My Solar Installs - Now with Solar Output Data

[Chad Heiser]

2 hours ago, dennisvr said:

Replied to your message

I haven't received anything from you.

[Chad Heiser]

16 minutes ago, RickS said:

Nice Job Chad...I'm sure we'll be stopping at your place for a new solar system when we get our new rig! 👍

I'll be waiting for you.  At least you will be able to get across the border soon. 😁

[RickS]

Yeah your government has decided to let their Canadian friends in again...lots of snowbirds going to be heading for the sunny south again.

 

[dennisvr]

15 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

I haven't received anything from you.

I sent another message

 

[lappir]

On 10/23/2021 at 12:52 PM, Chad Heiser said:

With a roof like that I could get upwards of 12 of these panels up there (of course I'd need some specific measurements to confirm that).  How tall is your trailer?  That would also potentially affect things as you don't want to be too tall either.

It's supposed to be 13'3", but I have not put a measurement to it. 

Rod

[Chad Heiser]

7 hours ago, lappir said:

It's supposed to be 13'3", but I have not put a measurement to it. 

Rod

You just want to keep anything you add to the roof at 13'6" or less.  That shouldn't be a problem with solar panels as long as the proper mounts are used.

[Chad Heiser]

Not a lot to report yet, but I did want to say things look good so far.  We arrived late in the evening on Monday as it was getting dark, so no data for the day.  We dipped down into the high 70% range for battery state of charge over night.  Tuesday has been complete cloud cover with on and off drizzling rain all day so far.  

Around 1:00 pm I checked solar production out of curiosity and even in complete cloud cover with the rain, we were making over 500 watts of power from the panels and putting just over 40 amps into the batteries.  According to the BMK (battery monitor) we are a net positive 14 amps or so into the batteries with the refrigerator going, TV on and my DW working remotely with her laptop plugged in (along with our other general load stuff like lights and what not).  Not bad at all for the conditions.  

As of 2:30 pm, the watts and amps are down a little bit, but not a lot and we are slowly but surely still gaining battery state of charge percentage.  We are still trying to recoup our overnight usage from last night, which probably won’t happen completely since there has been no sun.  We are gaining enough that I’m not worried about having to run a generator for a little while so we can make it through another night of usage though, which I probably would have had to do with the old array.

I guess I can’t complain so far (unless I want to complain about everyone running generators around me to get their power 😜).

Edited October 26, 2021 by Chad Heiser

[hemsteadc]

23 minutes ago, Chad Heiser said:

even in complete cloud cover with the rain, we were making over 500 watts of power from the panels and putting just over 40 amps into the batteries. 

That's incredible.. but, I couldn't load your pictures and I didn't catch how many watts of solar you have.  My 835w would be near zero output in those conditions.

Edited October 26, 2021 by hemsteadc

[Chad Heiser]

29 minutes ago, hemsteadc said:

That's incredible.. but, I couldn't load your pictures and I didn't catch how many watts of solar you have.  My 835w would be near zero output in those conditions.

I just switched from six 235 watt Canadian Solar panels (1410 watts) to six 365 watt REC Solar panels (2190 watts).  I’m not making anywhere near my capacity, but I am making way more than I thought I would under the current horrible (for solar production) conditions.

[Randyretired]

The difference in charging lead acid and lithium batteries is dramatic.  Lithium and solar work so much better together. It is like adding another solar panel.  All of those wasted hours at the end of charging are nearly eliminated and with large solar arrays the controllers won't need to throttle much at all.  At our property we add a ground mount array for a total of 3,700 watts.  On a sunny, summer day our 800ah @ 12v batteries go from 20% to 100% SOC a good bit before noon even with some things running.    The higher operating voltage of lithium batteries also adds to the total power available.

[Chad Heiser]

Lithium batteries are next on my list.  I’m planning to install four 270 AH Battle Born 8D batteries (hopefully) next month.  I for sure want to have them in place before we head to Quartzsite.

