Solar - Beginner Friendly | The Basics
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- Опубліковано 6 кві 2022
- Solar Power for RV's is a game changer. This video covers the basics in a beginner friendly way.
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*Amazon Links to Solar
ALL IN ONE KITS
-These kits come with charge controller, panel, and connections
Dokio 110w Portable & Light- amzn.to/3JicX1U
Dokio 100w Glass (Sturdy and Long Lasting)- amzn.to/35N4bLF
Renogy 100w suitcase w/ controller - amzn.to/371nEsn
Renogy 200w suitcase w/ controller - suitcase w/ controller - amzn.to/3rbBy21
BATTERIES
High Quality 125ah - amzn.to/38n21Dc
VMAX 200ah - amzn.to/35N572D
Lower Price 100ah (good for price)- amzn.to/3jd83IT
Lower Price 200ah (good for price)- amzn.to/3jdXV2E
Great Lithium (equivalent to 200ah SLA) - amzn.to/3DK6hIJ
Battleborn (gold standard)- amzn.to/3v0267B
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Solar/battery Promo Codes
Bouge RV Solar 10% off-
shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=865524...
12% off 180 watt panel-
shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=848662...
use code - "affsr12"
7% off Renogy-
73renogy.refr.cc/bsmith0924
10% off Renogy w/ some exclusions-
73renogy.refr.cc/bsmith0924
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Thanks Brian. Nice and slow. I am the one where the jargon goes in one ear and out the other. You are appreciated.
Thank you, I appreciate that you swung by and left a comment! 😀
Wow. Just what I needed to know. I feel educated and empowered.
Thank you, I appreciate you watching the video!
Great job at explaining the 'ABCs' on how a solar system works. I appreciate your ability to break it down into layman's terms. Thank you!
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Thank you so much for breaking this down into really simple and clear terms. You're the best Brian!
Thank you for tuning in and supporting the channel!
Good video, Brian. Here is an idea for you. I would love to see a clear, simple video on solar panel placement, i.e. how to set up your solar panels so you get the most sun and maximum efficiency throughout the day. Since the sun moves, placing portable solar panels is never a "set and forget" process. I think you'd be great at making this kind of video. I haven't seen much out there on this topic. Thanks, and feel better!
Thank you, that’s a game I play a lot. 🙂 I probably should do that video. I actually touch on it in a video coming up soon (maybe Monday).
With the price of panels coming down, I’ve been able to make a few set and forgets with sizing, but I still can’t help but play…lol
I have watched several solar set up videos. As well as yours. You have a gift of clearing things up, explaining things and "dumbing things down". The importance of the battery, types of panels and so forth. I like the analogy of the bucket or rain barrel. The equation on the white board on your previous video was also helpful. Thanks for the help and what you do.
That’s really nice to hear, thank you. I appreciate you watching and commenting.
Great job Brian! Your Master of Education degree really shines on this one.!
Haha… We’re having fun, I hope presenting it this way helps some people.
For real it was January from November to May hahahah great beginner solar tutorial!
Lol… thank you!
This is perfect for noobs like myself who didn't even know what a charge controller was before watching this video!
Really glad it helped! Thanks for watching.
This is a great video - thank you for your effort!
Thank you, share with a friend!
You explain this so anyone can understand. Thanks
Thank you...I'm hoping it points people in the right direction to start.
awesome info thank's ,,, like the water reference really helped !!!
That's great, thanks for commenting to let me know.
Great explanation, thank you so much!
Thank you for watching and commenting.
Excellent job teaching. cheers
Thank you for watching! A lefty strat is hard to find!
Your videos are so helpful. A small token of gratitude.
thank you, the support helps the channel grow.
Hope you feel better soon brother.
I appreciate you… feeling better now. I was happy it wasn’t the big C..lol
Well done hope you feel better
Thank you...just a little cold with the change of seasons. Good time to catch up on rest! Thanks for watching.
Outstanding beginner video! So helpful for newbies! Thanks for sharing your knowledge in an easy to understand fashion. I'll be watching many more of your videos. Happy trails! I subscribed too.
Thank you, I appreciate you watching and subscribing! Hope the videos help!
Thank you for easy explanation
Thank you for tuning in!
Thank you for this clear, easily understood and concise explanation. It helped further my understanding of a solar system.
Thank you, that's really nice to hear!
Thanks Great Video.
Thank you for watching!
Great job Brian
Thanks Bill, hoping to help some people get started.
@@DIYOutdoorLife I think you did the trick. Many people shy away from electricity because it's not a tangible object, visualizing a liquid really helps to get around that stumbling block.
Thank you ❤
Thank you for watching!
