Everything Solar - All member topic

[ibdilbert01]

Yay!  Installed the panels today!  Flat panels on a curved roof, neat.        Of course no sun today!   



The solar charge controller should come in Monday!   Getting excited! 

[ibdilbert01]

Sigh...    Stupid is as stupid does.  And stupid I are.   I hooked the controller up backwords and am fairly sure I now have a 30 amp paper weight.   Oh well, I emailed tech support, maybe they will sell me a new mainboard, if not, guess I'll have to order another one.   

[Oz]

   Dude, I'm so sorry to hear that.  It must've just made you want to just whack yourself in the head with a tire iron... I've been there many more times than I care to admit.  Still, you'll come out on top and all those interested in solar power will continue to learn and benefit from your experiences.

(And... I'm not sure... let's see those pants again  )

[DanD2Soon]

Me too! Tim - I'm hoping there's a protection circuit of some kind built in.  Good luck.

[89Elanden]

All this info on solar is something I can really get into and hooked on. Have'nt laid out the $'s for any equipment yet, but have been scoping out where everything can go. Battery bank under dinette seat etc. Kicking myself a little though, had the golf cart batteries last year and gave them away. Someone had given us an old golf cart that didn't work, I was gonna tinker with it, but ended up giving it away along with the new batteries that I had gotten with the cart. Oh well.

[DanD2Soon]

Here's is a good place to begin the solar homework - http://phrannie.org/phredex.html   
& caution, charging batteries give off poisonous and explosive fumes so if battery bank is inside the RV, the compartment Must Be well vented to the outside and well sealed from the inside.   

[89Elanden]

Yeah got that site saved in "my favorites" already, I understand the need for caution in regards to the battery situation. I believe I can seal and ventilate the area I have in mind so as to be as completely safe as possible. Thanks for the advice.
Rick

[DanD2Soon]

If you can do both, seal & ventilate an inside location like your dinette seat, you'll have the best of both worlds.  My battery bank is protected from the weather but not protected from the outside temperatures.  Which means I have much less storage/power available when it's really cold outside.

[ibdilbert01]

Some Good news!  8)

I got in touch with Tech Support at Rogue Power Technologies and they were more than helpful!  I explained that I was at fault and hooked it up backwards, and they are having me send the unit back in and they are going to repair it.   The person whom I've been working with is really up front and seems to want to make sure that he has happy customers.  Here is part of his reply...

My priority is making sure that everyone who buys my products has a good experience. I feel that this is the best way to build a reputable brand name. Also, I understand how tight money is right now and so I'd like to see if we can get you a working controller without making you another $300 poorer.

So, I'm going to pack up my 30 amp paper weight and send it off for repair.     I'll keep you all posted. 

[DanD2Soon]

Gell Cells!  Perfect Solution For 89Elandan and Laplaya.  I'd been thinking about what a perfectly "green" solution having solar power on a wind driven vehicle like Laplaya's sailboat was, but I kept bumping up against the negative of having lead acid batteries on a vehicle that could be turned over - brain fart on my part - gell cells!  Geez.

The benefits of belonging to CW's community just never end - do  they?

And Tim, if your Controller guy has a website, give us a link to it.  I'd go out of my way to do business with someone who thinks like that!

[ibdilbert01]

The company name is Rogue Power Technologies.  http://www.roguepowertech.com

I got an email this morning with a tracking number, my 30 amp paper weight will arrive the 8th, hopefully no longer a paper weight.  He even said he would continue to honor the 5 year warranty.   

[DanD2Soon]

That's just Great!

[ibdilbert01]

The freshly repaired controller arrived in the mail today!   To my surprise I hooked it up right and it appears to be working, or at least it turned on.  Its dark outside so currently the device is in sleep mode.   8)

There is a 30 day log built into the device, so I will be able to tell how well it did when I come back from work tomorrow.    I'm excited.       I'll be sure to post pictures this weekend. 

***Update***

Sigh, we keep getting rain and no sunshine, but the log shows that it did charge the battery to full.   Good thing the battery was almost full to begin with.   

 

[89Elanden]

That is sooo cool. Too much else going on for me this year to tackle the solar idea, but next year, yea buddy. Have you posted any pics of the solar panels??

[tiinytina]

Gone to the Dawgs will be making the leap to solar! Found a prepackage "kit" deal at Costco today $289 for 12V 60Watt system RV ready! http://www.sunforceproducts.com  Now to figure out how to mount it without poking too many new holes in her roof! And how to figure out where/how to run the wiring. 

