I also set it up before I came in this morning, so hopefully I have data. I am making a dump run today, so I will be headed home during lunch and will check on it.
I hope the 9V has enough juice. It is a little old, and only barely made my tongue twitch on the tongue test.
Also at work yesterday and some this morning, I also got some research done for the solar. I think I have selected the components I am going to use.
Battery: KiloVault HAB 7.5kWh
https://realgoods.com/kilovault-hab-75kwh-lithium-battery-storage-system
Charge controller/inverter (pre-wired system): MS4448PAE Single Magnum w/ Classic 150 Power Center
https://realgoods.com/pre-wired-magnum-ms4448pae-off-grid-inverter-system-w-midnite-classic-150-controller
I have narrowed it down to 2 different solar panels depending on which ones fit better.
Solar Panels: REC TwinPeak 2S Mono Solar Panel - 375W
https://realgoods.com/rec-twinpeak-2s-mono-solar-panel-375w-rec375tp2sm72
Solar Panels: Canadian Solar 315 watt Module Black MC4 CS3K-315MS – 40mm Frame Solar Panel
https://www.wholesalesolar.com/1930040/canadian-solar/solar-panels/canadian-solar-315-watt-module-black-mc4-cs3k-315ms-40mm-frame-solar-panel
I haven't decided how I am going to put the panels on the camper yet. I originally desired approximately 8 300W panels, so 2.4kW. Going with 6 of 375W or 7 of the 315W (I would probably do 8 to keep the panels even) I struggled to fit them on the roof. So I came up with a way to play around with designs. The outermost dashed lines at the top and bottom are 8'6" which is the legal road width in most states. The solid box is 7x12, the size of the camper, and the small dotted lines make it 7x14.
With the 315W panels I can get close, but I am over on literally everything. It ended up at 9'6 wide, which is well beyond the legal limit, and almost 16' long.
The 375W panel ended up even more grimm. There was literally nowhere to put the last one, and I am still over 16' long.
With the 375W panels though I had an idea. I could make the last two fold up and down, basically make them fold up like an awning. The biggest problem with that is I end up over 10' wide, which means if I stop at a rest area I can't fold them up unless I want the truck that parks next to me to tear them off, assuming the spots are less than 10' wide. The internet suggests that semi-parking spots are only 9' or a little over. So that is a dangerous option.
Something else I could consider is putting the last two panels on the truck cap. I would need some sort of break-away wiring harness (so it doesn't destroy things if I forget to unplug it) but that is an option, and would allow me to put up to 3 or 4 more panels on (my next truck will definitely have an 8' bed). Something to consider. If I get some time, I intend to revisit the number of panels required as well since my only conclusion with real math behind it is that 10 panels was more than I needed.
I haven't determined how I will end up wiring them together yet. I think I will do a combination of series and parallel, but need to do more reading on that. My initial gut is to do 4 parallel groups of 2 panels wired in series. I don't want to put them all in series (the easiest to wire), because a single errant branch shading one panel of the array turns a sunny day into a cloudy day as far as output is concerned. If I do a split setup and put some of the panels on the truck then I have to do parallel groupings. I could put them all in parallel, but that means using near 0 gauge wire (10A per panel). If I go with an odd number of panels though, I will have to wire them in parallel.
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