Question for the solar gurus

[Aussieguy]

Originally Posted by MR.M

Well i own the lot and can set up as i desire . problem would be winds ,hurricanes and extra stress on roof having them tilted through it would not be many degrees . Not wanting to move existing panel at all . Summer through hurricane season sun is pretty straight up . I really think the extra panel will make the difference . I will for sure test and see how the batteries and solar handle the fridge operation . and may even add a third if need be . Would like to run the fridge on solar and batteries alone when power goes out .

who says you have to have them on the roof...
especially if you own the lot.

You can build /add a system with as many panels as you need , because you are not moving from place to place.

You can use standard residential sized panels.
Leave the ONE on your roof add another panel if you wish

THEN add a good array sized to your usage... could even power the air conditioner for good periods of the day.

you can place an array on top of :
a shade gazebo

OR.... a simple flat style roof structure (use for carport or BBQ shade)


OR.... just a cheap wooden frame.
positioned out of sight behind some LOW bushes

tilted for the BEST average output.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If a hurricane comes along.. hook up the trailer... unhook as many panels as you can, throw them in the trailer

get outta Dodge !
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Look for Panels in Craig's list or Face book
Good used panels can be an alternative.

[RedRoverComeOver]

Originally Posted by Freebird2020

I have a Cedar Creek. This is the label of the Go-Power that came with my 5th wheel.

If people thought the GP 190W panels were expensive...


https://www.recreationid.com/go-powe...n-cti-200.html

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Aussieguy

who says you have to have them on the roof...
especially if you own the lot.

You can build /add a system with as many panels as you need , because you are not moving from place to place.

You can use standard residential sized panels.
Leave the ONE on your roof add another panel if you wish

THEN add a good array sized to your usage... could even power the air conditioner for good periods of the day.

you can place an array on top of :
a shade gazebo

OR.... a simple flat style roof structure (use for carport or BBQ shade)


OR.... just a cheap wooden frame.
positioned out of sight behind some LOW bushes

tilted for the BEST average output.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If a hurricane comes along.. hook up the trailer... unhook as many panels as you can, throw them in the trailer

get outta Dodge !
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Look for Panels in Craig's list or Face book
Good used panels can be an alternative.

Thanks .
Maybe some day real estate is at a minimum so the roof is the place . could also expand to shed roof if i so desire . right now i am hoping to run the fridge off solar and battery .

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Freebird2020

I have a Cedar Creek. This is the label of the Go-Power that came with my 5th wheel.

Never received paper work on the panel installed but was told from manufacture it was 190w . so sticking with that so they balance out good

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by RedRoverComeOver

If people thought the GP 190W panels were expensive...


https://www.recreationid.com/go-powe...n-cti-200.html

Just ridiculous . seems solar panels are a buck a watt for the most part .. the go-power are just over priced panels that they use and jack up the price because people want to keep them the same . as soon as i saw the price of the go-power 190w panel it would be cheaper to buy 2 HQST panels of the same wattage

[MR.M]

50 amp mppt controller would not let me wire in series could not find anything in the controllers instruction manual that shows a setting for wiring in series . Tried to in series wiring and controller gave me a miss wired warning and shut down . installed in parallel working good . right now lithium batteries show full charge 14.3v controller in absorb mode current from panel 4.39 amps charge current at battery 6.61 amps panels at 98 watts . this is all the info from the charge controller . going to add battery monitor next . wire from panels to fuse 8ga from fuse to controller only 10 so will up grade that section only a couple feet . Fridge running off solar along with all other 12v powered things will see how it does over night with 200 amp hrs of lithuim and how it charges up tomorrow .

[boondocking]

Originally Posted by MR.M

50 amp mppt controller would not let me wire in series could not find anything in the controllers instruction manual that shows a setting for wiring in series . Tried to in series wiring and controller gave me a miss wired warning and shut down . installed in parallel working good . right now lithium batteries show full charge 14.3v controller in absorb mode current from panel 4.39 amps charge current at battery 6.61 amps panels at 98 watts . this is all the info from the charge controller . going to add battery monitor next . wire from panels to fuse 8ga from fuse to controller only 10 so will up grade that section only a couple feet . Fridge running off solar along with all other 12v powered things will see how it does over night with 200 amp hrs of lithuim and how it charges up tomorrow .

Either one of two things could be wrong with the series setup.
You are connecting the pos and neg from the panels to the controller incorrectly or you are exceeding the input voltage of the controller.

[TitanMike]

Wiring in series for an mppt controller is pretty straight forward. Connect + wire from one panel to negative of other and remaining + and - wires to input of mppt controller, the + to the + terminal and - to - terminal. Only wires connecting panels to each other are + to -.

A quick check of panel output with a voltmeter will confirm correct connection. With panels exposed to sunlight there should be voltage from mid 30's yo low 40's, dependingbon sun's intensity.

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Wiring in series for an mppt controller is pretty straight forward. Connect + wire from one panel to negative of other and remaining + and - wires to input of mppt controller, the + to the + terminal and - to - terminal. Only wires connecting panels to each other are + to -.

