Renogy solar panel system for RV's

The Lifelines you mentioned may be AGM batteries. AGMs are still lead/acid batteries but they're completely sealed and don't require ventilation like standard lead/acid batteries. They're maintenance-free, so there's no need to check the water levels. They're also significantly more expensive than standard lead/acid batteries, but worth it IMO. Just remember that if you make the switch to AGMs, they have a slightly different charging profile, and charging them with a "standard" charger could damage them.

Kev

Thank you for your response Kevin.  I've been reading Handy Bob's blog/website and he's very pro-Trojan flooded batteries.  But I just don't think it's a good idea for me, as a newbie, to take on battery maintenance on top of all the things I need to learn (and screw up).  I might do the Trojan Reliant AGM golf cart batteries, or perhaps Lifeline. 

Thank you for the words of caution.  From what I've read so far, the equalize part of charging is to be avoided with AGMs.  I'm sure there's more to know, will definitely keep reading/studying before I hook anything up.  I have several months until I'm off grid, will be here in WA until June and then at a campground in OR for the summer, indulging in hook ups for the a/c.

edit:  I just realized I should probably change my profile from "soon to be full time RVer" to "full time RVer"...even though I'm parked on someone's property with all the conveniences, I am living in my TT full time and have been since October  8)

Fiona Rose said:

From what I've read so far, the float part of charging is to be avoided with AGMs.

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Our AGM batteries float charge all the time. In fact, they're usually float charging, because we keep the coach plugged into shore-power when it's not in use, so the batteries don't discharge very much. It's the charger's slightly different output voltage that makes the difference. If you're going to use AGMs, just make sure your converter has an AGM setting, or it can be programmed for AGMs.

Kev

Thanks Kevin, you beat me to it.  I realized I mistook float for equalize, and edited my post

I'm looking at the Magnum MM1212 modified sine wave inverter/charger and they do have the AGM setting.  After reading about what needs pure sine, I feel this is one place where I can cut a corner because I don't watch TV and my laptop is an old pc.  I simply cannot afford the best of everything, as my max budget (without solar panels for the time being) is $2000.

Fiona Rose said:

I've been reading Handy Bob's blog/website and he's very pro-Trojan flooded batteries.  But I just don't think it's a good idea for me, as a newbie, to take on battery maintenance on top of all the things I need to learn (and screw up).  I might do the Trojan Reliant AGM golf cart batteries, or perhaps Lifeline. 

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Fiona, although I am a proponent of and often recommended Handy Bob's blog, understand while his recommendation for wet cell Trojan batteries is sound and there is good reason to consider it, there are other considerations and what will work in your particular situation.  Bottom line AGM's have real benefits and advantages as you seem to have discovered.  As I understand from something I read recently, Trojan has had to recall batteries and there is no time table yet for them to become available.  Lifeline makes a darn good battery, so you cannot go wrong there and they may be less expensive than Trojan without any loss of performance and capability.

Gizmo, thank you, yes I read that about Trojan Reliants on another thread, it could have been your post.  Am wondering what difference these are in the link below, the "T6V AGM" model which is not Reliant and doesn't seem to be recalled.

https://www.batterystuff.com/batteries/t6v-agm.html

I've got a few months for research so just enjoying the process right now.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around two 6v @200ah versus two 12v @100ah, something about plate thickness which does make sense.  Given what I've read in other threads on this forum it is a discussion all unto itself 

Fiona Rose said:

Gizmo, thank you, yes I read that about Trojan Reliants on another thread, it could have been your post.  Am wondering what difference these are in the link below, the "T6V AGM" model which is not Reliant and doesn't seem to be recalled.

https://www.batterystuff.com/batteries/t6v-agm.html

I've got a few months for research so just enjoying the process right now.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around two 6v @200ah versus two 12v @100ah, something about plate thickness which does make sense.  Given what I've read in other threads on this forum it is a discussion all unto itself 

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Fiona each 6v in your example is capable of 200ah of power, but when you wire them together in a series to create 12V (required by your rig) the amp hours remains at 200ah.  On the other hand  two 12v wired in parallel leaves the voltage at the required 12v, but the amp hours doubles so if each proposed battery is 100ah, when wired in parallel the rest is 200 ah available.  But here is the thing, you never want to consume more than 40 - 50% of amp hours or you will hasten the life of the batteries.  So this is why you one needs to get a handle on how much AH they will be consuming on average when purchasing batteries and setting up a solar system.

