Solar Panel Project

UL Solar has very good prices when compared to others. The quality seems to be quite good. Are you going to get the 90w setup for your camper?
Charlie

 

Have not ordered Teardrop yet (Saving like crazy!) I will talk to Craig/Evan about drop shipping from UL for installation during build.

BTW Craig/Evan, that was my buddy John that dropped by the factory this week to check out the 560 Ultra. He knows wood and and wood working and says that your wood work and construction quality are beyond compare. That is a powerful statement coming from him and carries a ton of weight for me.

 

Hey, Charlie! That would be Craig/Cary that you need to talk to. Unless there was a memo that I missed, I'm not a Camp-Inn employee. I run this forum unofficially - it's not moderated by Camp-Inn, but we're glad to have both Cary & Craig/Betsey actively participating in an official capacity.

I drop shipped all my stereo components to Craig/Cary so I'm sure you will be able to work out something similar with your solar panel. BTW, mine is working great!!! We camped for 3 days off the grid, ran the stereo all day every day, TV at night some, and the fan all night and the battery stayed fully charged the whole time!

 

Roger,

Aha, that was you that John was talking about! He just kept saying his buddy in FL was the guy.

Cary

 

Just some info on the solar panel experiment using the 12volt crockpot. It looks like the 12volt crockpot running all day is not a good idea, even with the solar panel hooked up. I tried it out today because we will be camping this weekend and I wanted to see how it went while safely at home. When I got home after 12 hours of the crockpot running, there were no signs of life coming from the battery. CPR is ongoing as I write this. The battery is now showing signs of a heartbeat and will be on life support thru the night, at which point it will be taken off life support to see if it can maintain a heartbeat on its own. I did lose the sun halfway thru the day, so I don't know if that had anything to do with the solar panel keeping up with the draw on the battery. I also don't know if a bigger panel would have done much better. I also didn't have a way to keep the panel in the general direction of the sun. Hopefully my battery will go on to live a long and healthy life, full of adventure. I will find out soon what the prognosis is. I also hope this info helps you all.
Charlie

 

Wanted to give a little solar panel data for folks after a week of boondocking in northern Minnesota.

We recently bought the 55 watt panel from UL Solar, and this was our first chance to try it out. We spend a week every year camping at Campers' Paradise, an island accessible by causeway in northern Minnesota. Our campsite was well shaded, so we only were getting about 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day (when it was clear - our tear is the RainMaker after all) which required periodically moving the panel to take full advantage of, and indirect light the rest of the day.

After fully charging (but unplugged), our battery usually reads 12.6. We used the fantastic fan most of each night and used the interior lights for 2-3 hours. Other than that, only minimal battery use. Here is the voltage pattern for the week:

Day / Morning / Evening / Weather
Sun / N/A / 12.6
Mon / 12.2 / 12.6 / Sunny
Tue / 12.1 / 12.3 / Rainy-Cloudy
Wed / 11.6 / 12.4 / Sunny
Thur/ 11.8 / 12.0 / Storms Cloudy
Fri / 11.2 / 11.6 / Cloudy
Sat / 11.0 / 11.4 / Sunny (Not Around to move panel)
Sun / 10.8

What we learned: Consistent with past experience, the battery alone is sufficient for a weekend (3-day, 2 night) trip at our level of usage. Using the 55-watt panel would recharge each day's usage if it was sunny and we were around to to move it around to follow the sun. Given sub-optimal weather and limited sunlight, the panel was still sufficient to maintain a usable charge for a week. The combination of bad weather and not being around on the sunny day left us marginal on Sunday morning - we would have needed to have good weather for a solid recharge, or would have needed to recharge using shore power or tow vehicle.

One conclusion for us is that rather than investing in a larger panel, having a longer cable available would have allowed better placement of the panel. Overall, we're pleased with the results. It was very nice to extend the battery life for the full week without needing to restrict battery usage.

 

Thanks for the results Eric. I certainly haven't been keeping detailed records like that - perhaps I should.

 

I'm an actuary - it can't be helped!

 

Eric,
Thanks for posting such detailed results and I'm glad you had some sunny days on your trip. We will see how our panel does this weekend into next week while we are camping. It looks like our battery has survived its crockpot ordeal and has been taken off life support. I do think that the 55watt panel is big enough to handle the electrical load of normal usage especially if the panel can be moved to face the sun once or twice during the day.
Charlie

 

I experienced in person a 560 last week-end and took pictures of the owners personally mounted solar panel. Thought it may be of interest to the forum. The pictures are posted in the Photo Gallery. If I can answer any questions to what I experienced, let me know.

 

The link to the solar setup that Kenster posted:

http://www.campinnforum.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showgallery&Number=3202

 

Hi Evan

Well not sure if you added a solar panel yet to you tear... I did add the external one to mine after a lot of though. Did not want to have to park in the sun and wanted to move the panel around. Also wanted it to be easy to connect and no micky mouse wiring. I also added a battery monitor which Craig and Cary added for me on the build along with the solar controler. I added a simple switch in the cabnet to turn the battery monitor off and on.
Will add pictures to the picture form since I don't know how to do it here.

Todd

 

Todd, when you add your picture to the picture forum, you will see three links at the bottom: Small, Medium, Large. Just select the text for the size you want, and paste it into a post anywhere else on the forum. Let me know if you have any trouble.

And yes, I did add a solar panel to my 560 already. This is a very long thread, but if you go back to about page 3 you will see it.

 

Todd,

We're looking at solar panels now. What size is this one?

Thanks.

 

Hi Benn and Meribeth

I have a 50 watt panel but if I had to do it again I would go for the 70 to 80 watt panel. Mine dose work good in the sun but I love to camp in the trees. So I also bought a Generator (Yamaha) 1000. This way if weather is bad or no sun where I am at I can charge away. Gives me allot more flexibility were I camp. What I want to make is a nice stand for the panel to keep it off the ground and tilt it for best affect. If anyone has one they really like post a picture... ie for a portable panel please .

Todd

 

Todd,

Which battery monitor did you add? Does it monitor Amps being consumed and total amps used? Are you glad you have it? Where did you mount the display? In the bedroom or kitchen (have to make these trailers sound larger than they are...) If you would do it over, would you add the solar option if you had the generator? I don't have a lot of storage space in my tow vehicle. I am starting to wonder where I would keep a large solar panel. A generator might be easier to carry. It looks like you have a 550. Thoughts on your decision? 550 vs 560? Thanks...Tears of Joy

 

Tears,

I know your question was addressed to Todd, but I can't help jumping in. One thing to consider with a solar panel: With a small panel, shade and angle to the sun are very important. But with a larger panel (around 80w and above) it doesn't seem to matter much at all. I've got more electronic gear in my tear than just about anybody, and I can run everything simultaneously in the shade all day long without any problems. I've got the small battery too.

That's why I'm a big fan of the roof mounted panel on the 560. Put a 80/90w panel up there and don't ever think about power again. I haven't bought the generator yet, because I haven't needed it. The only time it would come in handy is if we needed to run the AC.

Regarding the battery meter - the stock unit is fine for me. I glance at it every so often, and... yep - the battery is pretty much full. If you've got more power than you need, the fancy battery meters aren't worth as much.

 

Evan How much does a 80/90w panel go for ?? and where can one find one for a good price without getting ripped off.

 

I got my 85w at UL-Solar - for under $300
http://www.ul-solar.com/product_p/stp085p-tl.htm

I've had it for about six months with no problems so far.

 

Thanks Evan I will check into the info you gave me