A quick check of panel output with a voltmeter will confirm correct connection. With panels exposed to sunlight there should be voltage from mid 30's yo low 40's, dependingbon sun's intensity.

Ok wired what i thought was correct but did not go through panel just switched the leads and put a neg and pos together from each panel .

Seems you're saying to wire directly from one panels box to the others and then just go off that with the feed to controller ... doh . not well versed in solar . right now i'll see how the parallel works out as i don't want to lift the panels now that they are down and sealed.

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by boondocking

Either one of two things could be wrong with the series setup.
You are connecting the pos and neg from the panels to the controller incorrectly or you are exceeding the input voltage of the controller.

I did use 2 to 1 connectors and wired a pos and neg into one and same with the other . maybe just needed to switch the leads . it's working in parallel now and should be fine don't want to pull the panels back up as they are set and sealed in place now . the wire should handle the amps and will replace the wire from the fuse to the controller with a larger gauge .

[boondocking]

Originally Posted by MR.M

I did use 2 to 1 connectors and wired a pos and neg into one and same with the other . maybe just needed to switch the leads . it's working in parallel now and should be fine don't want to pull the panels back up as they are set and sealed in place now . the wire should handle the amps and will replace the wire from the fuse to the controller with a larger gauge .

I prefer a parallel setup.
If one panel gets a bit of shade they will still produce better than if they were in series.

Good to hear that it is working fine.

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by boondocking

I prefer a parallel setup.
If one panel gets a bit of shade they will still produce better than if they were in series.

Good to hear that it is working fine.

Thanks . Got through the night batteries at 13v at 8:30 am solar at 70 watts panel 19.7v and 3.53 amps from panels 5.04 at battery from controller in bulk charge mode will see how long full charge takes it is still early .Been running the Fridge and all 12 volts off batteries and solar .

[MR.M]

Well had high hope this solar set up would cover fridge use and other 12v items . seems i might get 48hrs out of it and the 2 100amp hr lithium batts . battery voltage only reached 13.5 volts today . had a max output from panels at around 1 pm of 220watts and 15.63 amps from controller to batteries . never went out of bulk charge mode . Going to allow it to run one more night with fridge . believe batteries have enough for that but not getting full charge during the day will force me to turn 120 back on to fridge and by pass inverter .. maybe as the daylight increases this summer it may do it and should be glad 48hr of operation is pretty good . not really cutting into electric usage but will have power to run when during power outages for awhile .

[Aussieguy]

13.5 is over 98 - 99% so your setup is very close ...
You DO NOT have to get the batteries to 100% every day.
the main thing you need to do is replace the power you took out ...

some days you won't ... other days you will
but that is not going to hurt the batteries.

yes when sun gets stronger in summer you will get the magic 100% and you should get enough time to do some balancing.

For now if you have a lifeppo4 capable converter ...
hook it up to shore power ever couple of weeks to get the top balancing

a third panel would be a big help!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
you can try checking your setup at different times during the day

use a multi meter to measure the overall panel voltage at the roof and at the solar controller input terminal ...

look for voltage differences ( drop )
if the roof measures 19v and the INPUT of your solar controller is only getting around 16v

you need to explore the connections / wire size

If your NOT going to move the trailer unhook the screws on one side of the panels and use some wood blocking to put a bit of a tilt towards the sun
Measure the voltage and see how much an improvement you get...

Will not be that hard to work out a way to permanently tilt your panels, so they won't blow off in the next storm.

Tilted or Flat... the panels are wind bait for a hurricanes if it passes over/near you.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Aussieguy

13.5 is over 98 - 99% so your setup is very close ...
You DO NOT have to get the batteries to 100% every day.
the main thing you need to do is replace the power you took out ...

some days you won't ... other days you will
but that is not going to hurt the batteries.

yes when sun gets stronger in summer you will get the magic 100% and you should get enough time to do some balancing.

For now if you have a lifeppo4 capable converter ...
hook it up to shore power ever couple of weeks to get the top balancing

a third panel would be a big help!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
you can try checking your setup at different times during the day

use a multi meter to measure the overall panel voltage at the roof and at the solar controller input terminal ...

look for voltage differences ( drop )
if the roof measures 19v and the INPUT of your solar controller is only getting around 16v

you need to explore the connections / wire size

If your NOT going to move the trailer unhook the screws on one side of the panels and use some wood blocking to put a bit of a tilt towards the sun
Measure the voltage and see how much an improvement you get...

Will not be that hard to work out a way to permanently tilt your panels, so they won't blow off in the next storm.

Tilted or Flat... the panels are wind bait for a hurricanes if it passes over/near you.

Where did you get the idea he only had 16v at the solar controller. Way I read the post he had over 15 AMPS going into the batteries which is almost max for his setup.

For the record, voltage readings while charge voltage is being applied to a battery are totally worthless for determining SOC. That can only be accomplished AFTER charging is turned off and battery has sat for at least a few hours.

Curious, how does your solar setup and Lithium battery setup perform?

