Dreadlocks outfitting of InTech Discover
- Thread starter dreadlocks
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dreadlocks
Well-known member
In storage its not really level so it has a natural tilt, keeps big dirt stains off roof too, if I manage to get it level when boondocking thats a miracle.. if its rainy I try to jack up the front end a bit so the kitchen area dont get swamped out, easy enough to tilt whole trailer.. it does have lil drainage channels should work well enough.. keeping tree debris and bird crap off it are gonna be the biggest issues I think.. good thing I got a ladder.
kinda finished up the wiring, caulking and painting and got it all in, the power vent is set to 78F and the fridge is on.. we'll see how the roof does over a few weeks with no shore power parked under a tree.. I'mna be doing a bunch of wiring work here soon so not completely cleaned up and finished.. Imna put the roof top solar on powerpoles so I can disconnect em if I want with no hot wires around.. feels good to be unplugged, basically wireless now.. that power is always there.
Ordered 100ft of marine pvc jacketed cable that I'll make portable cable out of, going to use the front solar panel hookup for the front access panel, just make a lil adapter from SAE to powerpole.. going to run an anderson to the receiver on rear of trailer for plugging it in from the rear, while mounted to the gate.
Now to figure out how to make the other panel nice and portable
kinda finished up the wiring, caulking and painting and got it all in, the power vent is set to 78F and the fridge is on.. we'll see how the roof does over a few weeks with no shore power parked under a tree.. I'mna be doing a bunch of wiring work here soon so not completely cleaned up and finished.. Imna put the roof top solar on powerpoles so I can disconnect em if I want with no hot wires around.. feels good to be unplugged, basically wireless now.. that power is always there.
Ordered 100ft of marine pvc jacketed cable that I'll make portable cable out of, going to use the front solar panel hookup for the front access panel, just make a lil adapter from SAE to powerpole.. going to run an anderson to the receiver on rear of trailer for plugging it in from the rear, while mounted to the gate.
Now to figure out how to make the other panel nice and portable
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Hillbilly Heaven
Explorer
Where did you get those panasonic panels from?
dreadlocks
Well-known member
Hillbilly Heaven
Explorer
Good find with decent shipping. Some of the places I found online wanted $125 and up just for shipping.
Hillbilly Heaven
Explorer
325 watts each
dreadlocks
Well-known member
yep 325W each, 650W total.. about $1.30 a watt, which is not terrible given its a premium panel and most budget panels are ~$1 per watt.. Delivery was super quick, bought on Friday had em on Tuesday.
I chose these panels for a couple of reasons:
Finally, after over a decade of trying.. I can run my fridge indefinitely in less than ideal solar conditions and dont even need to setup anything.. only took 3x the solar and lithium, weather forecast for rest of the week just keeps getting more and more cloudy.. great for some worst case testing which is what I designed this system to cope with..
When the second panel gets mounted and wired in it'll be even better on worst case days since even a 10-20% output combined is ~65W-130W, more than enough to squeak by with the basics if all I get is diffuse light. Speaking of which, was doing research on vertical mounted panels, apparently wall mounting has some benefits, especially in the north since snow wont build up on em, and cold weather + reflections off snow on ground boost em to make up for the losses in the short summers.. I've been wanting to pickup some cots and do some winter camping all hardsided, will be good to know I can still use that rear panel if I park it south facing.. I hadn't planned for that, but I'll take it as a bonus.
Think I've settled on a plan of action for mounting the rear panel, I'll start gathering up the raw materials for it shortly.
I chose these panels for a couple of reasons:
- its 96 cell so its working at higher voltages, smaller cabling and less losses.. also has 4 bypass diodes instead of 3.. For a roof panel that had no tilt, and shade issues this harvests more and for a portable panel this means smaller cabling and less losses.. ~3-4A at 60-70v has less voltage drop than ~12-16A at 30/18v
- its got really great efficiency and thermal efficiency ratings.. this means more wattage in a smaller area, and more wattage in hot weather.
- N-Type cells are more durable and lasting than P-Type
- Panel size was perfect for my roof, and came in black.
- No regrets, I finally said fuckit, completely overbuilt and was determined to be satisfied since I have the carrying capacity.
Finally, after over a decade of trying.. I can run my fridge indefinitely in less than ideal solar conditions and dont even need to setup anything.. only took 3x the solar and lithium, weather forecast for rest of the week just keeps getting more and more cloudy.. great for some worst case testing which is what I designed this system to cope with..
When the second panel gets mounted and wired in it'll be even better on worst case days since even a 10-20% output combined is ~65W-130W, more than enough to squeak by with the basics if all I get is diffuse light. Speaking of which, was doing research on vertical mounted panels, apparently wall mounting has some benefits, especially in the north since snow wont build up on em, and cold weather + reflections off snow on ground boost em to make up for the losses in the short summers.. I've been wanting to pickup some cots and do some winter camping all hardsided, will be good to know I can still use that rear panel if I park it south facing.. I hadn't planned for that, but I'll take it as a bonus.
Think I've settled on a plan of action for mounting the rear panel, I'll start gathering up the raw materials for it shortly.
