Best Solar Buy source ?

D

DavidGraves

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Messages
1,270
I have searched thru most of the Solar threads and need to buy a 100/150 Watt panel and controller for my single battery shell ....only expected use lights and 5.5 amp draw portable refer.

In the Pacific northwest is there some advice for where to look ?

My query is where to buy: good quality , lightweight fixed panel , or possibly a portable panel.

Are panel shipping costs prohibitive ?

All comments welcome and needed !

DavidGraves

North Oregon coast

PS Any used system components for sale would interest me also....in the NW.
 
David, AM Solar in Eugene has a good reputation, as does Zamp in Bend. Solar Blvd and Renogy are other sources that are frequently mentioned. My 2¢ worth... Go with a bigger panel. Some how it's easy to nibble away at capacity...
 
+1 on what Steve said, especially starting with a larger panel. AMSolar carries the Bogart Engineering solar charge controller and Trimetric battery monitor. http://amsolar.com/rv-charge-controllers/cctlr-bg-pwm-030a

If I were starting fresh, and wanted to start as portable, I would consider getting the Bogart charge controller stuff & mount them on a plywood board sized to fit in the battery compartment at a later time. Lay it out to expand with Blue Sea connector posts, bus bars, fuses, circuit breakers, etc. You could have an easy job later to expand to battery monitor, multiple panels/roof top mounted panels etc.

By designing an expanded system from the start, there would be fewer items you might have to replace later. Some of us have a mishmash of expensive factory installed solar components that pain us to discard or store in the garage. :(

Paul
 
I bought this 160 watt panel and 2 60 watt panels back in Aug. No regrets at all. The system has been up and running with the fridge hooked up most of the time since then. The 160 will charge my group 31 deep cycle from 85% discharge well before lunch time and run the fridge while doing it.
https://www.solarblvd.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_269&products_id=2868

I'm also very glad I bought the Bogart charge controller and Trimetric monitor. Bought from here.
https://www.altestore.com/store/charge-controllers/solar-charge-controllers/pwm-solar-charge-controllers/bogart-charge-controllers-pwm/bogart-engineering-sc-2030-pwm-charge-controller-p11262/

The system is written up in the camper link below. So far I've been pleased. I have a few hundred dollars invested but the system has been great so far and requires little from me to operate all the time automatically. 3 days without sun running the fridge and occasionally the furnace is not an issue at all. I haven't even hooked up the truck wiring yet!
 
www.solarblvd.com 100 watt around $100 Controller around $ 60

Good product and Morningstar SunSaver 10 or 20L ( amp) controller
 
I just got a 160w Zamp solar kit with controller from offthegridrvs.com for a great price, might check them out. Ask for a discount or his best price on items! He has all size kits from various companies.
 
Good advice in the above posts. AM Solar has a great reputation on the Airstream forums. I also have the Bogart Trimetric monitor and SC2030 charge controller in my camper, and am very happy with them. My portable solar, and roof mounted solar (160W Zamp), both run through the SC2030. There is no controller on the portable panel, only the SC2030. My portable is 90W, and I use about 30' of 8/2 marine romex and Anderson SB50 connectors to connect it to the camper.

For the price, the Renogy 100W portable panels are a good value and I read of lots of happy users. I believe the Renogy 100W portable can also be purchased without a controller, so you can run directly to your camper's controller. If you want a larger portable system, Zamp seems like the most popular one that I read about.

I learned a lot from this site on RV solar: https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/
 
I've been very happy with Zamp products and customer service!

As Steve mentioned they are in Bend, but, have a dealer network.

I think the Bogart RV controllers are some of the best products for a solar electrical system; especially the TM-2030-RV. But, I don't think the Op needs a Bogart for a small panel and one battery.

I would look at the Zamp ZS-80-P or ZS-120-P portable panel with built in controller for a single camper battery. My portable panel is far more effective than the roof mounted panel because I can keep the portable panel oriented closer to a 90 degree axis to the sun; which is the optimum axis. Unless I'm hiking all day, a panel reorientation to the sun 3 or 4 times per day provides me superior charging performance compared to the roof mounted panel.
 
I bought mine from Renogy and have been happy with the setup. Have since installed similar setups on a couple friends trailers with no complaints. I went with 2x100W panels and a 30 amp PWM controller.
 
Another good company that stands behind what they sell is Backwoods Solar. They also have someone that you can talk to on the other end of the phone. Got a new controller from them that was bad out of the box, they stayed on the phone while I ran some tests and at the end of the conversation said they would get out a replacement that day. I received the replacement 2 days later, told me to return the bad unit when convenient. Got their name from Handy Bob blog
 
Advmoto18 said:
I've been very happy with Zamp products and customer service!


I would look at the Zamp ZS-80-P or ZS-120-P portable panel with built in controller for a single camper battery. My portable panel is far more effective than the roof mounted panel because I can keep the portable panel oriented closer to a 90 degree axis to the sun; which is the optimum axis. Unless I'm hiking all day, a panel reorientation to the sun 3 or 4 times per day provides me superior charging performance compared to the roof mounted panel.

Howdy Ad,

You make a very important point to my needs to keep it light and simple AND be able to incline to the sun.

I am really torn between the versatility of a portable panel and a fixed rooftop.

Living and camping in the Northwest the sun is almost always going to be 40-45 degrees south......

An angle bracket would be simple to create for the camper roof but it would be hard to access thru the day.....

My Toyota windsheild is more or less the perfect angle...for a portable.....

I have even considered leaving the camper top down at the front to incline a rooftop fixed panel toward the sun when we are off boating or hiking.

I am old enough to enjoy keeping things simple.....

Welcome all the thoughts !

DavidGraves
Click to expand...
 
Trailbob said:
For the price, the Renogy 100W portable panels are a good value and I read of lots of happy users. I believe the Renogy 100W portable can also be purchased without a controller, so you can run directly to your camper's controller.
Click to expand...
I am one of the happy users.
My 100w suitcase has served all my needs for four years now....great value.
 
DavidGraves said:
I have searched thru most of the Solar threads and need to buy a 100/150 Watt panel and controller for my single battery shell ....only expected use lights and 5.5 amp draw portable refer.

In the Pacific northwest is there some advice for where to look ?

My query is where to buy: good quality , lightweight fixed panel , or possibly a portable panel.
Click to expand...
Your biggest issue, if you're planning on camping in the coastal areas of the PNW is the limited available solar resource. Consequently, you'd want to go with much more than 100 watts, if possible. If you are planning on mounting the modules to the camper, first determine what space you have available, and then shop for what can fit in the available space. HQST and Renogy 100 Watt mono-crystalline modules (which appear to be identical) are available via Amazon and Ebay, can be shipped via UPS, and are listed. Most of the other inexpensive modules out there have not been independently tested to the UL 1703 standard.

A good charge controller is a must in order to get a full charge on your battery and to maintain its longevity. Bogart has a good reputation, as do a number of others. I'm partial to the Midnight Solar Kid controller due to its ability to easily add monitoring via a shunt and their WhizBang Jr interface. Also, it's a MPPT controller, which gives you more wiring/module configuration options. That having been said, they are difficult to wire due to the limited room internally, and they can be challenging to mount due to their robust construction/weight.

AM Solar is highly regarded in the RV solar world and is out in that area. Check out Handy Bob's solar advice. Northern Arizona Wind and Sun has alot of good information, and competitive prices on system components and SOME modules.


Sent from my iPad using Wander The West
 
Howdy Kevin

Thanks for the Costco mention....had looked at them but I guess if I go with a fixed roof panel it will be the Solar Blvd 160 watt.

Many WTM users and lots of watts....need to find the simplest MPPT controller and call it good.

On another topic....have you been watching the BAJA gas situation ?

There will be another round of price increases Feb 1 and potentially more civil unrest associated with it.

I am not entirely sure but we will likely head out second week of Feb.

David Graves
 
DavidGraves said:
Howdy Kevin

Thanks for the Costco mention....had looked at them but I guess if I go with a fixed roof panel it will be the Solar Blvd 160 watt.

Many WTM users and lots of watts....need to find the simplest MPPT controller and call it good.

On another topic....have you been watching the BAJA gas situation ?

There will be another round of price increases Feb 1 and potentially more civil unrest associated with it.

I am not entirely sure but we will likely head out second week of Feb.

David Graves
Click to expand...
Things were getting better but I didn't know about Feb. 1. That's about the time we cross the border too. I think we'll keep our agenda as it. I noticed when there are events down there that require fuel (and people heading down), things get cleared up (mostly by show of force).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads - WTW

W
Where To Buy Best Quality Lift Struts For FWC
2
Wallowa
W
A
**SOLD** 2014 ATC Bobcat (6 ft.)--Austin, TX
AndyT
A
S
For sale: 2008 Four Wheel Camper Eagle Shell (Upgraded) - $22,500
Atl-atl
A
JWL
Roof & Remote Solar
Vic Harder
Vic Harder
H
**SOLD** Adventure Ready 2016 Four Wheel Camper Hawk Flatbed on 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 5.9 Cummins Dies
Happy_Camper
H

New posts - WTW

Back
Top Bottom