Solar panels

[astrocaster]

Thank you for the compliment, mountainborn! And you are right about the storage: the D-shaped brackets swivel at their top and bottom connections to the panel, so when I remove the two support struts, they fold inward for storage. In fact, they fit entirely within the profile of the panel itself. The support struts are simply attached with hinges that I use machine screws and wing nuts to secure, so they only take a minute to detach. By the way, for this setup, I used the existing mounting holes in the aluminum panel frame, without drilling any myself.

 

The box on the back is the connection box that is part of the panel as it comes from the manufacturer. The the cable is passed through a grommet in the box and hooked to the panel's terminals. The charge controller is mounted inside the Oliver, so that you can control and monitor the panel from inside.

 

I still have one thing to do with this set up. In order not to lose much of the power generated by the panel over the 40-foot run of the cable back to the Oliver, I chose an AWG 8-2 cable, and it is quite stiff and heavy, and, therefore, not as easy as I would like it to be to stow and to deploy. So, I plan to develop a way to quickly detach the cable from the panel and handle them separately. This will probably involve cutting the cable as it emerges from the box to a one or two foot length and attaching a robust male/female plug system to the cut cable ends. I would want to get one that locks in place by rotating it, like the one installed by the Oliver folks on the other end of the cable to plug it into the Oliver. So far I have not been able to find this locally, so I will contact Oliver for their assistance.

 

Yes, I did get the photo posting thing figured out! Thanks for providing the reference for me. I'll enjoy sharing more with the group in future posts.

 

Steve

[mountainborn]

We did it ! We ordered two of the 60 watt sunforce setups. The auctions on eBay seemed to be stalled out at about $730.00 plus shipping, which was higher than I wanted to pay. I sent a PM to several sellers asking about a better price and combining shipping. Most were reluctant. But then I recieved a response from a supplier that wanted to negotiate. We did. Our final cost for both complete setups delivered to the house was $648.00 ! We paid through Pay Pal so we would have all of the benefits provided by them. The UPS Guy delivered them today. The first thing that I noticed was that they were heavier than I expected. Everything was in order, in the first box I unpacked and assembled. Everything went well with the assembly. No missing parts and all connectors mated up well. The first check of the output while still inside the house, in artificial lighting only, was an output of 9.2 volts. I was worried about how sturdy the plastic pipe adjustable frame was, until I had it assembled. The frame is made of schedule 40 plastic pipe, which is probably the reason for some the extra weight. Each of the individual fifteen watt panels is well framed and braced. The screws all seem to be stainless steel. Though the assebmly went quickly, I wouldn't want to do it every time we go camping. We will likely find a way to carry the panels fully assembled and ready to deploy. The cables that come with each are only twelve feet long. We will need longer cables. They seem simple enough to make and will not add much to the overall cost.

The project is going so well, I am going to open the other box and start on it right away. Betty may not like the looks of the livingroom when she gets back home from her mom's house !

[mountainborn]

Got the other panel assembled. Ran the initial tests to insure that each panel in each array is putting out voltage. The kits each have a led plug in quick check for testing the output. All panels on both arrays working well. Hooked them up to the connectors that join the individual panels in each array. Then I tested the output voltage for each array. Just the least difference of alignment towards the sun made several tenths of volts difference in the output. As seen in the photo below, one panel was putting out 23.5 volts at no load and the other was putting out 23.2 volts. Both tested at no load, open circuit. The charge controllers appear to be the weak part of this setup. Their cut in point is at 13.0 volts and cut out is at 14.2 volts, with led indicators to tell what they are doing. It may be that we will watch the prices of some of the new charge averaging type controllers that can adjust the voltage for a more efficient daily charge. Here is what the two arrays look like:

MPPT ( maximim power point tracking ) Solar Charge controller article at this link:

http://www.solar-electric.com/charge_controls/mppt.htm

[mountainborn]