Thank you Gizmo, I understand that part of it.  What I don't understand is why, despite both scenarios being equal (12v @200ah), one would deplete more rapidly than the other.  It seems the 6v scenario, connected in series, is preferable due to plate thickness. 

Here's the quote I'm referring to from a battery distributor I might use in Oregon: 

Advantages and Disadvantages of using two 12 volt batteries connected in parallel or two 6 volt batteries connected in series.

It would appear that there is no significant difference in capacity and voltage between these two examples. But this really is not the case. The plates designed for the T-105 use the same active material and alloy of the group 27 deep cycle batteries but both the T-105 negative and positive plates are 60% thicker than those found in the deep cycle 27 group sizes. The significance of this is that these 6 Volt batteries should have a longer lifespan than the two deep cycle 27 group sizes, if properly cared for. While the capacities are similar (220 versus 225 Amp Hrs.), battery longevity favors the two 6 Volt batteries. Why? Because a major cause of deep cycle battery failure is the shedding of active material from the battery plates.  Source:  http://www.batteriesnorthwest.com/batteryschool.cfm?TID=20#ANC20

Forgot to say, although I'm not hooked up for battery monitoring yet, I found a source/guy online with some similar habits to my own.

Given what he writes, I will assume for research sake that my average daily usage is roughly 800-900 watt-hours, give or take a bit:

Here's a rough breakdown of wattage:

    Laptop when charging an empty battery - 60w
    Laptop when not charging battery - 20w
    Light bulb - 20w
    Water Pump (for showers, sink, toilet) - 50w (only when actively being used)
    Vent fan - 12 - 35w (depending on speed)

So, just for fun (and because we'll need it in the next section), let's see how much electricity I use in a day.

I usually have one light on usually from 10pm to 3am. That's five hours times 20w. 100 watt-hours.

I have my laptop on for that same amount of time, which is another 100Wh.

The fan is on for 11 hours a day on low and 13 on medium. 130+285 = 415Wh.

Half an hour for the water pump. 25Wh.

The laptop is plugged in for about 6 hours, so that's another 120Wh.

If we add that all up, I use about 760Wh per day.   Source:  http://tynan.com/living-in-a-small-rv-electricity

Fiona baybee..........
Hope all is well with you today. You still got a big big issue here that a couple peeps have brushed on that you have yet to work out:

Solar Power works real real well when you have SUN! and Eugene Ore doesn't get awhole lot. Now I spend 8 months of my year fulltime boondock living in West Central Michigan and the annual amount of sunshine days where I'm at is essentially identical to Eugene Ore.

Approximately 160 days of sunshine in both areas with only about 70 of those days having total sun. This means 90 days of those 'sunny' days are only partly sunny. This means you are looking at approximately 200 days of NO SUN .........not to mention nighty night time.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Oregon/annual-days-of-sunshine.php
https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Michigan/annual-days-of-sunshine.php

Also keep in mind West Michigan and Eugen Ore are similar latitudes 44ish degrees North which means the sun is relatively low in the sky compared with the SW USA. You need to have the panel tilted at about 30ish degrees to optimize them.

........and evidently you'll be staying there fulltime?? For me this is why I went with a decent genset. When you go days & days with NO SUN an entire roof full of solar panels aint guna do you any good! So you better have a good back up plan.