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dreadlocks
Well-known member
Today was fully cloudy and raining, I never saw the sun at all.. before work was at 66% SOC, got home and its at 78% SOC, so it not only powered the fridge all day long but regained 12% SOC in abysmal conditions.. fridge is basically empty right now too so I bet its running more than it would if I filled it up w/water bottles.. inverter is on (idle), night lights are on (in day cuz its so dark), and trailer has not been plugged into shore power since easter but its been 72h in minimal mode all on its own.
Couple more days of rain and possibly a lil snow in the forecast, will see how long it holds out and if it can recover on its own when this passes.. its coming down in buckets right now and my test paper is bone dry, looks like sealing everything off after drilling a hole in the roof was successful.. whew.
ignore "2 days ago" that was triggered when I unplugged the controller to move it to its final home.. that extra 30Wh goes ontop of 3 days ago.
Couple more days of rain and possibly a lil snow in the forecast, will see how long it holds out and if it can recover on its own when this passes.. its coming down in buckets right now and my test paper is bone dry, looks like sealing everything off after drilling a hole in the roof was successful.. whew.
ignore "2 days ago" that was triggered when I unplugged the controller to move it to its final home.. that extra 30Wh goes ontop of 3 days ago.
dreadlocks
Well-known member
1x1.5" Aluminum, not sure what gauge.. 12-14ish
dreadlocks
Well-known member
So today was an unusual day here in my sunny state, non stop rain.. all clouds, absolutely no direct sun. woke up to 55% SOC, came home from work to 62% SOC.. and its gonna snow tonight.
However, at this rate.. I could handle several more days of no sun with the lil bit of solar I am managing to harvest.. I'm only needing ~12-15AH a day right now in rainy conditions instead of >30AH pre-solar to keep base loads running.. I figure I could hold out at least 2 more days of crap weather.. but I dont think its going to last that long.. so ~5 days of crap weather, with only half of the panels wired up.. I'm pleased with these results.
I think the high efficiencies are paying off in spades, with LiFePo4's near perfect charge/discharge rates and other losses minimized I'm able to convert more photons to electrons, store them and use them without as nearly as much losses so in these worst case load tests I can stretch a single low capacity storage setup out so much more than I would otherwise.
~25AH of Charge/Load today.. yesterday got a lil more power too before the sunset (~32AH)
Today all the cabling arrived for the portable, and a temp probe for the BMV-712, since its networked with the SmartSolar its providing @ battery voltage to the charger and now battery temp.. with the Lipo setting on the controller it disables temp compensation, however it lets me cut off the solar charger at low/high battery temps and I want to add that extra protection.
However, at this rate.. I could handle several more days of no sun with the lil bit of solar I am managing to harvest.. I'm only needing ~12-15AH a day right now in rainy conditions instead of >30AH pre-solar to keep base loads running.. I figure I could hold out at least 2 more days of crap weather.. but I dont think its going to last that long.. so ~5 days of crap weather, with only half of the panels wired up.. I'm pleased with these results.
I think the high efficiencies are paying off in spades, with LiFePo4's near perfect charge/discharge rates and other losses minimized I'm able to convert more photons to electrons, store them and use them without as nearly as much losses so in these worst case load tests I can stretch a single low capacity storage setup out so much more than I would otherwise.
~25AH of Charge/Load today.. yesterday got a lil more power too before the sunset (~32AH)
Today all the cabling arrived for the portable, and a temp probe for the BMV-712, since its networked with the SmartSolar its providing @ battery voltage to the charger and now battery temp.. with the Lipo setting on the controller it disables temp compensation, however it lets me cut off the solar charger at low/high battery temps and I want to add that extra protection.
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dreadlocks
Well-known member
so Thursday I woke up and the panels were covered in a dusting of snow, SOC was ~41%, I didn't expect much as it was rather dismal all day staying around freezing with bouts of more flurries.. came home to 47%, heck yeah.
This morning I woke up to a better day, was mostly cloudy but the sun still broke through and it was overall brighter.. was at 30% SOC.. got home and it was at 60% and forecast is looking good.. went M-F w/Rain, Snow, mostly overcast just fine, I cleaned the panels off today at dusk, they were filthy and covered in sticky tree buds and blossoms.
This weekend wiring up a lil bit more stuff, running wires for portable panel and cleaning up some things.. I'm waiting for a part I ordered to arrive and see if its going to work for my hanger solution.. I'm going to do a gravity hinge at the top since its well above our heads and then fixed pins at bottom.. so take pins out of bottom, slide it up a few inches and take it off.. or tilt it out.
here's the data:
This morning I woke up to a better day, was mostly cloudy but the sun still broke through and it was overall brighter.. was at 30% SOC.. got home and it was at 60% and forecast is looking good.. went M-F w/Rain, Snow, mostly overcast just fine, I cleaned the panels off today at dusk, they were filthy and covered in sticky tree buds and blossoms.
This weekend wiring up a lil bit more stuff, running wires for portable panel and cleaning up some things.. I'm waiting for a part I ordered to arrive and see if its going to work for my hanger solution.. I'm going to do a gravity hinge at the top since its well above our heads and then fixed pins at bottom.. so take pins out of bottom, slide it up a few inches and take it off.. or tilt it out.
here's the data: