what solar panel to use

[rideglobally]

Hi Jay, my total roof Space is 6' x 9' but I do not want to use all this space, max I want to use is probably 3' x 6' . Help on the panel would be great.

Morningstar website only show 45 and 60 amp MPPT.

[Carlyle]

I'm using a 25 amp Go-Power charger on my two panels. As said earlier, 15 amp will be quite sufficient for your needs. Try RVSolarElectric.com for more info, they've helped me in the past.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jkam]

They sell the Sunsaver in MPPT with 15 amps.
http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/sunsavermppt
The remote monitor is very nice as well.
http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/rm-1

As far as panels go, you have plenty of room for whatever panel you can afford. I don't recommend panels as the market is constantly changing and pricing as well. Pick a good vendor you trust and go for it. As mentioned, it's as important if not more that you use as big of wiring as you can. Keep the length as short as possible to minimize loss.

[lostworldexpedition]

They sell the Sunsaver in MPPT with 15 amps.
http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/sunsavermppt
The remote monitor is very nice as well.
http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/rm-1

As far as panels go, you have plenty of room for whatever panel you can afford. I don't recommend panels as the market is constantly changing and pricing as well. Pick a good vendor you trust and go for it. As mentioned, it's as important if not more that you use as big of wiring as you can. Keep the length as short as possible to minimize loss.

Agreed and I will reiterate my suggestion of using an "intelligent" charger as well when AC is available in order to extend the life of your expensive batteries (adventuretrailers.com has a good selection).

[rideglobally]

what do you think of this kit? is the regulator that comes with it same as a solar charger? if it is a solar charger do you think it is efficient enough? been trying to call carmanah but very hard to get a hold of them, i will keep trying. the whole kit sell for about $700. http://www.gpelectric.com/products/n...r-charging-kit

i think the panel by itself sells about $600.

thanks

[dwh]

Regulator is just another word for charge controller - like Americans say 'Motor Home' and English say 'Caravan'.

That charge controller in the link looks decent.

It's got temperature compensation, which is a feature found on better charge controllers.

And it's smart enough to NOT do equalization on AGM batteries.

Of course, a 30a charge controller is much larger than is needed for an 8a solar panel. If you don't plan to expand the system by adding more solar panels, you probably don't need an oversized charge controller.


I would imagine you could put together a comparable system for less if you buy components instead of a kit. Or find such a kit already available.

Here's one that uses top of the line components - Kyocera solar panel, Morningstar MPPT charge controller, Midnite Solar breaker box, etc.:

http://www.solar-electric.com/rvkitwi140wa1.html

[jkam]

what do you think of this kit? is the regulator that comes with it same as a solar charger? if it is a solar charger do you think it is efficient enough? been trying to call carmanah but very hard to get a hold of them, i will keep trying. the whole kit sell for about $700. http://www.gpelectric.com/products/n...r-charging-kit

i think the panel by itself sells about $600.

thanks

That controller is PWM, not MPPT and it makes a big enough difference that I would get an MPPT one. The Morningstar one is about the best one for small systems using under 15 amps.

As mentioned above, the kit uses better components and seems reasonably priced for what they give you.
#10 AGW isn't big enough in my opinion. I used #4 AGW on my system.
i think you could put a nicer system together on your own, you might spend a little more but you get exactly what you want.
Kyocera panels are good and Solar-Electric has a good reputation so you could find all you need there and they are very helpful if you need assistance.

[rideglobally]

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/su..._ENG10_111.pdf please help me understand this chart. The way I am reading it is that, it is most efficient at 75 watts 96.5%. Then it's efficiency begin to drops. Is this correct?

Then there is this write up on their website. I am considering the PMW charge controller.

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/su...vPWM.01.EN.pdf

PWM Over MPPT?
The preceding discussion of PWM vs. MPPT may cause some to wonder why a PWM controller
would ever be chosen in favor of an MPPT controller. There are indeed instances where a PWM
regulator is a better choice than MPPT and factors which will negate advantages the MPPT may provide.
The most obvious consideration is cost. MPPT controllers will cost more than their PWM counterparts.
When deciding on a controller, the extra cost of MPPT should be analyzed with respect to the following
factors.
Low power (specifically low current) charging applications may have equal or better energy
harvest with a PWM controller. PWM controllers will operate at a relatively constant harvesting
efficiency regardless of the size of the system (all things being equal, efficiency will be the same whether
using a 30W array or a 300W array). MPPT regulators commonly have noticeably reduced harvesting
efficiencies (relative to their peak efficiency) when used in low power applications. Efficiency curves for
every Morningstar MPPT controller are printed in their corresponding manuals and should be reviewed
when making a regulator decision

[dwh]

Among the solar engineering crowd (math freaks), it's been hashed over to death. The general consensus is that MPPT is nice, but the extra expense isn't usually worth it for a sub-200w solar setup.

MPPT controllers don't add anything - a 100w PV puts out 100w max no matter what (well...when they get really cold, sometimes they do put out a bit more than the rating, but they are usually hot, and when they are hot, they put out less than the rating). What they do is reduce the waste by loading the panel up to get the max watts that the panel can put out at the this particular moment. A nice hot 100w PV might only be putting out 80w, and with MPPT you might get that up to 85w or 90w.

The other thing they do is down-convert the voltage, to get the most efficient push into the battery. Sort of like the electrical version of down-shifting your tranny to get more torque.

Don't get too hung up on efficiency. A few watts one way or the other isn't going to mean squat.

Now, if you were going to run a couple of hundred (or couple of thousand) watts of PV, then yea, a 10% increase in watts to the battery would certainly be worth the extra money for an MPPT controller.

[rideglobally]

thanks dwh, i am thinking of running this kit plus another 95 watt panel for a total of 190 watt the two panels together. http://www.gpelectric.com/products/9...r-charging-kit using the charge controller that came with it, or the carmanah 145 watt kit. what do you think?.... thanks