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Old 10-16-2015, 02:19 PM   #1
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Smile Samlex solar kit

Ksh3, How do you like your Samlex solar kit? I am considering adding solar and am trying to figure out what I should get.
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Old 10-16-2015, 02:30 PM   #2
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Ksh3, How do you like your Samlex solar kit? I am considering adding solar and am trying to figure out what I should get.
It's nice and works well, but if I had it to do over again I would skip it as I would just use my 2000 watt Honda generator to power it when dry camping. I can't hear it running unless I'm near the area it's running and even in a state park it can't be heard in the next site. I hooked it up to an external tank and ran it all night.
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Old 10-16-2015, 03:04 PM   #3
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A generator is under consideration, but weighing the cost (including recurring maintenance and gas) of a good generator against the cost of a nice solar setup with a couple of good batteries and an inverter is turning out to be a tough trade for me. I like the idea of a solar system always on and maintaining the batteries even when in storage.
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Old 10-16-2015, 06:53 PM   #4
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Couple things to remember.
You will have to decide just how much you will need/want to operate on AC.
That will dictate how large your system will have to be. Also, it seems you never get full sunlight every day. So, some nights you go to bed with the possibility of a low charge in the battery bank. Plus, as the sun continues to move south in the fall, the arc lowers and that also cuts back on much your panels can generate.

There is a lot to be said for a good Honda.
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Old 10-16-2015, 08:18 PM   #5
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Here in the Denver area, the camping season ends for me when it's the time of year when the sun's arc is low. It gets too cold at night and it would likely freeze my water lines. So I am thinking that is not as big of a consideration for me.

Lloyd, with your 135 Watt setup, do you find that you need the generator a lot to keep the batteries up? I realize that depends on how much you use the batteries during the day but on average, is 135 Watts sufficient for you?

From what I have read here: https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/ the effectiveness of the system depends a lot on the charge controller and the wiring. Any thoughts or experience on this that you may have would be helpful. I don't think handy Bob has much good to say about Go Power products.
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Old 10-16-2015, 09:07 PM   #6
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I am about to install a 340 watt solar system on my 5er. This will be 4 flexible panels and a 40 amp charge conttoller. If I choose to add a couple more panels I can. But at 340 watts I should get a 22 to 28 amp charge rate depending on how you do the math. So based on location I will recharge the battery bank 100 to 150 amp hours.
So it comes down to your energy usage. But I don't think I will bother getting a generator, unless I need to run the air conditioner.
It will come down to your ac use. If you use a 32 lcd tv, about a 70 watt current, and watch 6 hours of TV a day. That is about 0.6 amps a hour or 3.6 amp hours of ac, which equals a 36 amp hour discharge. If you want to use your microwave a couple times a day, let's say a total of 15 minutes. 1200 watts/120 volts equals 10 amps x 10 (12 volts to 120 volts is about 10 times the current plus looses) equals 100 amps per hr. So about 25 amp hours of discharge.
This shows that 2 devices will use 61 amp hours out of a 240 amp hour battery set (2 6 volt batteries in series). I do not want much more than 60 amp hours of discharge a day. Yes the battery can handle 120 amp/hrs of discharge a day, but if the next day is overcast I could be in trouble. All my lighting is led's. I won't be running the microwave that much or watching 6 hours of tv. But my kids may be trying to watch tv.

By the way so far I only have about $600 in my solar pan els and charger. I bet I am at $800 to $1000 when in operation.
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Old 10-17-2015, 08:05 AM   #7
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Here in the Denver area, the camping season ends for me when it's the time of year when the sun's arc is low. It gets too cold at night and it would likely freeze my water lines. So I am thinking that is not as big of a consideration for me.

Lloyd, with your 135 Watt setup, do you find that you need the generator a lot to keep the batteries up? I realize that depends on how much you use the batteries during the day but on average, is 135 Watts sufficient for you?

From what I have read here: https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/ the effectiveness of the system depends a lot on the charge controller and the wiring. Any thoughts or experience on this that you may have would be helpful. I don't think handy Bob has much good to say about Go Power products.

When we use the solar the most is in the fall during grouse hunting season. 135 watts is enough on the start, but later it just doesn't put out enough to keep the batteries up. The biggest draw on them is the furnace.
To over come that I went to a Olympic Wave heater. That would keep the camper warm without need for the furnace to run.
I have two Trojan T105 6V and always wanted to add two more, but could never find the space to devote to them.
I don't have an Inverter. That's another item I always wanted to add. I was looking at the Xantrax 2000W with 100 amp charger, but decided until I installed a couple more batteries and added another panel, there wasn't any need for it.
By the way if you or any one else is interested I have the wave heater listed here.
http://www.crossroadsowners.com/foru...ater-9805.html

To answer your question, no, 135 watts wasn't enough to do the job.
BUT, it sure helped.

