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  1. #41
    Left The Driveway
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    Thank you. Your type of system is in the future and I will save info.
    2018 Reflection 337RLS
    2010 F-250 6.8L V/10 Gas
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  2. #42
    Site Sponsor andrewssteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TucsonJim View Post

    [B][U]Lessons Learned

    However, this experiment indicated that I do not have enough solar charging capacity to top off the batteries each day. I had to run a generator for an hour a day to get them topped back off. My solar array produces about 16 amps at noon. Of course it's less efficient in the morning or evening. If I'm using an average of 132 amp hours per day, and want the system to charge in five hours, I'll need to produce 26.4 amp hours on average to complete the task. So, I'm going to double my solar array in order to meet or exceed my requirements. My current array is three 100 watt panels in series. I plan on adding another three panels in series and then running both arrays in parallel to the controller.

    Jim
    Hey Jim, Could you walk me thru the way you calculated your solar panel requirements. I've got a recent Victron charge controller that reports instantaneous amps going into the battery and cumulative watt-hours for the day, but not amp-hours.

    How did you determine you were short 3 panels based on knowing that your PV array produces 16 amps (instantaneous?) at noon?

    -Steve
    Steve and Renee
    2018 Solitude 310GK, disc brakes, Morryde SRE4000/XFactor with heavy duty shackles
    2012 Ram 3500 SRW 6.7 Diesel, air bags
    18k B&W Companion, non-slider
    640 watts solar, 400 amp-hour Lion Safari UT 1300 battery bank
    Aims 1500 watt inverter/charger with ATS
    Somerset, WI

  3. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by andrewssteve View Post
    Hey Jim, Could you walk me thru the way you calculated your solar panel requirements. I've got a recent Victron charge controller that reports instantaneous amps going into the battery and cumulative watt-hours for the day, but not amp-hours.

    How did you determine you were short 3 panels based on knowing that your PV array produces 16 amps (instantaneous?) at noon?

    -Steve
    Hi Steve

    I'm sure Jim will get back to you. But in the mean time...

    Remember volts x amps = watts. So the same can be said: volts x amp hours = watt hours.

    If you divide your Victron reported daily watt hours by 12 volts, this equals your daily amp hours. I have a Victron 100/50 and the instant read is interesting, but you can easily see the effect of a cloud going by. So to me the instant read is not that useful.

    He wants to generate 132ah during 5 hours of sunshine. He gets 19ah during the noon hour. Presently he generates 19ah*5hr=95ah. And that's optimistic bec 2.5 hrs before noon is not as good as noon, the ah(s) are tapering up to the noon reading. Ditto the second 2.5 hrs, the ah(s) are tapering down from the noon reading. So at 95 he's short 37ah (132-95). Doubling his 3 solar panels will give him (95ah*2=) 190ah. A good deal more than the 132ah he needs. So even on cloudy days, and considering the tapering up and down, he'll probably still get the 132ah per day he wants.

    Hope the math helps.

    Mike

  4. #44
    Site Sponsor Cate&Rob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by andrewssteve View Post
    Hey Jim, Could you walk me thru the way you calculated your solar panel requirements.
    Hi Steve,

    Send me a PM on this . . .

    Rob
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    2015 Reflection 303RLS

  5. #45
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mikec557 View Post
    Hi Steve

    I'm sure Jim will get back to you. But in the mean time...

    Remember volts x amps = watts. So the same can be said: volts x amp hours = watt hours.

    If you divide your Victron reported daily watt hours by 12 volts, this equals your daily amp hours. I have a Victron 100/50 and the instant read is interesting, but you can easily see the effect of a cloud going by. So to me the instant read is not that useful.

    He wants to generate 132ah during 5 hours of sunshine. He gets 19ah during the noon hour. Presently he generates 19ah*5hr=95ah. And that's optimistic bec 2.5 hrs before noon is not as good as noon, the ah(s) are tapering up to the noon reading. Ditto the second 2.5 hrs, the ah(s) are tapering down from the noon reading. So at 95 he's short 37ah (132-95). Doubling his 3 solar panels will give him (95ah*2=) 190ah. A good deal more than the 132ah he needs. So even on cloudy days, and considering the tapering up and down, he'll probably still get the 132ah per day he wants.

    Hope the math helps.

    Mike
    I believe a good rule-of-thumb to use is that a 100 watt solar panel will produce about 30 Amp Hours per day. Obviously this depends on several factors so YMMV.
    2018 297RSTS
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  6. #46
    Site Sponsor andrewssteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by srobins View Post
    Jim

    I am curious on you decision to mount the temperature sensor as you did.
    So Jim in on another forum now, but I'm curious, too. I have AGM batteries, and I think the temp-sensor should be reporting battery temp. So I'm kinda thinking the place to mount the sensor is in the middle of the battery bank. I have 4 batteries, so I'd be mounting mine between the two outer pairs. Not on just a single terminal of one battery.

