labwaste
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Joined: 05/26/2008
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I am a lurker no more! I have gained a lot of knowledge on these forums, they are an excellent resource.
We mainly dry camp on the weekends and leave the trailer parked in the same spot the rest of the week, and I am thinking about going to solar to keep my batteries topped up during the week when we are not there. The only electric loads I am sure of are the fridge (running propane), the CO detector, and the radio memory.
We are running 2 x 6v batteries up front - do you think I can get away with a 60-80 watt panel with a solar controller plugged directly into the battery bank?
Thanks.
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robatthelake
Vancouver Island
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Joined: 08/24/2003
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You can get away with 1 -80 Watt panel and No controller if You want to be frugal! It would be the same as leaving a Trickle Charger attached to Your battery if plugged in at Home.
Obviously a Controller would help prevent gassing ,but You can get by without it! Just pay attention to the Water in the Batteries!
Even if You lived further South ,there wouldn't be any concern!
Rob & Jean 90 Southwind John Deere/Oshkosh/Freightliner Class A Ford 460/ Toad 92 Tracker 2 wd 5sp Convert Still running Great!
" Everything in it"Still" Works"
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Polishnurse
Schodack, NY
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Yes you should be fine, it has five days to play catch up. And put the control on there. Its only about 15 bucks and will keep the batteries from over charging. JM2Cents Bill
If you charging at 6 amps per hour that will 36 Amps ave. per day. With an 80 Pannal the best your going to do is 8 amps. So at the 36amps, your batterys will be charged in about 3 days.
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labwaste
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Awesome, thanks for the quick answers.
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Caseydon
Simonton, Texas
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Look for a "MPPT" capable controller. That's Maximum Power Point Tracking, and it boosts the effective output of the panels. Most panels produce higher voltage than the 13.2 to 14.5 volts a battery needs for charging. MPPT shifts any higher voltage from the panel to increased amperage, current, giving faster charging.
Casey
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matthewc66
San Diego
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I had the same thing done at camping world.
I want to leave with full batteries and cant hookup in my cul de sac for long periods of time.
Works well for me.
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bearsnob
Oregon
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Joined: 03/04/2004
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If you can get an MPPT controller for not much more than a standard controller, definitely go for it because to will get the most out of that small panel. But you really don't absolutely need it for the situation you describe. It will charge things faster when you are dry camping and so, if that is of interest to you, then the extra cost might be worth it. Also, if you think you might get more panels some day, then definitely get the MPPT.
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Dancing Bear
upstate New York
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I pull the LP detector fuse when we leave and installed a AA battery powered Kiddee(sp?) CO detector to lower our power consumption. I'd get the controller vs direct hookup. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but without a controller with a blocking diode between the batteries and the panel(s) you will get reverse power flow at night.
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Hurricaner
Hurricane Utah
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I understand how an MPPT controller can put out more power than a standard controller but explain how it can put out more power than a panel hooked up directly to the battery? I think an 80 watt panel on a 220 AH bank is too much without a controller and unsupervised. I have thought about the same thing myself but I would only use it while dry camping.
Sam
Sam & Kari
Hurricane, Utah
2004 34' Damon Challenger 315
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ve7prt
Ucluelet, BC, Canada
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Hurricaner wrote:I understand how an MPPT controller can put out more power than a standard controller but explain how it can put out more power than a panel hooked up directly to the battery? I think an 80 watt panel on a 220 AH bank is too much without a controller and unsupervised. I have thought about the same thing myself but I would only use it while dry camping.
Sam
Because when you connect a panel directly to a battery it's voltage is pulled down to that of the battery, meaning you have a power loss. Same as when you use a standard, cheap controller, which does basically the same thing. The MPPT controller keeps the panels operating at their optimum voltage (usually 17 or 18 volts) and down converts the voltage to 14 or so for charging, converting the voltage difference into extra current.
Cheers!
Mike Shepherd (CB: The Sheepster / Ham: VE7PRT)
Pulling Power: 2008 Dodge Ram 3500 Quad Cab 4x4 6.7L CTD, 68rfe, Brakesmart, Edge Insight
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