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Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Tech Talk => Topic started by: DavidS on December 21, 2016, 05:48:23 pm

Title: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: DavidS on December 21, 2016, 05:48:23 pm
This that have and can .. post some pics and parts used for your solar. I want to make sure I can put a system together that will function as I hope it will. Here is what I am thinking so far...

320 Watt Semi Flexible Frameless Solar Panel 24 Volt Made in USA MonoCrystall... (http://m.ebay.com/itm/320-Watt-Semi-Flexible-Frameless-Solar-Panel-24-Volt-Made-in-USA-MonoCrystalline-/272329685331?hash=item3f681d3953%3Ag%3AuXgAAOSwhOdXoihJ&_trkparms=pageci%253A18635770-c7cf-11e6-8cb9-005056b62b87%257Cparentrq%253A238f13441590a2af66425451ffd0c9aa%257Ciid%253A2) 4 or 5 of these on top 1500+ or - watts

Midnight 200 controller or the 150 and another so if 1 goes down we are not totally out of power. Using the original charger and inverter on the coach

Adding either 400ah of lithium is my ideal but might settle for 3 or 4 agm 8d batteries
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: Tim on December 21, 2016, 06:54:12 pm
Looks good. I plan on:

- Three 320W solar panels from eBay
- 7KWH of Lithium. That's 16 130AH LIFEPO4 batteries running at 48 volts
- 48 volt solar MPPT charger
- 48 volt to 120VAC pure sine wave inverter / charger
- 48 volt to 12VDC charger.
 - The 12VDC house voltage may come from a small 30AH LIFEPO4 pack.

Just have to figure out how to handle the genny and shore power. Big job.   
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: George and Steph on December 21, 2016, 07:09:54 pm
David if you go with the lithium you may want to rethink the size of your array.  With a quality MPPT and 400ah lithium you won't need that amount of panels...but those are inexpensive panels.  The other consideration may be heat with that type of mounting.
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: DavidS on December 21, 2016, 08:24:29 pm
I seen online that a guy attached the panels with .. a washer with a bolt through it with 2 nuts that were used to set the height. Should get 1 to 2 inches under it.. hope that works 
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: bbeane on December 21, 2016, 08:53:07 pm
I see they have glass front, how flexible are they?
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: DavidS on December 21, 2016, 09:07:22 pm
Says semi flex and I believe it said approx 30 degrees across the length
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: jcus on December 21, 2016, 09:11:39 pm
Quote from: Tim –
Looks good. I plan on:

- Three 320W solar panels from eBay
- 7KWH of Lithium. That's 16 130AH LIFEPO4 batteries running at 48 volts
- 48 volt solar MPPT charger
- 48 volt to 120VAC pure sine wave inverter / charger
- 48 volt to 12VDC charger.
 - The 12VDC house voltage may come from a small 30AH LIFEPO4 pack.

You cannot have too much solar power. A very general rule is one watt for one amp hour of battery capacity. While you can draw lithium down pretty far and charge faster, there will be days when your panels will not produce enough to charge your batteries completely. It does depend on your daily usage, but the more solar the better. With a good  mppt controller, your batteries will charge faster with more panels. When the batteries are fully charged, the controller will curtail the charge
and no harm will be done. With over 2000 ah's, a discharged battery bank [say several days with little or no sun] can take as much solar as the controller can give it, [up to the controllers limit].
Personally I would max out on panels. On my second foretravel, I had 1200 watts solar and 900 ah's of battery, and sometimes wished I had 2000 watts of solar.
Have found if you leave an air space between roof and panels, heat transfer is not
a big problem.

Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: bbeane on December 21, 2016, 09:38:52 pm
The panels sound like a good deal.
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: jcus on December 21, 2016, 10:14:40 pm
Quote from: bbeane –
The panels sound like a good deal.
Look at shipping.
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: DavidS on December 21, 2016, 11:42:00 pm
You can pick up at their store. Skip shipping..
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: Don & Tys on December 22, 2016, 01:15:10 am
Did you verify that they have them at that t location and that they will allow local pick up without an exorbitant handling charge? Only about 50 miles from our location! If so, that does sound like a killer deal for a US made panel. I wonder how they came to be without frames... factory 'B' stock? At almost 6 feet long and nearly 40" wide, I am not sure you would find enough unobstructed room on the top of the coach for 5 or more of those, but I would recommend taking some cardboard and cutting it to that size to assess placement of the panels.
Don
Quote from: DavidS –
You can pick up at their store. Skip shipping..
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: stump on December 22, 2016, 08:23:38 am
Quote from: jcus –
Look at shipping.
That put my brakes on right there!
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: DavidS on December 22, 2016, 09:30:23 am
Local pick up is available . Taxes would be collected at that point but cheaper than shipping. I'll call when I am back in town to see if any other fees involved. I have a friend that lives close to them who will pick them up for me.
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: craneman on December 22, 2016, 10:58:48 am
I called them yesterday and only tax would be added for local pickup He said the high shipping cost was because of the 77 1/2" x 39" size and protecting them while being shipped.
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: bbeane on December 22, 2016, 11:12:46 am
X2 on what Don said. I have 2 420 watt panels 96 cell. I could maybe get 2 more up there but there would be no room to safely get on the roof to service AC's and so on.
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: DavidS on December 22, 2016, 11:59:22 am
Yes tax is collected .. mounting might be an issue but for the price I am sure I can work around. Can't drill through for what I was thinking but I have other ideas
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: amos.harrison on December 23, 2016, 09:16:05 am
Remember that any shade on a panel kills its output.  That really limits placement on much of the roof.
Title: Re: Solar parts list and method used
Post by: Pierce & Gaylie Stewart on December 23, 2016, 11:23:35 am
I just put four down in the space available. It was very tight but I only had to remove the rear radio antenna and turn the TV antenna 90 degrees for storage. They work fine if one or two are shaded, the wattage just drops off a little. I could have put additional smaller panels up there but wanted to keep space to walk. Tight as it is. I installed backerboard to keep fire possibility down behind the controller where the welding cables came up from the house batteries. Remember to keep the voltage down at least 20% from the controller max to allow for higher voltages on sub-freezing mornings when you plan the installation. I went with a series/parallel configuration with about 72 volts rather than 144 volts in a series installation. Midnite recommended this. Still enough to give you a good shock. Panels are an inch or so off the roof but not for interior heating consideration. The panels produce more wattage the cooler they are. Used flex electrical PVC to route wiring between panes as to avoid direct sunlight.
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