If I had a battery of infinite size and a charge source of infinite capacity then no doubt my system would be able to operate for an infinite time, until then...?
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
X2. With 800 watts Solar should be around 500 ah Batteries, preferably GOOD Lithium. My system has NO source of charge other than Solar panels, and I have NEVER run out of power even though I have NO gas bottles. Cheers
3200 W panels and 15kWh battery keep us going pretty well even in southern Australia in the middle of winter, but still needs help from the big alternators when we travel.
No mains inlet and no generator and no gas, so an all-electric rig still requires some solar input every two or three days and that doesn't always happen
My understanding is that only 50% of an AGM battery is safely usable otherwise deterioration of battery will occur within a short time.
Correct me if I am wrong.
So, you may need another AGM battery to meet your required needs.
LiFePO4 batteries, on the other hand, are usable down to 10% or less and are, therefore, regarded as being of nearly double the usable capacity of AGM.
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Cheers, Richard (Dick0)
"Home is where the Den is parked, Designer Orchid Special towed by Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited"
"4x250W solar panels, Epever 80A charger and 3x135Ah Voltax Prismatic LiFePO4 Batteries".
No, you're not wrong but it's not a solution either and, I agree, I am light on battery because I'm going through a lengthy process of assessing exactly what is the best solar setup for me and the way I live.
However all more battery does is to allow you to go longer without sun. I could double my battery capacity and that would increase my no sun time to maybe three days *providing* the batteries were fully charged to begin with. More battery equals your assessment of how many dull days in a row you're going to experience, sooner or later you'll be wrong and you *will* run out of power.
As the sun is our only power source it doesn't matter a toss what your system is... if it doesn't get sun it ain't going to work. Unless you have a generator.
Yobarr spends most of his time in the hot and sunny areas of Australia and given his system is extensive (I once calculated it cost about $45,000) I'd be amazed if it didn't work as well as he claims. Indeed I doubt Tony's system was much cheaper but I don't think he spends as much time in the sunny areas hence his occasional need for a gen.
The point I try to make with my occasional posts whinging about lack of sun is that PV solar is a great system for our way of life but it's not perfect and I do this because many people, without electrical knowledge, read these forums and get the impression all they need is a battery, a solar panel from Ebay and they're set up for a couple of weeks in the bush with a fridge/freezer, lights, TV, computer, phones etc - they are usually disappointed.
__________________
"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
No, you're not wrong but it's not a solution either and, I agree, I am light on battery because I'm going through a lengthy process of assessing exactly what is the best solar setup for me and the way I live.
However all more battery does is to allow you to go longer without sun. I could double my battery capacity and that would increase my no sun time to maybe three days *providing* the batteries were fully charged to begin with. More battery equals your assessment of how many dull days in a row you're going to experience, sooner or later you'll be wrong and you *will* run out of power.
As the sun is our only power source it doesn't matter a toss what your system is... if it doesn't get sun it ain't going to work. Unless you have a generator.
Yobarr spends most of his time in the hot and sunny areas of Australia and given his system is extensive (I once calculated it cost about $45,000) I'd be amazed if it didn't work as well as he claims. Indeed I doubt Tony's system was much cheaper but I don't think he spends as much time in the sunny areas hence his occasional need for a gen.
The point I try to make with my occasional posts whinging about lack of sun is that PV solar is a great system for our way of life but it's not perfect and I do this because many people, without electrical knowledge, read these forums and get the impression all they need is a battery, a solar panel from Ebay and they're set up for a couple of weeks in the bush with a fridge/freezer, lights, TV, computer, phones etc - they are usually disappointed.
Well Mike, I hope you sort out your power deficiencies to a point where you do not need to run the gennie so often.
I am sure you will solve the problem as many of us have.
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Cheers, Richard (Dick0)
"Home is where the Den is parked, Designer Orchid Special towed by Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited"
"4x250W solar panels, Epever 80A charger and 3x135Ah Voltax Prismatic LiFePO4 Batteries".
My own caravan has 2 x 220 Ah agm batteries, charged by 2 x 120 Watt solar panels. Mppt solar controler is a must. I run 2 x 40 Ltr Engle fridges, 12 volt tv and sattilight dish, diesel heater, led lighting both inside the caravan and out side. Water pump and my amature radios and charging both our mobile phones. I also have a smart bridge in my battery system and it tells me of the avaliable capacity i have left. I do have a smart 30 Amp battery charger that is pluged into the mains power outlet under the bed and also a small Gentec 2 Kw 240 volt charger if needed and so far and even after two weeks of free camping was not needed. We have been free camping for up to 2 weeks and no problems with lack of power. Most days my batteries have around 90 ~95% capacity left and by lunch time the house batteries are back up to 100 %. At home we just plug the caravan into the power and the battery charger takes over if needed.
If anythink, and as others have said, you need to increase your battery capacity from 100 Ahs to 200 or even 300 Ahs. You can only use around 50% of your battery and this is were your system is failing.
-- Edited by valiant81 on Tuesday 13th of December 2022 10:15:16 AM
I have another seperate bank now . Bit like the old reserve tap on motorbike ! A seperate 150AH battery just in case all goes dead overnight . A nice big battery charger helps . I finally fitted a 60 amp charger to run off my generator . 10 - 20 min runs in overcast days gets me near fully charged . I use it to boil jug . Pumps charge in batteries and run geni when it doesnt annoy anyone . Its built in and reasonably quiet . Still dont run it till I need too ! If anyone complains I start up the Detroit V8 . Then they find out what noise is !!
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