A front passed through our area, lots of wind and little rain. Our carport, which has the main pourpose of protecting the Jeep from hail, had a cover that was beginning to get a little worn and frayed from exposure to the elements that it protects the Jeep from. The wind kind of shredded it as the front passed through. When the wind abated somewhat, later in the day, We set up the panels and I hooked them to the Ollie's batterys for it's first test. I had been inside the Ollie replacing a inside/outside thermometer that was a "works sometimes" thing, and a couple of other little chores. I had the power off for a couple of days. The panel indicated 12.3 volts. When the panels were hooked up to one battery each, within about fifteen minutes the voltage had came up pretty well. Here is a link to a video of that first test of the panels, showing the simple hook up for the test:

 

[mountainborn]

So, our next set of problems arise. The ones that come to mind are:

Secure Storage

Easy access and deployment

Quick hook up

Here are the weight and measurements: Weight of each array: 45 lb. Size of each array: 55" Wide X 39" Tall X 3" Deep

Since they are heavier than we thought they might be, we won't be wanting to lift them around very much ! At first, we thought that we might store them on an expedition rack on the roof of the Jeep. We have been wanting a roof rack anyhow. But after handling them some, we don't want to be "horseing" them around that much !

That brings us full circle back to the basement storage idea.

The basement storage would sure be sweet ! And since we added 200 lbs to the tongue, ( genset & housing ),but moved aproximately 80 lbs back by extending the tongue, the total weight of the storage and both arrays should be under 120 lbs, to be back to the factory's ballance and tongue weight ?

There is another benefit of the basement storage over any other storage that we can think of, a much lower center of gravity for the tow vehicle and trailer.

We would appreciate any ideas that you might have that may resolve the issues above, or for that matter, issues that haven't even crossed our minds yet !

Come on you guys ! It won't be long before we need to spend eleven weeks above 10K feet of elevation, beside that Trout filled lake in the Rockies !

[mountainborn]

I have never had solar before, or even been around it being used, so I have wondered about things like rainy days charging. Can solar panels provide any meaningful charge the batterys on a rainy day ? I plugged in a LED test light today during a rain. Now obviously this isn't anywhere near a scientiffic test. I expect that it comes nearer to a Redneck Review. Here is the video results:

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/mountainborn0/?action=view&current=100_0023.flv

[technomadia]

We get hardly any charging during rain/fog/clouds. You might get pockets of enough sun to flicker a LED light.. but that's about it.

 

- Cherie

[SeaDawg]

On a moderately overcast day,midafternoon, we get 4 amps or a little more power. On a snowy day, with three inches of snow on the panels, we registered less than an amp. We could have cleaned them off... but waited for snow melt. Depends on angle and sun, how you'[re aimed, your level of ambition to change the angle of the panels. All you can do is experiment with your setup in various conditions, and see what you get, so you can predict.

[SeaDawg]

We just got back from nine days of dry camping in the mountains of western NC, including five days with rain and overcast skies for part or all of the day. As it is summer, we parked the Oliver where we had shade for (most of the) day on at least one side.

I was really thrilled that we never once had to drag out the Honda 1000 to charge up the batteries. Paul got out the ladder and adjusted the panels to about flat the first day, and after that we never touched them.

We picked up a lot of amp hours in the 11 to 3 time period (if it wasn't raining), and monitored our power useage carefully. Many people wouldn't be as happy as we are with early to bed, early to rise, and no lights after sunset, I guess, but, hey, we're camping. I'm kind of an amp nazi, and I'm sure we could have used more power than we did. Even on rainy days, using the computer for an hour or so and recharging, we never dipped below 91% on battery power.

 

I love silent solar. The birds around us love it, too.

 

Sherry

[technomadia]

That's awesome, Sherry! We love our solar too.. although, we don't do the early to bed thing

 

We recently did a FAQ on our solar system, for anyone interested:

 

http://www.technomadia.com/2010/04/tech ... solar-faq/

 

- Cherie

[SeaDawg]

Cherie, thanks for the link. I missed the FAQ you had posted. Great summary of your system, capabilities, and limitations. We also thank you and Chris for the "blueprint" when we ordered our system, which has worked very well for us.

I love the silence (and low impact) of solar....

 

We're leaving for Minnesota soon. Where are you now?

Sherry

[technomadia]

We're in St. Louis, and then heading back to Florida next week for a family emergency.

 

- Cherie