Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #25 – October 26, 2019, 06:53:17 pm Greg,I’m well past the sticker shock. Now it’s all about the anticipation.https://youtu.be/PDJ_Mz8ftqIYa only live once. Kent 1 Likes
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #26 – October 26, 2019, 06:59:50 pm Larry,Once the installation begins, I’ll most likely wander around. Running around the Oregon Coast is a wonderful way to while away the days. Years ago, my DW and I stayed at a B&B on Devils Lake near Lincoln City. That was fun. I absolutely love the rugged Oregon Coastline. Kent
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #27 – October 26, 2019, 07:23:30 pm Kent you are going to have a better solar system in your RV than I have in my off grid house. Will you adopt me?😀
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #28 – October 26, 2019, 07:37:18 pm “Will you adopt me?😀”Mike, well ah, no...but I’ll make you a cup of coffee and charge your phone. 😏Kent 3 Likes
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #29 – October 26, 2019, 09:35:44 pm Quote from: Sawyer - October 26, 2019, 07:23:30 pmKent you are going to have a better solar system in your RV than I have in my off grid house. Will you adopt me?😀It's amazing how the technology changes in just a few years...
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #30 – October 26, 2019, 10:50:15 pm Judie,For some reason, my sister tends to forget the simple prep techniques. Warming things on the stove top is as easy as it gets. I even purchased a stainless/copper cup for warming her latte milk. Her typical breakfast is a tortilla with peanut butter and a banana. For me it’s a cup of coffee and a piece of toast (toasted on a skillet). She admitted yesterday as to being a chef of limited skills and simple tastes. As easy as that sounds, dinner out can be a real challenge. 😏The inverter will definitely be a welcome addition. I love upgrades.Kent
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #31 – October 27, 2019, 09:53:46 am Quote from: joel wiley - October 26, 2019, 09:35:44 pmIt's amazing how the technology changes in just a few years... Yes it definitely is and if you go back a few decades it's like another world.In the mid 70s we lived off grid for three years and since no power or phone line reached our cabin we had no electricity and no form of communication outside of phone booths in town and snail mail. We had a 12 volt 13 inch B&W TV that we ran off a single 12 volt battery and watched until the picture got smaller and smaller and finally blinked out when the battery went completely dead. ( And I complained about batteries lasting only six months or so. LOL) I recharged it by starting my pickup the next morning and then switching the dead battery with the fresh one for that nights use before leaving for work. Our lighting at night was kerosene lamps. No internet and I once bought my wife a hand held calculator whizz bang new technology gadget for $50.00 which at that time was a days pay.Looking back it's amazing how far and how fast technology has progressed and a few decades ago seems like the dark ages. 1 Likes
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #32 – October 27, 2019, 10:45:52 pm Interesting discussion about "olde times"! Not only was I raised on a homestead in Alaska in the 1950s without running water or electricity, but then in the 1970s I raised three small children (two in cloth diapers at the same time) outside Fairbanks for over seven years through winter temperatures of minus 60 degrees for weeks at a time, also without running water or electricity... and no solar power, generator, television or driveway for parking closer than 1000 feet through the woods. Getting a tiny propane refrigerator and battery operated record player was the ultimate upgrade! In the 1990s I went away sailing for eight months, but then had 12-volt power and a foot pump for seawater. You can imagine how my lovely LD shocked me with modern everything, and after investing in solar power boondocking has been absolute luxury! (Yes, thanks to this forum I insisted on 6 gauge wire in case of future upgrades!) It's good to be reminded that people lived "without" for thousands of years.Kristin1997 LD MB 7 Likes
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #33 – October 28, 2019, 11:21:13 am Our generation has seen some amazing changes but we pale in comparison to the previous generation. Just finished a great book on Frank Hammer the Texas Ranger that got Bonnie and Clyde. He started out chasing old west criminals on horseback with a six gun and transitioned to high speed auto chases with gangsters armed with Thompson submachine Guns. Great read!Amazon.com: Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed...TheGood part of a broken shoulder is plenty of time to read. Going to doc today to see if I can start using my arm again. Hopefully you will see a lot less of me after today. No more one arm Sawyer. 1 Likes As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #34 – October 28, 2019, 04:12:25 pm "In the 1990s I went away sailing for eight months, but then had 12-volt power and a foot pump for seawater."Kristin, I recently replaced the Shurflo electric water pump in my little Trillium trailer with a Whale Babyfoot pump, and I love it! Of course the Trillium has no flush toilet or shower--just the one sink. But the foot pump gives me perfect, hands-free control over water flow from that faucet, which can be anything from a trickle to a torrent. It's simple, silent, and uses no electricity. Not surprisingly, it was recommended to me by a sailor friend. :-) As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #35 – October 28, 2019, 04:17:37 pm That little foot pump delivers pretty much the same GPM as the old Whisper King!
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #36 – October 29, 2019, 08:20:56 pm "That little foot pump delivers pretty much the same GPM as the old Whisper King!"Yup, the Babyfoot pump puts out up to 2.2 gallons per minute. As I recall, the Shurflo Whisper King (standard on many Lazy Dazes in the Eighties) delivered 2.3 gpm. So this rugged little $40 rubber bulb does the same job, but with no electricity and no moving parts other than a non-return valve.Of course a foot pump wouldn't work well for taking a shower, although it could probably be adapted for flushing an RV toilet. But in my "simplified" Trillium, it does a great job of pumping water into the kitchen sink, and that's all I need. :-)
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #37 – October 29, 2019, 09:02:55 pm Andy,The pump would make a great backup if the RV’s electric water pump should fail and installing the backup shurflow we all carry would be an inconvenient option at the time. Always nice to have alternatives in a pinch.Kent
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #38 – October 30, 2019, 01:30:50 pm It would be hard to do that, Kent, because a foot pump not only has to take its supply directly from the water tank, but it needs to be located at the point of use--in my case, directly in front of the kitchen sink. I suppose you could T off the line from the freshwater tank and T back into the line just after the electric pump... but then you'd have a foot pump sitting on the floor that one person would have to operate while the other person used the sink, shower, or toilet. Such an arrangement would probably be too clumsy to be worthwhile.