    Can someone weigh it?

    -Steve
    Steve and Renee
    2018 Solitude 310GK, disc brakes, Morryde SRE4000/XFactor with heavy duty shackles
    2012 Ram 3500 SRW 6.7 Diesel, air bags
    18k B&W Companion, non-slider
    640 watts solar, 400 amp-hour Lion Safari UT 1300 battery bank
    Aims 1500 watt inverter/charger with ATS
    Somerset, WI

  7. #47
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    You're right, you do want it to measure the temperature at the battery. That reported temperature is used by the charge controller to somehow adjust the power it sends to the battery bank. I think the question is which battery to connect to. That may vary depending on any particular battery bank setup. Personally, I don't think the temperature around the batteries varies enough to really matter. I'd place it as close to the middle as is practical.

    Just my 2 cents.
    Mike

  8. #48
    Site Sponsor andrewssteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mikec557 View Post
    Personally, I don't think the temperature around the batteries varies enough to really matter. I'd place it as close to the middle as is practical.

    Just my 2 cents.
    Mike
    I'm leaning that way, too.

    -Steve
    Steve and Renee
    2018 Solitude 310GK, disc brakes, Morryde SRE4000/XFactor with heavy duty shackles
    2012 Ram 3500 SRW 6.7 Diesel, air bags
    18k B&W Companion, non-slider
    640 watts solar, 400 amp-hour Lion Safari UT 1300 battery bank
    Aims 1500 watt inverter/charger with ATS
    Somerset, WI

  9. #49
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    Where did you buy the water proof box for the shunt?

    Nice job. Where did you buy the water proof box for the shunt? I am struggling to find one like to one you have. If you have a link to where you purchased it that would be great.

    Thanks







    Quote Originally Posted by TucsonJim View Post
    Victron BMV-712 Smart Meter usage



    Once the meter was installed as detailed above, it was time to start monitoring usage. The main screen shows detailed usage as it is occurring, and the secondary screen shows statistical usage over time.

    We took a boondocking trip to Utah last week, and used the meter to closely monitor our usage. The primary goal was to determine if your battery bank is sufficient for our needs, and if my solar charging system is adequate to recharge the batteries in a reasonable time frame (4-5 hours). Our typical usage is 3-4 hours of satellite television in the evening, followed the next morning with brewing coffee, making toast and running the microwave for 5-10 minutes through my 2000 Watt Pure Sine inverter. And if it's cold outside, we keep the furnace set at 68°F while sleeping.

    The image below shows the status of the batteries at a given point in time. As you can see, I'd used 145 amp hours of battery power which equates to 52% remaining power. This was much more than I anticipated. But as you can see from the temperature reading at the bottom of the screen, it was 39.2°F when the image was captured. The furnace ran quite a bit over night and used a lot of battery power. You can also see that the current flow was a +37.1 Amps. This is because I was running the generator at the time.



    In the next image, the top of the page shows the most recent discharge, the deepest discharge and the average discharge. These numbers are vital when determining what size battery bank you need along with how much solar charging you need to keep them topped off.



    Lessons Learned

    My analysis indicated that my battery bank provides plenty of power for our typical usage. We plan on camping in the Northern U.S. and Canada in the summer, and the Southern U.S. in the winter. This should minimize the need for air conditioning which will require running a generator or camping in an RV park with hook ups.

    However, this experiment indicated that I do not have enough solar charging capacity to top off the batteries each day. I had to run a generator for an hour a day to get them topped back off. My solar array produces about 16 amps at noon. Of course it's less efficient in the morning or evening. If I'm using an average of 132 amp hours per day, and want the system to charge in five hours, I'll need to produce 26.4 amp hours on average to complete the task. So, I'm going to double my solar array in order to meet or exceed my requirements. My current array is three 100 watt panels in series. I plan on adding another three panels in series and then running both arrays in parallel to the controller.

    Jim

  10. #50
    Site Sponsor WondersAwait's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by whiteknuckles View Post
    Nice job. Where did you buy the water proof box for the shunt? I am struggling to find one like to one you have. If you have a link to where you purchased it that would be great.

    Thanks
    You're replying to a thread from 2019 and the OP hasn't been on the boards for 9 months. But that said, post #3 in this thread has a "shopping list" of what he used, including the boxes with Amazon links.

    The other option you could take is going to a local hardware store and browse for solutions, if you're a bit creative and handy.
    2022 GMC Sierra 3500 AT4, CC, SRW, 6.6L L8T Gas, MYD 6-Speed
    2022 Reflection 303RLS w/ Gen-Y Executive gooseneck conversion hitch
    630aH LiFePO4 Lion Energy battery bank, Victron Multi-Plus II Inverter, Victron MPPT, 563w solar array, CerboGX, 40a DC-DC charger

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