Category Archives: Solar

blog, Fix It, RV, Solar, Tech

Solar panels!

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Solar power is essential to me in a trailer. I went with 2 175 watt panels and four 6v deep cycle trojan 105 batteries. I added a distro box for the DC and the ac is ran independant with the ability to plug it into the xantrex 2000 watt inverter if needed.

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wiring coming along (wasnt done yet)

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inverter mount and trimetric meter

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after insulation

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2×4 mounts to the steel girder underneith

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the exposed black struts are what the mounts attach to for reference. my wood slats are to attach the insulation

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mounts have hinges for future angle tweaking

20140806_201547-blogmounted and 3 way splitters installed for a future panel addition. panels are lag bolted into the 2x4s on custom aluminum L brackets

 

 

 

Fix It, Solar

Solar!

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Here is the preliminary rundown on my solar rig for the curious.

The gear I’ve got is

2 sunmodule mono 250 watt pv pannels (roughly 250 watts @ 31 volts each for a combined total of 500 watts @ 31 volts)

4 trojan t105 deep cycle golf cart batteries (6volt @ 225 amp/h in pairs for a total of 450 amp/hr @ 12 volts)

a xantrex C35 charge controller (upgrading to a mppt charge controller soon for better yields)

a prosine prowatt 2000 watt invertor for 110 ac in the rv

a trimetric meter to monitor the energy usage and battery levels

all LED lighting in the house (uses less than an amp when all the lights in the whole rv are on) and a holiday chest freezer with a fridgemate relay keeping it at fridge temps so it kicks on maybe 5 minutes every other hour or so (only uses about 14 amps when it does)

Here are some photos

This is the battery bank and charge controller area the trimetric meter is mounted on the wall

the trimetric meter

the prowatt invertor and the red switch is for switching to current from the alternator for charging the bank

the panels and ghetto mounting system (and former owner)

 

thats the basic rundown of my rig. once I upgrade to a mppt (maximum power point tracking) charge controller I’m going to output the log data up here so I can keep track of the solar yields.

Fix It, Nomad, RV, Solar, Tech, Travel

New Project 1975 Dodge Sportsman Tioga

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And the website is born.

1975 Dodge Sportsman chassis Tioga Motorhome

360 v8 engine

500 watts of sunmodule solar cells on top

450 amp hours worth of trojan deep cycle batteries in the house

Xantrex (soon to be a mppt) charge controller

Prosine 2000 watt invertor for my 110 needs.

It all starts as a dream. I’ve always wanted independence, it started by leaving home for california on pretty much a whim. I’ll find work, I’ll figure it out. And I did. 8 months of grinding at a 4 star hotel later, and I’m looking at my options. I can keep paying half my take home pay in rent, or I can figure out a way out. After searching craigslist endlessly, I find her, a old beast that needs a bunch of work but is already well on her way to being a boondockers dream. This is the story of fixing her up and the adventures that follow.