FWIW if one is running a residential type refrigerator and deep cycling LiFePo4 batteries on a regular/ daily basis, charging to 100% SOC is highly recommended so cells are balanced. Failure to do so can reduce the amount of stored energy.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by MR.M

Well had high hope this solar set up would cover fridge use and other 12v items . seems i might get 48hrs out of it and the 2 100amp hr lithium batts . battery voltage only reached 13.5 volts today . had a max output from panels at around 1 pm of 220watts and 15.63 amps from controller to batteries . never went out of bulk charge mode . Going to allow it to run one more night with fridge . believe batteries have enough for that but not getting full charge during the day will force me to turn 120 back on to fridge and by pass inverter .. maybe as the daylight increases this summer it may do it and should be glad 48hr of operation is pretty good . not really cutting into electric usage but will have power to run when during power outages for awhile .

I would strongly recommend you invest in a shunt type battery monitor that can measure your battery state of charge by percentage rather than voltage. With LiFePo4 batteries the difference between 100% and effectively empty is only a few tenths of a volt. Almost impossible to measure SOC accurately by voltage.

My preference is the Victron BMV-712 or Smart Shunt although others have used and are happy with the Renogy or "Ali Express" units.

Solar controller monitors, unless they use a shunt attached to battery neg terminal, are just voltmeters and notoriously inaccurate. As for the current they show, it's just what is going in the direction of the battery, not what is coming out of the battery at the same time.

If your refrigerator is running at same time much, if not all, of the solar generated power is being consumed and battery is getting nothing. This is where a shunt type battery monitor pays off.

[Aussieguy]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Where did you get the idea he only had 16v at the solar controller. Way I read the post he had over 15 AMPS going into the batteries which is almost max for his setup.

16v was used for example on how to look for volt drop


for some reason Firefox always adds more line breaks where It wants to breaking up my phrases.

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

I would strongly recommend you invest in a shunt type battery monitor that can measure your battery state of charge by percentage rather than voltage. With LiFePo4 batteries the difference between 100% and effectively empty is only a few tenths of a volt. Almost impossible to measure SOC accurately by voltage.

My preference is the Victron BMV-712 or Smart Shunt although others have used and are happy with the Renogy or "Ali Express" units.

Solar controller monitors, unless they use a shunt attached to battery neg terminal, are just voltmeters and notoriously inaccurate. As for the current they show, it's just what is going in the direction of the battery, not what is coming out of the battery at the same time.

If your refrigerator is running at same time much, if not all, of the solar generated power is being consumed and battery is getting nothing. This is where a shunt type battery monitor pays off.

I have a battery monitor . getting ready to install . just going off what the controller app is showing me now . I assume since the controller never went in absorb mode the batteries never hit full charge . Still running off batteries and solar . voltage this am was 13V taken from controller .



For reference max i saw yesterday was at battery was 13.5v and 15.63 amps, at panel 17.4v and 12.64 amp with a max wattage of 220w .


Will try to get to the monitor installed but need to make sure batteries are charged fully to get accurate battery % from monitor . THANKS for your input really helps !

thanks for your input ..
PS checking the info on the batteries shows 13.5v 100% 13.2v 70% and 13 v 30% never dropped below 13.1v at 40% according to the controller app. Still i should expect absorb mode being achieved to balance batteries. Seems i'm a lot closer then i thought

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Aussieguy

13.5 is over 98 - 99% so your setup is very close ...
You DO NOT have to get the batteries to 100% every day.
the main thing you need to do is replace the power you took out ...

some days you won't ... other days you will
but that is not going to hurt the batteries.

yes when sun gets stronger in summer you will get the magic 100% and you should get enough time to do some balancing.

For now if you have a lifeppo4 capable converter ...
hook it up to shore power ever couple of weeks to get the top balancing

a third panel would be a big help!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
you can try checking your setup at different times during the day

use a multi meter to measure the overall panel voltage at the roof and at the solar controller input terminal ...

look for voltage differences ( drop )
if the roof measures 19v and the INPUT of your solar controller is only getting around 16v

you need to explore the connections / wire size

If your NOT going to move the trailer unhook the screws on one side of the panels and use some wood blocking to put a bit of a tilt towards the sun
Measure the voltage and see how much an improvement you get...

Will not be that hard to work out a way to permanently tilt your panels, so they won't blow off in the next storm.

Tilted or Flat... the panels are wind bait for a hurricanes if it passes over/near you.

Wires are buried under panels on roof no way to check there just going off controller app that shows watts at panel voltage and current then battery voltage and current to battery .. max yesterday was 17.4v panel 12.64 amps and 220 watts . at battery 13.5v and 15.63 amps ..

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by MR.M

Wires are buried under panels on roof no way to check there just going off controller app that shows watts at panel voltage and current then battery voltage and current to battery .. max yesterday was 17.4v panel 12.64 amps and 220 watts . at battery 13.5v and 15.63 amps ..

The numbers I see are pretty good for this time of year with sun low in sky and flat mount panels. I wouldn't make any drastic changes until you've seen how it performs during the months when sun is more directly above starting in late spring and through summertime.

While the exact angle varies by latitude, there can be a 40 degree variation in sun angle hitting solar panels between December and June. This can make a big difference with flat mount panels.