[Randyretired]

6 minutes ago, Chad Heiser said:

Lithium batteries are next on my list.  I’m planning to install four 270 AH Battle Born 8D batteries (hopefully) next month.  I for sure want to have them in place before we head to Quartzsite.

My only regret is I wish I had done it earlier.  Our lithium is diy so no guarantees but so far so good.

[Randyretired]

I also wish I had gone with a larger battery bank but we will probably just live with what we have.

[hemsteadc]

16 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

 I’m planning to install four 270 AH Battle Born 8D batteries (hopefully) next month.  I for sure want to have them in place before we head to Quartzsite.

I'd also suggest going to a 48v system if you, and I presume you do, have a large inverter.  Sure makes for easier wiring, not having to deal with that 4/0 monster cable.  And it's beautiful at the Q right now!  Not real busy either.

[rpsinc]

18 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

Lithium batteries are next on my list.  I’m planning to install four 270 AH Battle Born 8D batteries (hopefully) next month.  I for sure want to have them in place before we head to Quartzsite.

What is your view of the silicate-salt batteries?  Seems interesting but I dont see much information about them in use.  

[bigboomer]

Hello Chad, 

PoPo Young from the DOG group. Nice upgrade on the panels. We also love the fact that on cloudy nasty days we still pull in a decent amount energy from our solar panels. 

The REC panels are great.

When looking at batteries don't forget to check into Simpliphi batteries out of California. 

Northern Arizona Wind and Sun carry them and we are completely satisfied with their performance.

Maybe we will see y'all in Q this winter.

[Chad Heiser]

2 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

I'd also suggest going to a 48v system if you, and I presume you do, have a large inverter.  Sure makes for easier wiring, not having to deal with that 4/0 monster cable.  And it's beautiful at the Q right now!  Not real busy either.

Actually going to a higher voltage battery bank in an RV complicates the wiring of the system and requires additional components to get back to 12 volt for all the stuff that runs on that in the RV.  If you buy the right cable, 4/0 is very easy to handle and it should only be in relatively short runs anyway (battery interconnections and from the batteries to the inverter).  I work with 4/0 all the time with no issues.  I have done higher voltage battery banks for others at their insistence, but I don’t recommend it generally for an RV.

[Chad Heiser]

1 hour ago, rpsinc said:

What is your view of the silicate-salt batteries?  Seems interesting but I dont see much information about them in use.  

I have not looked into them so I don’t know much about them other than a few blurbs I have seen here and there on forums.  Battery technology needs to take some steps forward in the not too distant future to allow for the EV push to become more mainstream (along with other infrastructure changes needed).  I look forward to seeing what comes down the pipe in the next ten years or so.  Right now, lithium is top dog though.

[Chad Heiser]

32 minutes ago, bigboomer said:

Hello Chad, 

PoPo Young from the DOG group. Nice upgrade on the panels. We also love the fact that on cloudy nasty days we still pull in a decent amount energy from our solar panels. 

The REC panels are great.

When looking at batteries don't forget to check into Simpliphi batteries out of California. 

Northern Arizona Wind and Sun carry them and we are completely satisfied with their performance.

Maybe we will see y'all in Q this winter.

I like battle born batteries for there construction, technology and customer support (plus I am a dealer for them), but there are other good batteries out there as well.  I don’t have any direct experience with Simpliphi.  I’d be interested in seeing your set up at Quartzsite.  We will be hanging out with some other HDTers in the LTVA.

[hemsteadc]

36 minutes ago, Chad Heiser said:

Actually going to a higher voltage battery bank in an RV complicates the wiring of the system and requires additional components to get back to 12 volt for all the stuff that runs on that in the RV.  

It requires one component: a DC-DC buck converter.  You run something like A/C on a 12v inverter and in about 20 minutes connectors and wires are going to get hot. 

Edited October 27, 2021 by hemsteadc

[Chad Heiser]

1 hour ago, hemsteadc said:

It requires one component: a DC-DC buck converter.  You run something like A/C on a 12v inverter and in about 20 minutes things are going to get hot. 

