Solar Power

Here is some info on the solar battery charging system that we are currently in the process of adding to the motorhome.  It is our intent to be able to live normally (except for running the air conditioners) and bring the batteries to a full state of charge on reasonably sunny days without plugging in to shore power or running the generator.  The system I am installing is patterned closely after the one described in HandyBob's blog (see "Blogs We Follow").

The system will consist of the following components:

2 Kyocera 135 watt panels (Vmp = 17.7V. Imp = 7.63A)
1 UL Solar 85 watt panel (Vmp = 17.9V, Imp = 4.84A)
1 Morningstar Tristar TS-45 45 amp PWM solar controller
1 Bogart Engineering Trimetric 2025-RV battery monitor
1 Xantrex 2000 watt inverter
4 6V Interstate Workaholic deep cycle batteries (total 464 amp hours)

Below are some photos of the equipment that has been installed so far.

Deep Cycle Battery Compartment

The bundle of wires running down to the batteries on the right hand side includes the following:

#4 AWG cables to solar controller
Battery voltage sense wires to solar controller
Battery temperature sense wires to solar controller
Battery current sense wires from shunt to battery monitor
Battery voltage sense wires to battery monitor

Also shown above are the 60 amp DC circuit breaker and 500A/50mV current shunt.

Xantrex 2000 Watt Inverter

Inverter, Starting Battery & Deep Cycle Battery Compartments

Solar Panel Disconnect (Left) and Tristar Solar Controller

Disconnect and Solar Controller - Covers Closed

In the above photos, a standard one-pole air conditioning disconnect is used to allow the panels to be disconnected from the controller.  Both the disconnect and controller are mounted on the wall of a closet just above the deep cycle batteries.  Note there is no wiring installed yet to the panels.

Trimetric 2025-RV Battery Monitor

The battery monitor shown above is a key part of the system.  After calibration, it can display battery charge status in a simple "percent full" format.  Both current and time are constantly monitored, recording amp-hours in and out of the battery.  It can also display instantaneous battery current, voltage, time since last full charge and time since last equalization.

85 Watt Panel Manufactured by UL Solar

Aluminum Angle Mounting Bracket w/Stainless Steel Hardware

Panel and Cream

Above are some of the last components yet to be installed, the panels themselves.  In parallel with the 85 watt UL Solar panel shown, there will be two Kyocera 135 watt panels, bringing the total ideal maximum output to 355 watts.  The maximum power voltage of the panels is 17.9V and 17.7V respectively, so they should parallel fairly well.

The aluminum angle mounting brackets will attach directly to the motorhome roof with stainless steel lag screws.  All the metal parts used in the installation will be either aluminum or stainless steel.  The panels will be capable of being tilted up to approximately 45 degrees either left or right.  The optimum tilt angle is approximately equal to the latitude of the location and facing due south.  Ideally, the panels should face directly toward the sun at noon.

More info will be coming later after the panels are installed.

Brazos Bend State Park

It's President's Day weekend 2011 and we are in Brazos Bend Texas State Park.  This park is very full of RVers and we didn't arrive until yesterday (Saturday) so our choice of campsites was pretty limited.  We ended up in this relatively short space which our 38' motorhome barely fit into.

Hanging out in a small space

Brazos Bend is noted for its alligator population which is estimated at around 300.  We took a couple of hikes looking for one but didn't see any this time.  Below is a photo we took of one on a previous trip.

Alligator (2001 Photo)

On Saturday afternoon my friend Dudley and his wife Lisa came to visit us.  Dudley has a friend who works at the George Observatory which is located here in the park.  On Saturday evenings the observatory is open to the public and we were able to get a personal guided tour.  We all got a look at the Orion Nebula through the 36-inch Gueymard Research Telescope, one of the largest available in the U.S. for public viewing.

Some photos of us doing what we're good at (i.e. nothing):

Next scheduled adventure:  Qunitana Beach County Park, near Freeport, Texas on April 29 - May 1.