The "power budget" is KEY. Total watt hours used each day (then calculated as Amp hours a day), determines the battery size. Understand Depth of Discharge too; try not to go below 50%. Don't forget to account for at least one day of no Sun.
Huge..! I’d like to do a video on finding out your budget and making sure you have the gear to cover. Thanks for swinging by.
@@DIYOutdoorLife I have full presentation I made the runs through how to build the right sized system (for my house but it the calculations are the same). wish I could get it to you. I made a video years back, I'll see if I can find it
@@Thebearcave1776 👍 right on
Another amazing explanation video Brian. Loved the water analogy that was brilliant!
As you pointed out, there are so many variables. One thing that always confused me was the whole Amp Hours. I just learned it was just as easy for me to simply add a zero to whatever it said say a 100Ah battery was really about 1000 watts of usable power. While my one buddy who specializes in yacht makeovers is always saying, "Mark, you have to speak in Amps. Maybe one day. For now, I'm still stuck with watts, LOL
Is it bad that we haul 900 watts of solar panels when we go off grid? I guess we tend to be sun hoarders. Actually, just like you said, we camp in the woods and winter. For some reason we always end up with maybe 4 hours of sun in 4 days and guaranteed rain or clouds. How do we get so lucky? 🙂
Mark (& Teresa)
Sometimes over paneling like that is the only way to compensate for the poor conditions. A 200w panel in the NE is like a 50w in the SW…lol
If you get bored, check out the solar 101 video I did, towards the end we talk power, current, potential… show how to convert watts into amps ect
Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@DIYOutdoorLife 🙂
Love the information! Do you have more info/vids on using 4 golf cart batteries for a solar battery bank?
Not yet. I’ve run a lot of systems on golf cart batteries, lots of value there and they charge in very cold temps. Thanks for watching.
I'd like to see a deeper dive on your GZ charge controller. I have the 10 amp one and I don't think I'm reading it correctly. I can't tell if my lithium phosphate battery is fully charged or if the display is accurately reflecting how much solar is being collected. I'd like to see you do it because I think it'll be a good topic that you can break down for the common man. Keep up the great videos!
Hello and thanks for watching. I’d be happy to do a deeper dive on that.
Until then, is there something specifically I can help with? Have you used the “battery type“ button to select lithium? I have used both the 10a & 20a models to charge lifepo4, they both tell the state of charge and accurately indicate the current going into the battery. I’d be happy to help if I can.
@@DIYOutdoorLife thanks looking forward to it since there are no videos on GZ controller on UA-cam.
Yes i have toggled the settings to make sure it’s on lithium phosphate. The GZ controller never shows fully charged. Don’t get me wrong, the display always shows battery is in good condition. When I use a multimeter, it reads 13.3 V but I don’t think it is fully charged unless I’m missing something.
And I’m not sure how to determine how much watts I’m getting from solar in real time. The user manual isn’t the most helpful. For example, if I’m getting 1.4 amps of solar, how do I figure out the watts? Do I multiply that by 12 volts? I’m not sure what voltage the GZ charge controller is using to charge the battery.
@@KrikenNoxid so with lifepo, you shift from 13.3 to 13.4 in the very last stage of charge. There’s a good chance that your battery is 95% charged when you’re seeing that voltage on the multi meter. 13.4 is 99%. Occasionally you’ll see the battery sit at a higher voltage, even over 14v, but you are at the peak when you start seeing ~13.4 resting.
This is also the slowest stage. Since we’re inevitably drawing some current off the battery, it’s not uncommon to see what you’re seeing for a very long time, especially when it’s trying to top balance the cells. From reading your comment, it seems like you’re doing very very well.
If you are in good sun and only seeing 1.4a, the wattage is probably around 20w. My guess would be you’ve almost completely topped off the battery and it’s going to sit there for quite some time, if you removed all loads from the battery, you might see the “full” light come on and charger turn off.
I like the original channel into video better. :). Always good information. Still waiting on my camper. Back orders back orders.
I was worried people were annoyed with it...lol It's come back. What camper did you go with?
@@DIYOutdoorLife lol no you do what you want with it. Just saying I liked it. I’m getting a extreme outdoors micro max. So I’m know you work with solar. Do you think is smarter to get 2 100 amp gels or the one 200 amp gel. Your video made me question my thoughts I was planning the 200amp for the house. The camper has a 5000btu ac. But I’m going to run that with the bluetti 240 and 4 sp 120’s. I did a test the other day. Got 380 watts and it was hazy. So I’m hoping I will get at least 400. The a/c uses about 350-450 when the compressor is on. So I figure with cycle time I’ll need about 300-350 an hour. Fingers crossed. It is a small camper and I will of course have the sun at the back where the panels will be laying so I feel good sun protection from heating the camper. We shall see. That’s the fun of it.
