That is so profoundly against my 20 years of having solar in RVs (and a few years living full-time off-grid in a house) it's not even funny. I'd expect it elsewhere, but on a forum dedicated to solar it's flat out amazing.

It is amazing. You claim 20 years experience and still do not know anything like you should NOT using parallel connected panels on a MPPT controller, and inputting 900 watts into a controller only made to handle 500 watts. The noise is you my friend, you do not know simple basic fundamentals or simple formulas. Your thread proves you do not know what you are doing and what everyone has been trying to tell you. You should not be answering any questions. All the equipment in your so called thread is incompatible.

Multipliers, now that is some funny ignorant stuff, I don't care who you are.

[Wrybread]

SunKing, you have no reading comprehension or you're just a troll. I explained a bunch of times the reasoning behind wiring in parallel (that my controller can't handle my 3 panels in series, so going parallel for now, might upgrade it in the future). I'm well aware of the drawbacks. And as far as "multipliers", I was just quoting another thread as I said. And you yourself quoted a 15% reduction in efficiency for flat mounted panels, and guess what: that's a multiplier. Honestly, you *can't* be this stupid, so I'm going to guess you're simply a troll. Or someone who just likes to rant. Maybe a little less coffee would help?

Anyway, I'm done even reading your childish rants and overly argumentative posts.

[easye]

That is the problem they have in Hawaii. The grid can't handle more localized PV installations so the POCO's were not approving them. The home owner now has the option to install a battery (at their cost) to help stabilize the grid.

And hence the reality of their situation is starting to come to realization. Kauai recently installed a 13 megawatt solar install with TESLA power packs. Word from the POCO is it's cheaper than their current generation. This is no doubt and extreme situation (island with no natural resources to burn) but it's an example of how things are changing. All this "it won't work" "just get a generator" "just buy it from the POCO and don't waste your time" talk will end soon. 5-10 years and this "SOLAR" stuff will be a no-brainer. within 2 years conventional batteries will be a thing of the past. they probably already are and you just don't know it.

[Mike90250]

Don't forget, those tesla power packs are 20' containers, not the 5 hour battery they sell to hang on the wall.

[J.P.M.]

And hence the reality of their situation is starting to come to realization. Kauai recently installed a 13 megawatt solar install with TESLA power packs. Word from the POCO is it's cheaper than their current generation. This is no doubt and extreme situation (island with no natural resources to burn) but it's an example of how things are changing. All this "it won't work" "just get a generator" "just buy it from the POCO and don't waste your time" talk will end soon. 5-10 years and this "SOLAR" stuff will be a no-brainer. within 2 years conventional batteries will be a thing of the past. they probably already are and you just don't know it.

All that may well be true. We'll see how and when true at some point in the future, hopefully sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, it may be good to keep some perspective. 13 MW is similar to spit in the ocean as far as capacity or load is concerned. Good to start small.

Also, the idea of caveat emptor as far as believing media and peddler hype are concerned might be good advice, especially given the colossal ignorance folks have about energy matters that makes them easy marks to swallow the crap of shills and conmen.

[SunEagle]

And hence the reality of their situation is starting to come to realization. Kauai recently installed a 13 megawatt solar install with TESLA power packs. Word from the POCO is it's cheaper than their current generation. This is no doubt and extreme situation (island with no natural resources to burn) but it's an example of how things are changing. All this "it won't work" "just get a generator" "just buy it from the POCO and don't waste your time" talk will end soon. 5-10 years and this "SOLAR" stuff will be a no-brainer. within 2 years conventional batteries will be a thing of the past. they probably already are and you just don't know it.

If you got the money to spend on your own energy storage and power generation then go for it. But most people in the US don't fall into that top 1% so they do not have the cash to do what you think is possible. Sure the POCO's can and will because they have too. That is their job to provide power 24/7/365 at whatever it takes. The problem is that the customer will eventually pay for it.

[reed cundiff]

@zoar: I'm getting the same vibe. If it weren't for a couple of voices of sanity here I'd give up on this forum too. I'm probably not far behind you, but because of the occasional signal among the noise I'm still hopeful. And ha look at the post above me as I type this. From someone with almost 20,000 posts!



That is so profoundly against my 20 years of having solar in RVs (and a few years living full-time off-grid in a house) it's not even funny. I'd expect it elsewhere, but on a forum dedicated to solar it's flat out amazing.

Air conditioning is quite possible and simple in the mountain west. We have run the air conditioning for four hours at a time on our 34' 5th wheel and 1.5 hours at a time on Roadtrek with different solar panel setups/LFP battery banks/air conditioning units.It is another story in the south-eastern US. We just spent 14 weeks in Mexico (Puebla, Oaxaca, Yucatan, Chiapas, Michoacan, West Coast) and only used line power in Yucatan. Since there is dirty power there, we only ran a 15 amp power line to battery charger. We have burned out air conditioners in Baja and Yucatan due to this (voltage could run 60 to 160 V). Find that running 12 W (1 amp at 12 V) portable (clamp-on) fans are sufficient at moderately warm termperatures. Australian fora are very strong on semi-split air-conditioners.

Reed abd Elaine

[Sunking]

Air conditioning is quite possible and simple in the mountain west. We have run the air conditioning for four hours at a time on our 34' 5th wheel and 1.5 hours at a time on Roadtrek with different solar panel setups/LFP battery banks/air conditioning units.It is another story

Reed abd Elaine

High elevation. LFP batteries, temps in the 70's, conservation, and unlimited budget you can run AC on solar. If you know the math, the truth is in the numbers, not wild imaginations of a shadetree mechanic called Wrybread.

Reed credit to you, as you kept it real by framing the conditions few can ever meet.

[Wrybread]

High elevation. LFP batteries, temps in the 70's, conservation, and unlimited budget you can run AC on solar. If you know the math, the truth is in the numbers, not wild imaginations of a shadetree mechanic called Wrybread.

Hi Dramaking! Bored again and looking for a fight as usual? Need a hug?

Anyway, not sure why you want to dwell on it, but no matter how petty and childish you are about it, the fact remains that I haven't needed a generator in my RV in years. Nor have most of the people I know with solar. And I use my RV pretty much every single weekend, usually 4 days a week. But as I said I don't need air conditioning.

Maybe the reason that bothers you so much is that you're a closet generator salesman?

Personally I'd suggest gaining some real world experience with RV solar before going on about it, but I know that's not your style.