I haven't had any problems with my Go Power regulator. When I wired the batteries I used #4 braided welder cable and soldered all the connectors on. If I remember right, the wire I used for running the panel leads to everything was #12 stranded, or it could have been #10.
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Old 10-17-2015, 08:15 AM   #8
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To properly charge 2 Trojan batteries you would need 250-300 watts. If you add 2 more batteries you would need 500-600 watts to properly charge the batteries. A cheap quick way to equalize your optimal solar/battery ratio. Is 1 watt of solar per amp hour of battery. Now it depends on your total use.
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Old 10-17-2015, 08:31 AM   #9
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To properly charge 2 Trojan batteries you would need 250-300 watts. .
Why do you say that, and what are you basing it on?
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Old 10-17-2015, 08:53 AM   #10
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Batteries prefer to charge at a specific rate. The charge rate starts in bulk, absorption, and float. With to small of a panel array you would basically only be trickle charging the battery and won't have enough energy to go into the absorption stage correctly.
Than the next thing is you don't want to be less than a 50% discharge (that does not mean at 6 volts either, it may be at about 12 to 12.2 volts). 50 % on the 250 amp hour Trojan is using 125 amp hours. So if your 135 watt panel and charge controller had 100% efficiency. Forgive me here I am going to try using some simpler numbers for easy math. 135 watts/ 13.5 volts is 10 amps. So you can only charge at 10 amps and based on location you only have 4.5 to 6.5 hours a day of peak sunlight. So if we use 5.5 hours of charge time. 10 amps x 5.5 hours= 55 amp hours. So it will take you more than 2 days to recharge a 50% discharged battery.
The tricky thing is only a mppt charge controller runs close to 93 to 97% efficiency and than looses in the wiring and cable lengths. If you have just a pwm charger it can not use more than 14.6 volts. So a common 12 volt solar array produces 17 volts. 14.6/17= 86%, so you lose at least 14% efficiency if your panel only produces 17 volts. If it produces 18 or 19 volts your losing even more efficiency with a pwm charge controller.
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Old 10-17-2015, 09:42 AM   #11
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From what I have observed, my system does go thru the charge rate of bulk, absorption, and float.
I have seen 14.3V showing on the controller. That's telling me I have Two Trojans that have went into the float mode.
When you get to 50% discharge you have a dead battery/batteries. 11.8 V is considered dead. The trick is to not allow your batteries to get to that state.
Agreed, later in my season I don't get enough sunlight to properly charge the system. That is where the Honda comes in.


When the panel is getting good direct sun, the controller is showing from 7 to 7.6.
So far this set up has worked for me, and I still have two Trojans that are in excellent condition.
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Old 10-17-2015, 10:06 AM   #12
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14.8/17.7=83% loose of 17% efficiency
135×.83=112 watts
112 watts / 14.8 = 7.5 amps.

So I just showed you why you see 7 to 7.5 amps of charge. The math works. You are able to return 41 amp hours to your batteries each day. If you do not discharge more than that in one day you have an excellent system for your needs. I was just trying to offer some advice for other people that may be considering solar. I do not plan to buy a generator unless I camp where I need it for air conditioning.
I will start a new thread on my solar install. I will show the math and results when I put it into operation. My panels should produce more than enough to recover from a 50% discharged battery each day with extra for any day use of the electrical system.

Just another thought for someone who adds a 135 watt panel and a true mppt charge controller. If your panel puts out 17.7 volts. Using a true mppt charger could use close to 100% of the solar panel
135 watts / 14.8 volts = 9 amps (that is close to a 20% gain in efficiency )
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Old 10-17-2015, 11:27 AM   #13
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I'm not trying to argue with you. I'm simply stating what has worked for me.
You and everyone else are free to do and build what ever you need or want for a solar system.
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Old 10-17-2015, 11:49 AM   #14
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I was just trying to say 135 watts is not opimal for charging 2 6 volt Trojan batteries. Yes it is enough to be noticed and make a difference. But as you said you still have to fire up the generator occasionally. So it helps and on a weekend trip it may be enough without the generator. But on a longer trip you still need to recharge with another method.
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