@@anthonygraham6449 I'm a fan of the single 200ah. What brand would you like (I might have promo codes for savings). I LOVE the AC experiments. I've spent many hours doing similar tests. It ends up being a lot of fun...turning the sun into something cold...very cool
@@DIYOutdoorLife just so you know I will be sending you a few cups of coffee. I have learned a lot from you already. He is my plan. Ac powered by bluetti with 480 watts solar Only during day. At night maybe 2-3 hours max ///// House battery or batteries 200 amp with 200 watts solar. This will power my dc side of the camper for lights,fan,dc for propane frig, iceco 60 frig, propane camper heater and my telescope( note telescope uses 600 watts a night total can be run on bluetti if needed.
@@DIYOutdoorLife I was think the renogy unless you got something better also I was on the fence with just agm or gel but since I camp in hot and cold I saw information that said the gel does better in extreme temps
I'm a new subscriber and was your vids on solar/electrical that got me. What I'm looking for is a schematic/drawing for a solar based system that can also plug into an external AC source and as well, if possible, leverage my vehicles alternator to contribute to keeping the batteries charged. I'm leaning toward lithium batteries. My fear is frying my vehicles electrical and not connecting the external plug wiring correctly. I'm going to run a small refrigerator, lights, and a small mini-split for climate control... maybe a stove and heater, though the latter may be a fuel based unit. I'll also have to add an inverter for some 110v appliances. Everything in my van build I can do but, am nervous about the electrical. Any advice anyone? Thanks in advance.
Thank you for subscribing, that's a really fun project, but has a steep learning curve.
Many people find that going with an all in one system makes the most sense. Something like a large portable power station with a lithium battery, charge controller, and the ability to charge from the vehicles alternator. Another option is going with an inverter charger and connecting it to a large lifepo4 battery bank.
I'll include a couple links -
amzn.to/3sp8rMu
amzn.to/3soLKrO
@@DIYOutdoorLife Thank you so much for responding and the links. I've asked several CCs for help and you're are the first to respond in a helpful way. Thank you for taking the time to do so.
@@thomasfeiller2207any time, I always enjoy chatting w the people that watch the channel
thanks for all of your great information. i have just ordered a new 100 Ah renogy agm battery and may add some solar charging. There is one topic related to battery charging that is rarely discussed, and that is charging from the tow vehicle while driving. We often boondock overnight while on a long road trip. Is the vehicle charging system adequete for recharging after an overnight stop? Our power needs are pretty small, propane fridge and waterheater, waterpump, lights etc etc and we run the fridge all day on propane while driving. What is the charging capability of the typical 7 pin connector? the wire from the 7 pin to the battery is 12 ga iirc, but what about the other end, in the truck? i have no idea what that wire guage is but probably "barely adequate"! we rely on vehicle charging regularly on a long road trip, 1500 miles over 4 days with no shore power
Great question! The difficulty helping people out is that every single set up is different. if your tow vehicle is equipped with a fully wired 7 pin, it will safely charge your AGM while driving. How well it charges depends on the type of vehicle, the wiring, the alternator, etc., etc.. my Toyota truck does a pretty good job, charging lead acid batteries, like AGM, but the charge is pretty slow. Although it's on road trips, it depends how much power I used the night before as to whether it charges it up completely.
The best advice I can give, is to do some trial and error. Make sure you're driving when charging, it's not a good idea to ever leave it idling, it wants to be driving at normal speeds to charge.
@@DIYOutdoorLife thanks for the reply. the new agm battery arrives today, i will measure the charging current from the truck and let you know! the truck is a 2017 ram 1500 and the 7 pin was factory installed. i believe i saw a similar truck in one of your videos. the wiring harness in the truck is really hidden well and covered with a protective cover.
@@stevem268 remember, you won't see the higher current until you are at highway speeds. If your truck has the Smart alternator, sometimes the voltage climbs up and down as well.
If you are not getting a good steady, complete charge, you might wanna consider going to a DC-DC. This will provide a much more consistent and complete charge from the tow vehicle.
amzn.to/4e0b2zw
I have a Bluetti EB70S battery with a Bluetti PV120 Watts solar panel. I would like to know what happens if I add a second solar panel, 120 watts for example, to recharge my EB70S battery.
I ask the question because the EB70S can take a load of 200 W and in my example I give it 240 W. It is certain that a panel does not necessarily give its maximum, 120 W can give for example 90 or 100 W depending on sunshine and different conditions.
But what if the conditions were optimal I had a theoretical total of 240 W?
Thank you
It would regulate and be fine. 240 w of panels, like you said, will probably only give 200 at best, but if it went over, the mppt in the bluetti would max at 200 and nothing bad would happen.
Hope this helps, thanks for watching!