I have run multiple AC’s on 12 volt inverters for hours at a time with no heat build up in the wiring or anywhere else.  If the system is designed and built properly, it is a non issue.  Also, many larger RV’s require more than one DC-DC converter run in parallel to provide enough amperage to power jacks and slides.  I have seen this personally and installed DC-DC converters in parallel to overcome the issue.

Like I said, additional components and wiring are required to go to a higher voltage battery bank in an RV.  These additional components add complexity (albeit minor) and additional points of potential failure (more components).  You have to get back to 12 volt for OEM components.  There is no compelling reason in an RV with an OEM 12 volt system to go to a higher voltage battery bank.  It is simply a matter of personal preference.

People talk about efficiency in smaller gauge wiring for higher voltage systems.  As I mentioned, if the 12 volt wiring is properly sized and built/installed, the system will be just as efficient at 12 volt as at a higher voltage.  Watts are Watts, no matter what voltage is run the watts stay the same.  Only the amperage changes.

Now if you are talking an off grid house/cabin or similar with no existing 12 volt system, then I am all for higher voltage battery banks because there is no need to convert back to 12 volt.  I have designed systems for off grid cabins and they were higher voltage battery banks.

[hemsteadc]

23 minutes ago, Chad Heiser said:

Like I said, additional components and wiring are required to go to a higher voltage battery bank in an RV.  These additional components add complexity (albeit minor) and additional points of potential failure (more components).  You have to get back to 12 volt for OEM components.  There is no compelling reason in an RV with an OEM 12 volt system to go to a higher voltage battery bank.  It is simply a matter of personal preference

I don't know what additional components you're talking about, or wiring, but my compelling reason was with heat buildup running hundreds of amps. My acid batteries were also getting hot. Anyway, they're long gone for Lithium. 

Wire carries voltage much easier than amperage, so in my case, it is not only a safety reason but a personal preference.  My solar runs at 80-110v.  My one 30a Victron buck converter handles jacks and slides just fine.

Edited October 27, 2021 by hemsteadc

[Chad Heiser]

9 minutes ago, hemsteadc said:

I don't know what additional components you're talking about, or wiring, but my compelling reason was with heat buildup running hundreds of amps. My acid batteries were also getting hot. Anyway, they're long gone for Lithium. 

Wire carries voltage much easier than amperage, so in my case, it is not only a safety reason but a personal preference.  My solar runs at 80-110v.  My one 30a Victron buck converter handles jacks and slides just fine.

I am talking about the same components you are, DC-DC converters.  Those are additional components that are needed with a battery bank higher than 12 volt and are not needed when you use a 12 volt battery bank.

Solar is completely different than the battery bank.  I like larger, high voltage panels with a good MPPT charge controller to convert that high voltage, low amperage solar power to useable energy to recharge the battery bank and give “free” power during the day for the system to utilize.  Right now in mostly cloudy skies, my panels are putting out almost 80 volts at about 13 amps to the charge controller.  The MPPT is then converting that power from the panels to approximately 14 volts at approximately 75 amps and sending it to the batteries.

Again it is all about the system design and build to meet the needs of the user.

[Chad Heiser]

Now, back to the numbers.  

It has been overcast/mostly cloudy all day today.  We got down in the 50% state of charge range overnight because we never got back to full charge in the rain yesterday.  This means we used about 400 amp hours or so of battery power.  It is 3:00 pm now and with the less than ideal sun conditions we are back to 87% state of charge.  Overall I am very happy with the performance given the conditions.  With my old array, I would have had to run the generator an hour or so today to get me enough energy to make it through the night tonight (stay within my state of charge comfort zone).

I am limited a bit by my batteries.  They are 6 year old AGM’s that have seen pretty heavy use over their lifetime.  I am confident if I had the lithium batteries I would be close to full charge, if not fully charged even with these poor sun conditions because they can charge much faster than my old AGM’s.

[Chad Heiser]

Up to 90% SOC at 3:45 pm.  Still mostly cloudy.  That last 10-15% takes forever trying to push it into AGM’s.  I can’t wait to put the lithium batteries in.