Solar power

[petarm1]

Good folks, i have read the past pists on solar power( 2007) and i am wondering if any has done any lately  on there buses. I live in mine full time all year round and i have decided on my second build to go solar. I have noticed the huge price change in complete kits. I am looking at a 800 watt system currently and would like to hear any thoughts you may have
Thanks

[Fred Mc]

One of the KEY elements in a solar system that WORKS is wiring size.Make sure the wiring comiNg down from the roof is big enough(consult a voltage drop table) and that the controller is as close to the battery as possible. Voltage drop in 12 volt wiring is critical..

[richard5933]

I agree about the wiring size. We wanted to be able to use ground-deployed panels so we could park in the shade, and this requires a longer run of cable between the panels and the charge controller. Our solution was to run the panels in series to raise the voltage but keep the amps low, which permitted use of a long enough cable without having to use battery cables. Of course, raising the voltage requires your charge controller can handle the input, as not all controllers can use the higher input voltage.

Lots of ways to skin this cat.

[petarm1]

Good to know, i am looking at a complete sytem that comes with everything I need.
Any suggestions on purchases?

[Fred Mc]

Renogy makes some good stuff.I have 3x100w panels and the controller.

[Iceni John]

Buying complete ready-to-use systems may be easier than piecing a system together from individually-purchased parts, but usually the cost-per-watt is a lot higher, plus some of the included components are not always the best quality, e.g. non-MPPT charge controllers or no-name solar panels with thinner glass than standard.   You should be looking at well below a dollar a watt for the panels, and that's for good quality UL-listed panels with sturdy frames and 3mm toughened glass.   If the solar kit includes a PWM charge controller, that may indicate some overall cost-cutting that could work against you in the long run.

Also, bear in mind that most kits are not specifically made for use on curved bus roofs, so some adaptation and improvement may still be needed to make them work well on a bus.   And don't worry about the cost of cables  -  in the big scheme of things, even the fat 4/0 cables needed for inverters and batteries are still a small proportion of the total investment in a good solar system.

John 

[richard5933]

This is where I bought my Zamp panels.

https://amsolar.com/

They have a good team, and when I had any problems they stood behind their products and took care of things immediately.

I'd also concur that you'll do much better picking and choosing the components yourself. Do your research and develop your priorities. Every installation has different requirements, and if you buy an off-the-shelf system you'll end up with compromises.

I think that a good middle ground is to work with a company like AM Solar to develop your checklist of components, and have them help you be certain that you're selecting things which will get you to your desired outcome.

You'll also have to decide what your priorities are. Will you be wanting to take advantage of long sunny days with the sun largely directly above you like you'll find in the south in the summer, or are you wanting a system that can take advantage of the few hours a day adequate sun is available at a steeper angle while traveling in the north? Are you trying to run a/c unit(s) from the solar output, or just top off your house batteries?

Lots of points to consider, each with different outcomes as you work down the decision tree.

[petarm1]

I live in the northern bc coast where the sun doesnt spend a lot of time showing itself. So i will need something that will work in low light. The sytem will only be used to keep the house batteries charged, ( so i can run basic house appliances ). I have a 3000 watt inverter from my other bus that i will be using so on that note i will give that solar company you suggest a call and see what we come up with. Thanks for the suggestions

[Fred Mc]

In order to get my feet wet I bought a single 100w solar panel and the PWM charge controller from the same company. Its on Amazon.com now for $170 with added panels $113 each It came with everything to connect it up to the batteries. I then added 2 more panels to the system. Actually I bought the system on the way to go camping and installed it at the campground. The charge controller will handle 30amps so there is plenty of capacity for a number of additional panels. I also made my own mounting brackets that I glued to the roof with 3M tape. I read somewhere that you are better off forgoing the tilting mechanisms in favor of adding another panel to offset the loss due to non-tilting.The rational was that you don't want to be on the roof of your bus lowering the panels during  a windstorm.
If you want to know almost all there is about solar ,and then some, google handibob. There is a couple of hours of reading on EVERYTHING about solar.

