solar recharge for 2 trojan T-105s

vesteroid

Member
I am picking up my 3055 end of this week, and have asked the dealer to put in my t105s in place of whatever he was going to install ( I bought them last year on our out tt).

I store this unit at a storage lot and only camp say thursday night through sunday. My problem has been that I have to pull the camper home on wednesday night, hook up a normal battery charger and let it run over night (as we most often camp outside of hookups).

Lots of work for me and I suspect my neigbors dont like seeing this beast in the street.

I want a solar setup that will bring the two t105s back up to full over the 4 days we have to work.

anyone know of a system that would do that for me, and one that can be expanded in the future. in other words, i would be willing to pay more now if it fit into my future plans which include doing 4 batteries, and an inverter, and larger solar cells to say power 2000 watts. I have a honda 2000 generator and can use that to suplement the charge on overcast or high usage days, but dont want to buy the second honda, or sell this one and go to a 30 amp. Of course I cant run the ac, so ...hmm I dont know.

thoughts from users currently?
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
2000W of solar panels represents about $5000 and 125 sq. ft. of panels. Probably not possible for an RV application. I would think something like 200W would be plenty to start with.
 

SmokeyBare

Well-known member
To address the need to charge the batteries before you venture out with the RV... you might want to install a Batter Cut off Switch so you can isolate the batteries and prevent any drain from them while in storage. Just a Thought.

Most "Solar Trickle Charge Systems" sold have a very low charge rate, they often are rated for 10 Watt or 20 Watt and only trickle charge the battery bank. I always feel better when they are connected to the batteries with a Charge Controller to protect and prevent over charging of the batteries. Small Solar Charge Systems might not come with a Controller.

For a System that would be able to up-grade in the future Your going to want Charge Controller that can handle the additional flow going into the batteries. Then there will be the issue of the Solar panel. If I was planning on a Up-Grade in the near future I would make sure I bought a Solar Panel I could use now as well as add additional panels to the existing one. Matching a pair together is usually what most folks want to do. In my case I bought 2 - 75 Watt panels... then added to them with another pair of 100 Watt panels.

Lots of good information out there on the Internet... Google Search till your eyes go blurry and your more confused than ever... LOL It'll happen !

Links to a few reading sites:

http://www.backwoodssolar.com/reference/a_simple_explanation.htm

http://www.wojack.net/Our%20Solar%20System/OUR_SOLAR_SYSTEM.HTM

http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/sp_off_grid_solar_power_rv_motor_home.htm

http://solarpanelsforrv.com/

Nope, I didn't read all those... I hope they can offer some help with your decision.
 

vesteroid

Member
ok I have decided on a 135 watt panel with an upgraded charge controller so I can eventually go with 2 - 4 panels and move up to 4 batteries.

For those of you who have installed them on a 3055 where did you drop the line from the roof, and where did you mount the controller?
 

watchthebox

Well-known member
I just yesterday finished the long (for me) electrical/solar upgrade on my Cyclone 3010. I've posted in separate threads details of the inverter and battery upgrades (//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/22371-Cyclone-3010-Inverter-Installation?highlight= and //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/22253-Cyclone-3010-Battery-Upgrade?highlight=), but haven't yet posted info/pics on the just completed solar upgrade.

I put two 180W 24V solar panels up, wired in parallel, connected to a Rogue MPT-3024 MPPT solar charge controller. We dry camp, mostly. I don't expect these panels to completely keep up with our usage and fully charge our 4 Trojan T-105's (total 450AH capacity). They should be able to put back around 70-80AH per day, though. I'll top the batteries off with on board genny as needed.

I'll look forward to seeing progress with your solar install.
 
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