Xplorer AM Solar Setup

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Nice set-up, congratulation. I second BBQ recommendation. What are the black knobs for?

Those are for easy removal so you could install the tilt bars. I will probably remove those for a cleaner look. Tilting is a PITA unless you are going to sit around in one place for a long time.

[wincrasher]

Running a test in a fully sunny spot today to see what kind of output I can get. Yesterday I only got 1600 watt hours because of shading from my palm tree.

[wincrasher]

We had a really good solar day today. Peak of 367 watts. Total output was down to 1.26kWh, (usually it's 1.8kWh, but peak watts around 295), but the charge time was way down - went from 11.23 hours to 7.47 hours. The start point has been the same each day - SOC at 90% - running the same things each night results. Each evening I end up at 99% SOC when I get home after dusk.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

We had a really good solar day today. Peak of 367 watts. Total output was down to 1.26kWh, (usually it's 1.8kWh, but peak watts around 295), but the charge time was way down - went from 11.23 hours to 7.47 hours. The start point has been the same each day - SOC at 90% - running the same things each night results. Each evening I end up at 99% SOC when I get home after dusk.

+1

That's good.

[Saldar]

Solar makes up for your daily usage!? That's great! Thanks for the info.

[wincrasher]

This weekend I plan to draw down the batteries deeper using the inverter to see if I can get more out of the solar. Was hoping for 2kwh per day out of the array. All this week it seems to have dropped the output and shorten the bulk charge time, yet still top off the batteries.

[Davydd]

The sun is getting shorter and lower by the day.

[wincrasher]

Actually, the ratings for the winter months on output are actually higher than summer. Perhaps it's because it's cooler, you'll get more out of the panels.

[booster]

I think when you get that far south, the summer sun angles are actually worse the ones in the winter because the sun is so far north. When I was playing with the solar calculators I noticed the same thing.

[wincrasher]

I drew the batteries down overnight. Was at 70% at dawn, so we'll see what we get today on the solar.

All the interior and exterior lights on, is a pretty good load, even though they are all LED. I had put in pretty bright fixtures - most are 280 lumens each. The PS4 was a surprise - it must use 6-8 amps by itself. I also suspect my fridge switches over to AC if the inverter on, which as you would expect, draws more current.

So all in, with all the lights, TV, PS4, and fridge, I was running at 15 ah all night.