This is why I diversified: 160 watt roof mount solar panel
                                    120 watt portable solar panel with 30' cord.
When in West Michigan I'm parked in typical Great Lakes Northern Mixed coniferous & deciduous forest and my roof mount is often at least partially shaded even when the SUN is shining all day. In retrospect I wish I would not have had roof mount and just bought 3 of the 120 watt portables. I would have had more wattage capability and versatility for same basic amount of $$.

My trailer (a toy hauler) has a built in 40 gallon gas tank with which I can run the generator for the inevitable times I need to.

I also have 2 of the 30 lb propane tanks.

In late November I hook up and head to SW AZ & California where the amount of available SUN is practically limitless. In fact I'll be heading back to Michigan in about 2 weex.

Summary: solar may not be a viable full time boondock option for you at this time till you have $$$ to invest to cover ALL bases in a proper manner.

Thanx..........INTJohn

Thank you INTJohn, Kevin, Gizmo and others who've given me realistic options for full time dry camping in the Pacific Northwest

I've got my homework cut out for me -- will keep you posted, and will surely be asking more questions as time goes on.

Something else you might want to look into is wind powered generator to supplement solar and genset. I looked into this in depth as an option for my own system and while I never invested any money into anything I've left the door open & it may be a viable option for you to integrate into your overall charging system when you finally decide.....

Good luck!..........
Thanx.......INTJohn

Edit: It took me a little bit to find this: http://www.solar-electric.com/primus-wind-power-air-40-12-volt-generator.html

Primus makes some really nice 12 volt wind generators for 850$ to 1000$ which can be integrated with solar and of course they can charge your batteries even at night if there's a wind........

Portable nuclear power is also an option for your climate.    http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/portable-backyard-nuclear-reactors-ready-to-be-installed-by-2013.html

Just came across your post.  We installed a Renogy system last spring.  No problems with it.

I didn't note that you have calculated your daily electrical needs while off the grid.  That would drive the size of your battery bank and that in turn the size of the wattage of of your solar system.  If you do intend to use it in the winter that would really drive up the size needed with the short days and low sun angle.

In the NW I would guess your battery bank should be sized to able to meet your electrical needs for three days and a solar array sized to recharge it in a single day of good sun.

Good luck

How did you run you're wiring to the solar panels to account for the
movement of the pop-up roof?

Ran the wiring along the scissor mechanism.  From roof long lift tube to pivot, generous loop, then other lift pivot to stationary pivot point.  See below pics.

Drewd, thanks for the nuclear info, will check into it. 

Len and Jo, your system looks great!  Thank you for your input; I am yet to "unplug" from electric hookups at the property I'm living on.  Once I figure out my energy needs, I'll know whether solar is even in the cards for living in western Oregon.  I have a few months to mull it over.  ;D

Hey there Fiona,  reading over this string and had to say hello..  I'm heading out back to boondocking next week and also heading to Eugene.  I'm looking at the dunes area and
hope I can find some cool spots to hang out near the ocean..  the Stanislaus National Forest runs from Florence down to Coos Bay and it is mostly dunes..  been trying to find out
ahead of time if those sand trails I'm seeing on G Earth are 4 X 4 only..  I have a Lance TC on a Super Duty truck but not 4 by..  Guess I'll find out next week..
Are you in Eugene now?  Would be great to meet up and share adventure stories..  I've got a few doozies... 

We have 100 watt solar Go Power panel on roof of our rv and love it.. just dispersed camped "boondocked" for 5 days with two other friends n their units.. enjoyed our coffee while they fired up their generators.. never took ours out of pickup, it is just for backup... of course, we use percolator on gas stove...

Supposedly this system is supposed to work in even cloudy or semi sun... whatever that comes down to. Check out their website site...

The only thing hubby WOULD LIKE TO DO is get an inverter to run our TV and directtv receiver for a couple of hours on college game day... any ideas from this group on costs of inverter..?

I installed 600 Watts of Renogy panels, 400 amps of storage and a Morningstar 45 MPPT controller in six months ago.  We're very happy with the system.