Gifted 19 Kyocera 120 watt panels?

[Tiffany H]

Kc125g is the model not 120 sorry. A few of the panels appear to have what looks like silicone coming out the edges where the glass meets the metal frame. Is that normal?

[littleharbor]

What is the date on the panels? Kyocera put out The KC-120 panels from 1999 to the end of 2002 with a serious flaw. They had changed from lead based to lead free solder. The solder connections on the buss tabbing are prone to failure. This problem became so bad that Kyocera will replace any of these panels that fall into this timeframe, at no cost to the owner.
I have never seen any KC-120 panels dated after 2002. Not saying they weren't made in 2003, just have never seen any. They did introduce their KC-125 module in 2003.

[Tiffany H]

Thank you Mike, that was very detailed. We are currently parked in a Friends driveway fixing our Rv up during the winter/spring. So we figure if we slowly save up for the parts we would roof mount the Panels Now That We Know They Are Useable. Had Not Considered The Antennas And This Rv Has No Shortage Of Them. Any advice on diy mounting brackets? Should I worry about making tilted brackets? Also, if I understand this right I can group these panels in groups of 6 per breaker in the box? I know dumb question I think we are really going to attempt setting solar up.

Has anyone had success with running a a.c. Off panels? Is technology not there yet? Neighbor recommends a soft start?

[Mike90250]

PARTS
you will need
A detailed load estimate sheet for daylight (6 hours) and night (18 hours) loads (appliances, TV, microwave, fridge, TV decoder box, laptops, phone chargers.....)

Charge controller (MPPT style recommended, I would suggest Morningstar MPPT 60 for a large and quiet(fanless) install )
Combiner Box w/DC breakers
PV panel mounting brackets and roof sealer
wires, fuses, breakers
Deep Cycle Batteries (golf cart batteries are cheap beginner batteries)
Battery fuses (Blue Sea https://www.bluesea.com/products/215...k_-_30_to_300A )
Battery cables
Inverter properly sized for your loads
Battery isolator (to charge a 12V bank from your vehicle alternator, not useful if you go with 24v system)

[Mike90250]

Hello from Mendocino County. The panels are good panels, if they are sound and have not been abused. The question becomes how will you attach them to the motorhome, and how fast do you expect to drive with them on. Generally, they need to withstand a 100mph wind and not blow off. Then the roof layout needs a look at, anything that would cast shade on a panel, will effectively cut that panel output down to 0. You might get more, but you will never get full power from a shaded panel. Even a small shadow from a rail or antenna will spoil the output.
And even with 1kw of panels on the roof, you are still on a energy diet, it's likely you had a 20kwh daily usage in your house, your budget is now less than 10% of that.
If you are expecting to have air conditioning, you will need a generator to support it, it's rare to have a starter system so well tuned that air conditioning is a given. If the RV has an integral genset, you should plan on that seeing a fair amount of usage, 2 or 3 hours a day if you are trying to run AC in the daylight, more if you run it at night.
Expect panels flat on the roof, to produce about 50% of nameplate power, because of bad sun angle.
Read the stickies in the Off Grid section . Generally, a small RV can use a 12V system, but if your power needs are great, going to a higher voltage is advantageous.

https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...or-camping-etc

[Tiffany H]

Hello everyone, my name is Tiffany and my Husband and I have lost our place of resident's this last summer during the Wall Fire in northern Calfornia. Anywho, I am starting my life as a full time Rv'er and am quite new to the concept of off griding. And was gifted 19 Kyocera 120 watt 17 volt panels. there also from 2003.

My question is can I use these with my 91 bounder Motorhome?
Should I sell these and get different panels?
If so what parts do I need to make this work?

Thanks in advance for your time on this Superbowl Sunday.