Solar Backup – when the sun don’t shine

Submitted: Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 20:48
ThreadID: 67838 Views:3976 Replies:5 FollowUps:15
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My roof top solar setup is complete and working well. The next challenge for me is what to do when ‘the sun don’t shine’.

Briefly, our set up consists of car roof top panels (160w), and Redarc isolator and heavy cable, charging 2/Remco 100ahr batteries in the camper. Our power demand is about 80ahr/day mainly due to 110ltr Waeco upright compressor fridge.

I have a 1kw late model Yamaha inverter generator. It’s a beaut unit but personally I don’t like the idea of unleaded fuel and camping (fires etc). Still this is an option provided I get a 25amp (or more) charger - only have 7amp Ctek at present.

The other options I’m considering are:
- run the car for a while, as is;
- run car with Arrid Twin Charge (presume these give a higher amp flow from alternator);
- run car with RanOx Battery Booster (thread 67054).

I’ve had regard for the things Ian of RV Powerstream and others have said about the Ranox (presume similar comments apply to the Arrid) but I'm pretty keen to look at those units anyway. I won’t consider a Christie generator (due to noise, cost, unleaded). Not wanting to spend too much more either….

So, I'm interested in any comments on above options or others.

Thanks in anticipation.

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Reply By: Gramps - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 21:38

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 21:38
"I don’t like the idea of unleaded fuel and camping (fires etc)"

It's only a problem if you're stupid. I can't believe how paranoid some people are regarding transporting unleaded fuel.

AnswerID: 359585

Follow Up By: jdwynn (Adelaide) - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 21:48

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 21:48
Yep Gramps I'm a bit paranoid. But I am still considering generator option so mind not totally closed on that one. cheers
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Follow Up By: Gramps - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:02

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:02
Hahahahahaha I was sure you were'nt stupid. Common sense will ease your paranoia LOL

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Reply By: Richard Kovac - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:25

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:25
jdwynn Hi

We have a Christie generator as a back up, and only take 5l of ULP.
It's in a lockable box on the draw bar, it's one of the things we take not to use.

Cheers

Richard

Don't worry about Grumps, I've never seen a wise word posted from him in 5 years.. LOL
AnswerID: 359597

Follow Up By: Gramps - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:34

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:34
Drop dead Richard

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FollowupID: 627551

Follow Up By: Richard Kovac - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:51

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:51
Hahahahahaha..... watching your on replys now AL.. :-)
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Follow Up By: Gramps - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:54

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:54
Richard,

Can you speak even a modicum of English or do we need to get an interpreter for you ?
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Follow Up By: Richard Kovac - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:00

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:00
Hahahahahaha..... watching your on replies now AL.. :-)


Watching you're own replies now AL.. :-) Gees you are getting as bad as Willem, must be an old age thing.. XXXX ;-)
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Follow Up By: Gramps - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:02

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:02
ROFLMAO

You still can't get it right. Go back to primary school, you'll learn a lot.
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Follow Up By: Richard Kovac - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:08

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:08
bleep off al
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Follow Up By: Gramps - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:12

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:12
Hahahahahaha that's the only intelligible statement you've made all night.

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Follow Up By: Richard Kovac - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:14

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:14
No the First one was true.. Hahahahahaha

Don't worry about Grumps, I've never seen a wise word posted from him in 5 years.. LOL

Hahahahahaha
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Reply By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:29

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:29
Dose the Yamaha run your battery charger satisfactorily? How long does it take to charge your batteries? We have a 2 kva Honda. When we were in the Kimberley last year and our solar panels let us down (dodgy batch), we ran the Honda for a couple of hours or so each evening and that was enough to keep the three batteries up to scratch. . We have a 150 litre fridge with internal freezer. We still had some charge coming in from the solar.

Motherhen
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AnswerID: 359598

Follow Up By: jdwynn (Adelaide) - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:40

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:40
Howdy Motherhen
Generator runs charger all ok - but 80ahr demand divided by 7amp charger means 11 hrs a day to keep things square (3 hours say for 25amp charger) - bit conservative I know but outlines our situation that if there's shade/cloud for a few days then we need a backup. cheers JD

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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:44

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:44
Oops - Does the Yamaha - -


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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:50

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 22:50
How many dark days before you're in strife? We toured for a couple of weeks with one 80 w panel and one 100 a/h battery which ran a 40 litre Engel plus reading lights. Even when we had a couple of dull/rainy days the panel put enough in to keep the battery pretty well fully charged.

Mh
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Follow Up By: jdwynn (Adelaide) - Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:08

Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 at 23:08
MH, if we take batteries down to 50% then we've got 100ahr at our disposal, and with say 20 ahr coming from sun I guess we have almost a couple of days. Thing is I want to be able to sit at a nice place and veg out / fish etc, for a week or two.

Our Waeco uses 24 hr average of about 3amp per hour (72 per day). Bit of a power sucker. We were in a forest on weekend and was getting only 0.5amps from panels so ended up transferring from camper fridge to Engel (40l) in 4wd . Doesn't use nearly as much power but we've been trying to stop using Engel and use the space for other stuff since we got our camper. cheers JD
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Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009 at 07:50

Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009 at 07:50
JD,

The Arrid Twin Charge (and I presume the RanOx) do not give a higher amp flow from the alternator.

They boost the voltage to overcome voltage drop on longer cable runs.

My electrical needs are not as demanding as yours. If for some reason the "sun doesn't shine", I have the ability to charge both my auxiliary battery and the portable Thumper power pack from the vehicle alternator.

Bill

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AnswerID: 359635

Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009 at 16:31

Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009 at 16:31
I recently fitted a 2 way Redarc (and heavy cable to avoid voltage drop) so that I can charge my house batteries from the alternator if required. Previously there was no connection between the 2 and the house was charged by solar alone.
The alternator is 80A and 14.3V.
If the house is 12.1V, I get 50A charge fro the alternator into the house, PLUS any solar that is available. As the house volts come up, the charge rate decreases. The alternator V is critical to decent charge rates and depth.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome
AnswerID: 359694

Follow Up By: jdwynn (Adelaide) - Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009 at 20:47

Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009 at 20:47
Hi Peter, I cant find any reference on Redarc website to a 2 way Redarc, or one that connects direct to the alternator. Can you explain further please. thanks JD
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