I have 2 last year new marine deep cycle 12V batteries currently and I think there is room for one more. We don't do any boondocking as of yet but Gone has been our home next to home for multiple power failures and one remodel...  our house sumps are 12V so she will become a backup to keep that deep cycle recharged in a pinch too!

Don't know when we will get this project up and running, lots of things on the to-do list at this point....
and yes I'll post pix when we do!
Tina

[Arberg0]

i take it this is it

http://www.sunforceproducts.com/prodinfo/specs/60WSolarChargeKitSheet.pdf


william

[ibdilbert01]

That looks to be a fantastic deal!   I think you'll find it very satisfying the first time you charge your batteries off the sun!    8)   Can't wait to see the pictures!!!!

[tiinytina]

The inverter is under the fridge but my batteries are on the other side directly opposite under the kitchen sink... guess I can just run the charging wires under/through the chassis...  Will be in her this weekend so will crawl around. Will also have Brad around for a second opinion! Don't know that I wll bring the kit with me though... no where to put it except to strap it to the roof! ...

Yes William that is it the 60W four panel system....

Tina

[DanD2Soon]

Tina, if there's a sink there oughta be a vent up a nearby wall - might be shared with a bathroom/shower.  Anyway, if there is one, its usually in a hollow wall and there may be room to feed the panel wires down the wall along side the vent pipe.  My charge controller is actually mounted on the bathroom wall because we ran the wires alongside our bathroom vent.  Good Luck!

[ibdilbert01]

My inverter is in the closet next to the fridge, and my batteries are just behind the bathroom behind the driver.   I dropped my solar panel wires down the fridge vent and onto the back of the inverter, as the inverter has 2/0 wire going to the batteries.   

[tiinytina]

we haven't opened up the box to look at what we face doing yet... time for a question... I am a plumber's daughter not electricians... Does the inverter included in this solar kit replace the one already in the rig? Like I said no clue what type of inverter is in the rig  and box just says "invertor"...  really need to open the box but don't want to do that until I have time to install it so I won't loose parts or have pups chewing things up...

Tina

[ibdilbert01]

Well, that depends.   If the current inverter is big enough to meet your needs, then you don't need to swap it out.    Most inverters are measured in watts, the larger the number the more you can run off of them.   

There are two main types of inverters, Pure Sign wave, and Modified Sign wave.  So you'll see a PSW or a MSW usually printed on the inverter itself.   PSW inverters are the most expensive and they simulate a true AC wave that you would find in your home.   MSW inverters produce a square wave, or a stepped wave, some applicances do not like to run off of that kind, but they are the most common and the cheapest.   For example sometimes a MSW inverter will cause lines to run accross your TV, or make your microwave hum louder than normal.

So if you have a PSW inverter, you'll probably most deffently want to keep that one.     But in general, larger is better.   

[mightybooboo]

All I can say is CRAIGSLIST.

Buy the name brand panels,ie,solarworld,BP,kyocera,sharp,unisolar,siemens,mitsubishi,etc.Buy cheap plastic China junk and you will unfortunately have junk in just a couple years IF LUCKY.

However,watch Craigslist and you can get QUALITY panels as low as 1 dollar/watt for used panels.

A ten year old used panel has decades of use left in them as long as it isnt the very first panels like the Arco Solars that turned brown.

What I just got on Craigslist,thats 1 dollar/watt!....And plenty of ads for 1.25/watt to 3 dollars for some very very nice used panels.Type in the word SOLAR on the craigslist search
-----------------------------------------

Siemons sm55 solar panel - $55 (Indio)

Date: 2009-05-08, 11:33AM PDT


This panel measures 51 inches by 13 inches,Is 17.4 volt,55 watts...used
Please call:
    * Location: Indio
   
[/QUOTE]

[mightybooboo]

Tina,if you can return that setup.You are going to be hugely disappointed.It is very poor quality.

Sorry to say but thats real money and I hate to see you get burned.

Cheap and CHINA is plain bad news in solar.You ONLY want top line name brands,rest will die very quickly.

[tiinytina]

Thanks for the heads up... Actually I was thinking of taking it back because I don't have space on the roof without breaking the panels up... there are so many vents etc...  so will have to measure to find one that will fit. I still have the reciept....

Tina