Refining my Solar Options

[Dogpilot]

I finally got some time to mess around with the new 75 Watt solar panel W/ASC controller and make a mount for it. There turns out to be two families of Sattellite Dish mounts. Ones with one axis of adjustment and one with two axis on the same head. Luckily Laguna is the shining model of the disposable society. In short order my sister rounded up two sets.

If I wanted to make a luggage rack mount, I needed to be able to rotate the bottom one as well as have elevation adjustment. So I mounted the head on both the rear of the panel and on my foot unit. This gives you a rotational adjustment so you can turn the panel to meet the optimum position for the sun. It does not preclude you from taking it of the rack and putting it on the ground away from the van.

Coring out the City Water, 'rust formation port', is a good use of the panel. Get a Marinco plug and receptacle kit from West Marine, and you have a water resistant connection.

If anybody wants a nice 40 Watt panel with a charge controller and a mount PM me.

My extra 40 Watt panel:

_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[mtodd]

That is a kick'in panel. Not all that large an area for 75 watts.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200263174_200263174

Northern Tool has a fairly nice 15 watt unit for the best prices I have seen.

$80 If I had to guess I would say they are 2/3 the size of your panel.

[captainpartytime]

James, looks sweet!!! Keep raising the bar with your ingenuity. I ask my vans the same question every day, "why can't you be more like dogpilot's syncro?".
Now tap into some of that sweet Arizona sun. Is that your controller mounted to the bottom of the panel?
_________________
-Kerry

1982 turbo diesel Westfalia

[Dogpilot]

Patience would have it. I scored the ASC/Siemens Controller off eBay for a pittance. It is totally sealed, so it can be in the elements. It is the box next to the junction box. It has a series of LED's that shows charge state of the battery, the charging function and if the overcharging circuit is kicking on or off.


http://www.oksolar.com/solar_controllers/asc_solar_controllers.html
I am sure there are even better controllers, but you must be judicious with the hobby budget, or you sleep alone.

Now we need to design the garbage reactor (even human waste, lots of energy in that stuff) fuel cell to provide power at night. I have one of the Krupps coffee grinders that the professor used in 'Back to the Future' to use for the body of the unit.
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[Christopher Schimke]

Very nice use of surplus parts there James. If anyone would like one of those DISH mounts, I have an extra one here that you can have. Come and get it or pay the shipping and it's yours.
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"Sometimes you have to build a box to think outside of." - Bruce (not Springsteen)

*Custom wheel hardware for Audi/VW, Porsche and Mercedes wheels - Urethane Suspension Bushings*
T3Technique.com or contact me at [email protected]

[knyjff]

hi...dog pilot...new samba guy here..new syncro owner...want solar and am beginning the search,learn,understand mode. question ?? when retracted does the panel sit flush with the lip of the luggage area + or - ? and what amp hr number will it deliver to your auxillary battery? thanks

[Dogpilot]

I keep the panel inside when traveling. It is way to expensive to let it get hurt by road debris, or removed by curious hobos. I am making a mount to fit it under the AC box inside along with the table. To figure your yield from a panel: Amps= watts/volts.

So if you have a 40 watt panel for example that you want to supply 13.5 volts on charge you would yield: 2.96 Amps per hour, a 75 would do: 5.56 amps.
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[tencentlife]

Except with PV the watts rating is determined at the maximum power point, which by design is between 16 and 19 volts, usually around 17 and change. Use 17.5 volts as a safe bet, and divide the rated watts by 17.5. That will give you the rated amps at maximum power point.

The panels are strings of nominally 0.5V cells that are stacked in series to set up the VMP (Voltage Max Power). You will usually see 34-38 cells in single string 12V panel. They are set up higher so there is a margin of voltage that can be lost due to reduced voltage of each cell as temps rise, so that at a range of working temps there will always be sufficient margin to be able to charge a battery at the nominal voltage.

PV is a constant-current device. Current (amps) and voltage both vary with light intensity but at full insolation the current will be steady while voltage will vary with temp. They are rated at the best combination of voltage to amperage under test conditions, and that is the published wattage, but in reality you can only expect to get 70% of the rated wattage while charging a nominally 12V system, unless you use an MPPT charge controller to recover some of the extra margin of power available. They aren't practical to use on only one- or two-panel systems, due to cost.

[tclark]

[Ophir]

This is inspiring.

My last Westy was a 91 syncro that has a solar system installed. The array was glued to the roof in a fixed position. He didn't get the bugs worked out and honestly it didn't really work the way it was intended to, a trickle charge for the batt.

Now that I have my new van, Lucky, the 90 Westy. (I named him lucky based on where I test drove him, Lucky Pass, and in hopes of good mechanical karma. ) I'd like to get a PV system in him. I'm studying the designs you all have created.

[Lanval]

Ophir,

If you just want a solar trickle charger, you can buy VW brand chargers on ebay for around $25. They plug into your 12v lighter socket, and have suction cups for temp mounting on a window, or holes for more permanent mounting. You can see us using them here:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...;start=140

scroll down to the orange/Nathan@el van, and you'll see he's got one in his window.

Best,

Lanval

[Dogpilot]

Actually, those small VW chargers are indeed cool. It seems like a containerload of them must have fallen off the back of a truck, if eBay is anything to judge. I put mine in the back window.

When I get around to the mod I want to do to the closet. Which has been put on hold until I finish the spot in Laguna. Wife's orders and tool access (all my wood tools are there). I want to figure out an alternative to the Curtain (which still puzzles me as to why it is there). I want to incorporate two of them in that spot, one for each battery.

_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[captainpartytime]

I thought of mounting two small panels in that back corner also. I have two small panels I got from Russia. Their really high efficiencypanels and are mounted to a PVC type backing so their slim. My only concern with a permanent mount is that panels can act like loads at night time and I don't want to manually switch them off and on every day. Will the Yandina prevent the panels from acting like a load and draining your battery?
_________________
-Kerry

1982 turbo diesel Westfalia

[Dogpilot]

If you put a diode in line it should prevent them from becoming loads. The VW panels have the diodes in place. The downside of diodes is there is a .5 V voltage drop.
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[Ophir]

[fyrgrrl]

Hey DogPilot....I found them on eBay but do you have a favorite, trustworthy vendor you bought them from?
_________________
1987 Vanagon Westfalia (manual) - "Van Hildegaard"
1987 Vanagon Westfalia (auto)
1985 Vanagon GL 7-passenger van (auto) - "Blau Frau"
1985 Vanagon GL 7-passenger van (manual) - "Braunkuh"
1998 Subaru Legacy Outback (auto)
2003 Subaru Legacy L wagon (auto)

[Dogpilot]

Out of the over 2000+ transactions I've done on eBay, I've only had one problem. I did get my money back, from him and PayPal.

Any person you buy from can be great or a dick. I got mine from an individual and sniped about 15 auctions until I got it cheap. It was an experiment, and I didn't want to waste any money on it.

While they do charge your battery, it may take a while if it is flat, like a week. The suction cups are for looks only, for making and keeping suction they are not. They simply keep a battery floated.
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G