Hi all,
I own a camp in Maine (Rumford Maine area, specifically). I've been doing research on how to properly upgrade the current solar panel system.
So first off, thanks for hosting such a wealth of information here. It's been great.
A run down of the current system:
Essentially, I think the panel is vastly under-powered for my needs.
Purposed changes:
Some notes -
Am I correct in thinking that wiring my panels in parallel helps shield me from potential shading issues?
Should I go to four panels instead of 3?
Am I making any huge mistakes?
Thanks!
I own a camp in Maine (Rumford Maine area, specifically). I've been doing research on how to properly upgrade the current solar panel system.
So first off, thanks for hosting such a wealth of information here. It's been great.
A run down of the current system:
- 1 x 110W 12v panel (from 2001, so it's probably lost a good deal of efficiency)
- 1 x Solar boost 2000e MPPT charge controller
- 1 x 2000w Inverter (12v in only)
- 6 x Energizer gc2 batteries wired for 12v (dated 2011)
Essentially, I think the panel is vastly under-powered for my needs.
Purposed changes:
- 3 SolarWorld SW290 Panels. Probably wired in parallel to help deal with any potential shading issues.
- 1 x Tristar MPPT Charge controller (http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt/). Probably 45amp
- I know this leaves some panel capacity on the table at 12v, but that will be solved by moving to 24v or higher when batteries are replaced
- Keep the batteries and inverter for now. Batteries are probably nearing their useful life.
- Battery upgrade
- At least 24v to utilize panel capacity better
- This means ~ 320Ah of capacity?
- ~80 Ah 6v batteries x 4 in series
- Probably will go higher than this for fudge factor
- Ideally, staying under 8 batteries total
- New inverter
- Just needs to be able to handle a more flexible input (24v probably)
- Could add more panel capacity if needed
- Maybe my load ends up being more than expected
- New loads
Name | Watts | Hours | Watt-Hour | Notes |
TV | 30 | 5 | 150 | |
Laptop | 75 | 4 | 300 | Charged during the day. |
LED lights | 8 | 6 | 42 | |
CFL lights | 15 | 3 | 45 | |
Phone charger | 24 | 5 | 120 | Charge during the day |
Coffee Maker | 800w | .25 | 200 | Have a percolator if the load ends up being too high. |
fudge factor | 100 | 2 | 200 | |
Total | 1057Wh |
- I know the batteries are undersized for this setup
- They're 5 years old, I want to extract the remaining useful life out of them before upgrading
- I believe the current setup has been chronically undercharging these batteries, though it has typically all week to reach a full charge
- Load estimation
- I try to combo up all charge related activity for when the panels are putting out current
- Odds are some of these loads are higher than they actually are. Nice to be on the safe side
- Some load drops off in the winter
- Usage
- Weekend use typically
- Winter use is less frequent, but occurs
- I've got a small gas generator for battery top ups and crappy weather
Am I correct in thinking that wiring my panels in parallel helps shield me from potential shading issues?
Should I go to four panels instead of 3?
Am I making any huge mistakes?
Thanks!
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