Matt, your recommendation matches my calculations for a moderate sized club setup. The bill for this made the club choke, so a much smaller initial system was installed, and to my surprise, it has kept up with demand. For clubs with limited resources I would recommend planning an incremental install. If the initial system can't keep up it should be easy to justify expansion.

Okay guys.... brain storming here. I am building my trailer for dual purpose SIM station and RC aircraft towing. I am favoring a 300watt Solar array with 3 batteries. But for a 12v setup, I would need (3) 12v batteries in parallel. This setup would be primarily for a TV, audio system, media player and signal booster (5.8Ghz) so not much draw for average use. Also interior lighting solutions. I'd like enough power reserve to run a full day on the batteries with maybe 4-10 hours sim/ video usage time projected. Any recommendations on the batteries and a good inverted worth the money. Money isn't really an object here but I wanted to get the best I could for the money while stretching a buck. Suggestions?

Two Trojan T105 6v batts in series for 12v, then two more pairs of them all in parallel will give you the 3 sets of 12v in parallel. That setup will run for days with no power, and indefinitely under 300 watts of solar charging during the day.

http://www.atbatt.com/trojan-t-105-6...FQ8waQod71EAZA

Xantrex XPower 1500watt should do the trick:
http://www.altestore.com/store/Inver...FYNFaQodUb4A1g

The next step up is the Xantrex XPower 3000w

I'd suggest the extra dollars on a better solar array. The HF panels are cheap and over the course of three years both of mine have failed. And yes they are cheap to replace but now I'm regretting the constant replacement due to the time it takes to replace the panels. Failures seem to be in the seal of the panel over the course of time being exposed the extreme UV we get here in Colorado. I have a remote meter that gives the amp charge rate coming off the panels. Over time you can see this amp rate decline.

Check out the panels I listed a few pages back. I got them Off of eBay from the Renogy store. Great panels

Originally Posted by Matt Gunn

Check out the panels I listed a few pages back. I got them Off of eBay from the Renogy store. Great panels

Thanks for the reply. I definitely won't go HF for a 300 watt setup. Looking at the Renogy layout for my trailer. Ebay Blue Light special!

Could these panels be mounted on a trailer with a curved roof?

Care to show the roof?

You could probably make it work since the mounting tabs could be bent to contour the angle of the roof. kinda like this:

My trailer is in storage right now so I cant take a picture of the roof right now but that is what it looks like. How about running the panels length wise with the length of the trailer. There would be less of a chance of the back of the panel hitting the top of the trailer.

Yes. The panels are rectangles, the short sides facing front and rear.

Can anyone tell me what the no load voltage is on their solar panels? I rec'd a freebie! Single panel 175W but the no load voltage according to my cheapie voltmeter was 30V. Was going to run through the coleman 30amp digital charge controller but was suprised at the voltage and didn't want to cook anything. Have a note in to coleman tech support but thought I'd ask here as well.

Great post. I'm in the process of going solar and was wondering what suggested setup is regarding venting the batteries. My trailer, like Matt's could better balance from having the batteries in the rear of the trailer. The guy at the RV shop I was talking to said if the batteries are inside, then they have to be in a sealed battery box with a vent through the wall to the outside. I see many non-vented setups. Is it really dangerous if I plan to sleep in the trailer so have the batteries venting inside?

Mike

Originally Posted by bikeman

Great post. I'm in the process of going solar and was wondering what suggested setup is regarding venting the batteries. My trailer, like Matt's could better balance from having the batteries in the rear of the trailer. The guy at the RV shop I was talking to said if the batteries are inside, then they have to be in a sealed battery box with a vent through the wall to the outside. I see many non-vented setups. Is it really dangerous if I plan to sleep in the trailer so have the batteries venting inside?

Mike

Im still alive after years of sleeping in there... just sayin'.

Seriously though, I guess from an RV safety standpoint: yes they should be vented outside the cabin sleeping area.

Originally Posted by Mudball3

Could these panels be mounted on a trailer with a curved roof?

I bought two of these 100w panels for my curved trailer roof. Install will be in a few weeks.

Lead acid batteries produce hydrogen gas when charging. The gas has a chance of exploding. Thats why they wanted it vented. I ran a battery locker in the military years ago and it wasnt uncommon to see batteries that had blown the tops off from this kind of failure.