Need a good power chart to calculate solar

[jlynn721]

I attended a solar power talk at Solar Bill’s in Quartzsite. I A rule of thumb is you will need 200 watts of solar power for every battery you have. The more batteries you have the longer you will be able to use all your 12 volt accessories. Go with a minimum of 2, 6 volt batteries with 400 watts of solar power. I good controller will make a difference in charging the batteries too.

[KevK]

I think the OP is looking for something like this:

https://gpelectric.com/wp-content/up...-Worksheet.pdf

[babock]

Originally Posted by jlynn721

I attended a solar power talk at Solar Bill’s in Quartzsite. I A rule of thumb is you will need 200 watts of solar power for every battery you have. The more batteries you have the longer you will be able to use all your 12 volt accessories. Go with a minimum of 2, 6 volt batteries with 400 watts of solar power. I good controller will make a difference in charging the batteries too.

Is that with an MPPT or PWM controller? Makes a 30% difference. Is that with tilting or non tilting panels...another 25% difference.

[vman7932]

This is my set up. I have 6 Trojan T-105 batts. I have plenty of power. I’ve wired the panels all individually and not parallel. This is so if one panel gets shaded, the other 3 aren’t impacted and continue to produce. It was a pricey over budget project, but totally worth it. Very rarely have to fire up the genny.

[Skidds]

For about $25-$35 you can buy a Kill-a-watt at Amazon. You just plug the device you want to know into it and let it run. It will tell you very thing you need to know. Mine only handles 15amps, so if your eig is only 15amo plug you can just plug in between the trailer and power supply.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Skidds

For about $25-$35 you can buy a Kill-a-watt at Amazon. You just plug the device you want to know into it and let it run. It will tell you very thing you need to know. Mine only handles 15amps, so if your eig is only 15amo plug you can just plug in between the trailer and power supply.

That's not going to really accurately tell you anything about 12V loads. Better to put a meter inline withe the battery and measure each device.

[kgriff5667]

Having problem charging ion-lithium batteries using solar panel. Panel is 100w putting out 20.6v. Manufacture recommends 13.6v to charge and use a solar controller to set the charge rate at 13.6. Here is the problem. The lithium power curve all ways shows the battery is fully charged, even when it is down to 20%. So the controller doesn't allow the battery to charge. Controller is programable, but what settings do you use or can you not use a solar panel to charge a lithium battery?

[babock]

So what controller are you using? What voltages are you able to set?

Which battery do you own? Does it have a built in BMS?

Originally Posted by kgriff5667

Having problem charging ion-lithium batteries using solar panel. Panel is 100w putting out 20.6v. Manufacture recommends 13.6v to charge and use a solar controller to set the charge rate at 13.6. Here is the problem. The lithium power curve all ways shows the battery is fully charged, even when it is down to 20%. So the controller doesn't allow the battery to charge. Controller is programable, but what settings do you use or can you not use a solar panel to charge a lithium battery?

[kgriff5667]

Thank you for reply.
The batteries are from Lion Energy, Safari UT 100ah. Not sure what BMS is, but they do have an internal power reading that I can push a button on top and see how much power in battery. I am using a wincong SLo3 Microcomputer Solar charger.. Does allow for all settings. Charging current is set at 3.6 and cease charging current set to 4.6. When I plug in with just the battery, charger shows battery is full when I know it is at 60% and will not start charging.

[rk06382]

Originally Posted by kgriff5667

Thank you for reply.
The batteries are from Lion Energy, Safari UT 100ah. Not sure what BMS is, but they do have an internal power reading that I can push a button on top and see how much power in battery. I am using a wincong SLo3 Microcomputer Solar charger.. Does allow for all settings. Charging current is set at 3.6 and cease charging current set to 4.6. When I plug in with just the battery, charger shows battery is full when I know it is at 60% and will not start charging.

My Victron MPPT is set to 13.5v Float & 14.6v Absorption. Right now my MPPT output is 280 watts.


Yesterday I put 3.77kWh into my batteries.

[babock]

Originally Posted by kgriff5667

Thank you for reply.
The batteries are from Lion Energy, Safari UT 100ah. Not sure what BMS is, but they do have an internal power reading that I can push a button on top and see how much power in battery. I am using a wincong SLo3 Microcomputer Solar charger.. Does allow for all settings. Charging current is set at 3.6 and cease charging current set to 4.6. When I plug in with just the battery, charger shows battery is full when I know it is at 60% and will not start charging.

Probably need to set to the same values that rk06382 has his set to. That's what mine is also set to for my Battleborn batteries.

[kgriff5667]

Thanks so much. I will check my readings and see where I set them.