Hey Brian, what type of charge controller would you recommend when connecting the standard Oupes solar panels to my marine batteries on the front? The same goal zero one you have there in the video? What are some others you’ve used.
The Oupes panel has a 7.9mm (we call it 8mm) barrel plug. The goal zero 10 amp controller is the only one I know that accepts that plug. The GZ in the video is the 20a that accepts anderson. For all other controllers, you can make an adapter. The renogy 20a voyager is under $50, waterproof, and works great for a PWM.
amzn.to/37sreeV
Thank you for the link! Got it in my cart.
If I change my camper battery from lead acid to lithium 100ah will my camper charging system from shore power or generator and vehicle charging system, while driving . charge that battery 100% or does everything need to be upgraded as well?
It will not charge to 100% and there is a few additional considerations with the vehicle.
The shore power system usually gets to about 80%. w/o upgrades. You can either update to a converter/charger designed with/ a lifepo4 charge profile or use the following trick.
Since your stock charger isn't hurting anything, it's just doing a bad job, you can buy one of these chargers and clamp it onto the battery when you're at home. That way you leave with 100% state of charge and a balanced battery. It's cheaper and easier to go this route.
amzn.to/3P9eSeX
The vehicle side charging is a lot more confusing . It's not good for the alternator and it's not good for the battery, ignore anybody who claims otherwise. There's a pile of research making it really clear but it's a bad idea to do this, but of course there's 1 million people out there that say to do it anyway.... i wouldnt
My advice is to either get a DC DC charge controller or just remove the one wire that causes charging. Where your trailer 7 pin wire goes into the frame, there's a junction box. Just remove the single 12v wire (1 of 7) and stop the charging altogether and you'll be fine. It will be a nice upgrade, you won't miss the car charging. Tons of diagrams online that show which one is the 12 V wire to make this job easy, it takes two minutes.
Up to you, hope this helps!
Could you give some updated recommendations on batteries. The links you provide show mostly unavailable or they don't actually go directly to a battery that you are suggesting.
Are you in the US? I just went through and tested all the links and they go to products currently available on Amazon. If you are within the states, I'll have to double check why this is happening.
What size battery are you looking for? AGM or lithium? I could try sending a link directly as well.
@@DIYOutdoorLife Hmmm that is strange. No I'm in Ontario. I was just interested in the batteries that you were recommending for the AGM batteries.
@@lifewithpugwinkle I just asked a friend to check it out and they had no problems either... not sure what's going on.
Thoughts on Interstate Deep Cycle batteries?
They are cheap and you can get them anywhere, that's a big plus. With any deep cycle lead acid battery, as long as you keep them topped off and avoid deep discharges, they work great and last a long time.
Awesome, thanks for your input. The 36’ 5th wheel I just bought has 1 that is only a year old but the 2nd battery needs to be replaced. I thought it would be best to have 2 of the same brand. I just ordered the Goal Zero 200 watt solar kit and iGreely SAE battery connector after watching your videos. I’m attempting to do this set up myself with the help of your videos.
Thank you again for putting out your solar content. Yours has been the best user friendly for beginners.
@@dpeterson5105 that's great to hear, I appreciate that you're following along and watching the videos!
The Goal zero 200 kit comes with a waterproof 20 amp charge controller attached to the panel . It will have an SAE plug that will go directly to your igreely, it should be very easy. Just make sure that you have your polarity right and youre all set. If I remember correctly, I think both the Igreely and the goal zero kit have a sae polarity plug included. You may not need it, but if you do, you'll have a spare!
I have a 550 wh from go sun
It's a great weight for me. I'm a 63-year-old disabled man. good weight but I need a bigger inverter can I buy another 500 ah y the 12v& feed a 1500-2000 w inverter?
If I understand your question correctly, yes, a 500 amp hour battery can feed a 2000w inverter.
@@DIYOutdoorLife Thanx!
Where is Ripple?
😂 🐾
If I had a 200w solar panel but the output was 90w charging the power bank that would take 100w solar charge. It goes to 150w output. Would this hurt my power bank?
Depends on the charge controller. Are you talking about a built system or store bought portable power station?
@@DIYOutdoorLife It's built system GoSun 144 60w max charge & 550w 100w max charge.
@@davewest9141 hey Dave, I’ll try to look up that gear and get back to you. The vast majority of charge controllers can be overpaneled, they just regulate down to their max charge. Since the price has come down so much, it’s usually worth getting a charge controller than can handle the max output of your panels. Can you send me the model number of your solar charge controller. Thanks
@@DIYOutdoorLife They r in a sealed brick. I talked to gosun they said yes I could. Thanx for ur time.
Brian, what area do you live in?
Upstate NY
Shootz, I thought you were in the Pacific NW. I love your videos. As everyone says very easy to follow you.