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Which is best for power, solar panels or a power inverter? Anyone have a set up they would recommend?


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Here's my $.02 on this subject. What are you using the electricity for? Lights? Blender? Cell phone charging? What good will a solar panel do for you in the dark, when you'd most likely be cooking dinner/needing light? I have a 400w inverter that works great for inflating airbeds and running lights/charging phones at camp. I've thought about a roof rack solar panel for charging a second battery, but for the cost you might as well just buy a Stancor relay and set up a dual battery isolated system for house batt/starting batt.

Mostly LED lights and chargers.

That makes sense. So inverter with a dual battery set up?

What inverter are you using?


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I prefer to boondock so typically I do not have plug in power for the weekend when I am camping. That means all 12v DC and low consumption LED lights. Solar panels, solar controller, and a battery (or two). I do not have anything I need AC power for so it works for me. I can charge camera batteries, phone batteries, run some lights and a small fan if needed.

I run everything on the boat off of 12V. Obviously I cannot run the A/c that way. I can buy an inverter big enough, but the batteries needed would sink the boat. A generator is the only way to do that off the grid. The refridgerator will drain the house battery in 24hours without any recharge, so short of adding another battery, which I just have not gotten around to, I will use a good ice chest if I am going to be out longer.

Look on rv forums. They have this figured out. My fridge is a 3 way,12v,110v or propane..propane is most efficient

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I'll just be running a few LED lights, and a few chargers.

Maybe I'll set up an experiment this weekend in the back yard and see how the initial set up works/lasts. I've got some spare car batteries.


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I'm about to set up my dual batteries using a Stancor relay that a lot of powerstroke guys love to use for their glow plugs because of the amperage.

PN: Stancor 586-902

For inverter it is a Schumacher I got at Walmart for $30.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-XI ... r/15140200

Here is a very simple writeup on how to properly isolate a dual battery system:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... tup-for-50

For my application this works perfectly, because when we camp we are also offroading. Meaning every day the Jeep gets fired up and driven, which lets the 2nd battery recharge. If you are talking sitting/not-running for days style of camping, then you would either need to start up and idle for a bit each day or invest in an alternate charging solution. (ie, solar panel)

Regarding dual battery, in case last time I really looked into it, I found several ways to do it. Relay vs. solid state vs. diode vs. switch. I think it's worth researching a bit more to make sure you design it to meet your needs. E.g., don't start the motor or run a winch through an 80A relay.

I'll check out those links WT91. I have a small solar basic battery charger, but I'm not sure what kind of juice it puts out, I guess that's my step two. Step one is getting all the parts for the dual batt set up.

Shimniok, true story. I'd hate to fry anything. My insurance might not cover stupidity on my part. Haha


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That relay I posted is rated for 200+ amps, the "How To" guide is just a basic instruction. I wouldn't use something as small as an 80a like it says in that guide.

All right, thanks!


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I was able to get 16 hours of straight, continuous usage off of one battery with the converter.



Next up is to see if I can extend the usage with a small solar charger.


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My problem with the relay is that it needs a delay to keep it from leaching from the main battery when you turn the key to on before a start. For that reason I am running the diode splitter on the boat. I had thought of connecting a relay through an oil pressure switch.

66stepside wrote:I was able to get 16 hours of straight, continuous usage off of one battery with the converter.



Next up is to see if I can extend the usage with a small solar charger.

The problem with this setup is you are taking 12VDV and inverting it to 120VAC then Transforming it to 5VDC-9VDC (through the LED power supply)

You might look at what the LED strips take, you might be able to do it with a simple 12VDC -> 5-10VDC Transformer. You would loose a LOT less power.


Also, on the topic, I just saw these this morning: http://www.banggood.com/10-X-Car-12V-4L ... 11035.html kinda cool.

-Charles

I am using these for my LED lights in my trailer build. LED's are sensitive to over voltage and will burn out prematurely if over run. These units will take DC current and step down the output voltage to the recommended voltage to run the LED's. With these you are not converting voltage just dropping the output voltage to a safe place to run your LED's. With the inverter you are converting DC current to AC, then the LED transformer is converting the AC back to DC. Not very efficient.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/F85-Free ... 122.xrr0yo

Whoa, that's a high speed, low drag device- so power in, regulator, then power out? Any protective covering over all the circuits?

I know you can find 12v LED strips/etc out there, no fancy devices required if you aren't the custom-electronics type. I normally don't bother using my camping battery for lighting, that's what the rechargeable lanterns are for. I mainly use it for blender, laptop, etc. I never really get "time off" from work, so I always have to have my gov't laptop and cell phone on me for VPN work.

66stepside wrote:Whoa, that's a high speed, low drag device- so power in, regulator, then power out? Any protective covering over all the circuits?

No, but one could be easily made. If you want one that is cased already http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DP20V2A- ... 9b276ece87 . A bit more pricy though.

Unfortunately, I have not seen anyone make 12V chargers for laptops, so yeah, need the inverter. Don't see the need for a blender.