[petarm1]

Great. I will check that out

[Iceni John]

HandiBob is well worth reading  -  he may be opinionated, but his facts are correct.   Another good online resource for unbiased and accurate information is Northern Arizona Wind & Sun's forum for renewable energy discussions  -  the folk there definitely know of what they speak!   If they say do something, or don't do something, there's good reason for their recommendations:  https://forum.solar-electric.com/

I'm thinking that tiltable panels will give you a significant gain considering how north you are.   Flat panels, especially in winter, will do tiddly-squat when you're half way to the North Pole.   It ain't rocket surgery to come up with effective tilting mounts that will also be wind-resistant  -  just be like Isambard Kingdom Brunel and over-engineer the heck out of everything you make!   Here's some food for thought:  http://www.solarpaneltilt.com/   And this tells you how much solar irradiance you'll get at your location in BC:  http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

John

[richard5933]

There were two main reasons that we went with ground deployed panels for our bus. The first was so we could park in the shade and leave the panels in the sun. The other reason is tilting the panels.

Knowing that we travel mainly in the northern states in the summer, being able to tilt the panels towards the sun is important to maximize their ability to charge the battery bank. When we have our panels on the ground, it is quite clear the amount of difference it makes.

Not only do we tilt the panels towards the sun, a few times a day we will reorient them so that they point directly at the sun. Yes, it takes lots more hands-on involvement but the difference is stunning. We'll set out the panels at 8 or 9 in the morning and start the charging. The panels will be pointing NNE. By the end of the afternoon they are pointing NNW, and we'll swing them a few times throughout the day. If we know we're going to be away from the bus all day, we'll point them due south, but on those days when we come back towards the later afternoon the charge level will drop down to 10 or 12 amps. By reorienting towards the west, we can up the charge to 25-30 amps easily for another few hours.

Not sure how much of this you'll be able to accomplish with a roof-mounted setup, but if you're going to be in the northern states be sure to do your research before installing them flat on the roof.

[petarm1]

Again thanks for all the great input. I was looking on amazon just for the hell of it and found a kit that was rated at 950 watts, but what really got me thinking is that it came with a wind turbine as well. I never thought of doing both on the same setup. Being that i live near the ocean and it does get windy i may look into a option like that. Then i could keep the panels flat and get the benifits of the wind as well. By the way the kit was priced at 2000.00 canadian

[buswarrior]

Cheap, and not so cheap wind generators are another source of irritating noise to other campers.

Choose carefully.

On the panel front, some flat on the roof, and a mobile rig-on-a-rope tucked into the bays gives you the best of both worlds?

It all depends what you need the solar to do for you, to what degree you want to be a slave to screwing with it all when camping, how else you make or use power through the day.

Lots of variables that rarely get listed in any organized way.

Is there such a thing as "solar envy"?

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[bobofthenorth]

Wind power on a bus or a boat - the ultimate virtue signal.  Makes enough noise to annoy you AND the neighbours, makes virtually no power - certainly nothing usable, PITA to mount and needs setting up every time you move. 

I've done a couple of solar installations and used them.  The best advice I can offer is "Don't sell your generator".  Solar is a lot cheaper now than when I did ours - I thought I was lucky to get down to a buck a watt and now you should be able to easily do less than 50 cents.  In northern regions the efficiency is way down, more so if you take into account any desire to park your rig in the shade.  Tilting them on the roof is maybe possible but a royal PITA.  Sun following on the roof is only possible in theory - its not going to happen in the real world.  Some people claim to be doing ground mounted panels and turning them but if you move more than a couple times a year that's going to get old real quick.  If you're traveling in the contiguous US then flat mounted roof panels could be good supplement to float charge your battery bank - for the rest of us they're pretty much an ornament.  But either way, don't sell your genset.