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #39 – October 30, 2019, 02:34:08 pm Oh well. Just a thought. May as well swap out the on board pump. Of course if all you need is fresh water to cook and freshen up, you can always fill a container from the Fresh Water tank drain valve. 💦Kent
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #40 – November 02, 2019, 11:33:35 am Yesterday, I noticed just how much room I actually have below the forward dinette seat. There should be plenty of room there for the Victron Inverter and more. I’m actually contemplating additional Lithium batteries, possibly four in total. I noticed a DIY installation on YouTube where a gentleman installed six Lithium batteries in his TT with a similar Victron 2000 watt Inverter/charger. He has 800 watts of solar. https://youtu.be/4j6wiIoT_SMWith my 4 100 watt panels, is there a practical limit to the number of lithium batteries I can install? I like the idea of having more usable battery power but can the panels charge that many? Kent
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #41 – November 02, 2019, 12:34:11 pm "I like the idea of having more usable battery power but can the panels charge that many?"Based on previous discussion in this thread, you're talking about 400 to 500 amp-hours of battery storage capacity and 400 watts of solar panels on the roof. That fits the traditional "one watt per amp-hour" rule of thumb.But as we've discussed before, if you often camp in shady sites, in cloudy areas, or in the winter when days are short, you may want more watts per amp-hour to keep the batteries charged. On the other hand, if you're a night owl, you may need more amps of battery capacity per watt to get you through the dark hours.One thing to keep in mind is that unlike AGMs, LiFePO4 batteries don't have to be brought up to 100% every day or even every week--in fact, most experts say that these batteries are happiest in the 30% to 80% range. So if you get a few cloudy days, it isn't as big a deal as it would be with AGMs, where you're always trying to hit full charge as often as possible. It took me a long time to get over that "Must get to 100%!" lead-acid mindset. Old habits die hard.In the end, you just have to take your best guess based on your camping style. If you end up with more batteries than your solar panels can recharge, you can run your generator to make up the deficit.Personally, I'd much rather not do that. I've been traveling without a generator for more than two years now, with 600 watts of panels on the roof and 320 Ah of LiFePO4 batteries under the bed. Going by the "1 W:1 Ah" rule of thumb, that's solar-panel overkill, but I figured as long as I was going to go to the trouble of putting panels on the roof, I might as well fill it up.The combination has served me well, but bear in mind that I'm mostly camping in the Southwest. When I spent a summer in the Pacific Northwest, some of the heavily wooded campsites there required me to use portable panels laid on the ground and move them several times a day to keep them in the sun, because my array on the roof was getting next to no sunlight. But right now it's winter and I'm camping in the desert. Although my panels are pretty dusty, I'm doing fine. 3 Likes
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #42 – November 03, 2019, 09:19:47 am There is a bucket load of interesting information on/about solar power and batteries.May I suggest this Forum. It has advise and vids for and from beginners to the experts.DIY Solar Power Forumglen
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #43 – November 03, 2019, 11:28:20 am Andy, Glen,Thanks for your guidance. I’ve been watching all that I can find on Solar & Lithium upgrades. I want to be as prepared as possible when I meet with Garret at AM Solar in July. In regards to my “planned” upgrades, he mentioned that when I arrive in Springfield, there may be other options available that we can explore.I do want the new system to be as upgradable as possible. As Andy mentioned, shade and winter sun present a problem. With that I will continue to keep an open mind to my upgrade possibilities. 🌤Kent 1 Likes
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #44 – November 03, 2019, 08:29:29 pm A thought ....Solar Panel Recharge Rate is Battery Watts/Hours divided by Solar Panel Watts. I.E. If you have 200 Watt/Hour Battery Pack and 100 Watt Panel equals 2 hours to recharge batteries ---assuming prefect conditions. Numbers are just reference as there will never be prefect conditions. All sort of stuff degrades or enhances the issue. In other words Device Watts Hours /Solar Panel Watts = Solar Recharge Time.glenP.S. My plan as of today is to built a 'portable' system to test on our winter trip. The 'standard' panels on the LD are about 41" long and 21" wide. IMHO there is no good way to improve this layout soooo I'll need to augment with 'portable' panels.I'll update as I settle on the parts.
Re: Solar Power Future Upgrade Reply #45 – November 05, 2019, 12:41:13 pm Hi Steve (Lazy Bones),Figured I’d respond on this thread to avoid diverting interest from Matt’s request for a local Solar Installer.Anyway:I’m not sure about the logistics of AM Solars plan of attack on my 5 Day Build. I would imagine my LD will be off limits for overnight use during the installation. But I’ll get a better feel for that when I get there. I certainly don’t want to slow their flow. As Larry said, the week can be a perfect opportunity to explore the area. A Lodge and a rental car will be the easiest approach. With that in mind, July is prime travel time for families so I’m currently working on a game plan to book lodging for my sister and myself. No sooner than the job is completed we will be headed to Yellowstone (Sep. 2020) to put the new Solar System to the acid test. It should be much better than my current array and battery bank.Kent
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