Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 18:47:08 -0700
Reply-To: Michael Elliott <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Elliott <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Yee haw, got my solar setup installed
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Under the driver's seat: one (1) Optima deep cycle battery with
requisite wiring and relay to permit charging while driving, but no
discharging of engine battery while camping. Entire cabin re-wired to
run off cabin battery, including a couple more Thinlite fluorescent
light fixtures for general lighting, and a couple of nice little halogen
reading lights over the bed. DC outlets in the cabin, a nice 1kW
inverter to run the morning coffee bean grinder.
With a little lighting at night, a little running of the sound system
during the day (softly, softly), the watching of a DVD movie on the
laptop (draws nearly 4A from its DC-DC converter) in the evenings . . .
after a couple or three days, the cabin battery starts getting soft.
Careful conservation of power allows usage of up to four nights with
these loads, but I depend on an oil lantern for constant lighting, and
have to be quite frugal about running the laptop.
So . . . need some way to stuff power back into that battery. Driving
around just to charge the battery is not acceptable: I came to came
goshdarnit, not drive. A little generator would do the job, but they are
the Antichrist: noisy. I can hear the reefer fan outside the Westy where
I camp. Even the quietest Honda generator would be a total nuisance.
So I just finished up installing my solar setup.
Two BP350U 50-watt solar panels. $290 each + shipping from Colorado
Solar http://www.cosolar.com/catalog/cat_panels_bp.htm . Small enough to
stash up above where the upper bunk mattress used to live. Mrs Squirrel
and I sleep below.
One Blue Sky Energy 2000E MPPT charge controller from Arizona Wind and
Sun, $208 http://store.solar-electric.com/sb2000.html . An MPPT
controller will let me get the most amps out of these relatively small
panels.
Some big honking 6 gauge wire (reduce ohmic losses) to build solar panel
"extension cords" so I can plunk the panels out where the sun is (I
prefer to park in the shade), and "Powerpole" connectors to plug them in
with.
http://www.powerwerx.com/category.asp?CtgID=1001 - I used the 75A size
so they could handle the 6-gauge wire.
No, it's not a mighty system. No, I won't be able to run a 500 watt
stereo all day, nor power a microwave oven. We will still need to be
conscious of every amp we consume (a 3-1/2'' analog ammeter mounted at
the rear of the driver' seat base gives us a visual indication of how
much current we are pulling at all times) . . . but now we have a chance
to stuff a charge back into the battery every day after an evening of
all-out fluorescent lamp and DVD-watching madness!
And the best part? Mrs Squirrel is paying for all these bits and pieces
for my birthday present!
We're going camping up at Table Mountain campground, near Wrightwood CA,
this coming Labor Day weekend, for four nights. This will give me a
chance to test this setup a bit. I will report back.
--
Hoping the spirit of John Wallace is with you, I remain
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR
