theboondork's RV blog

a boost in solar power

5/18/2023

If you ever click a pic, to that habit you must stick.

Santa Rosa state Park New Mexico Picture

My new boondocking digs in Santa Rosa State Park, New Mexico.

I moseyed up the road about 130 miles to the town of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, the home of the aptly named, Santa Rosa State Park. I've stayed here a couple of times before and found it to have adequate boondocking and plenty of peace and quiet.

There's not much to do in Santa Rosa except stare at the Lake, but there is a dam and a lot of infrastructure. But it's about 6 miles into town, and there's no Walmart, so I usually don't spend much time here.

When I was putting the solar system on the little Bronco, it didn't have a lot of solar panels on the roof, so I only needed a 40 amp solar controller. And when I started putting solar on the Lance, I took the solar controller out of the Bronco and put it in the Lance, but since I put more solar panels on the Lance than the little Bronco had, and now I'm thinking of adding another panel, the current 40 amp solar controller is not enough, so I just ordered a 60 amp Renogy controller from Amazon to be sent to my daughter's house in Denver. So that will give me yet another project piled on top of all the other things I need to do when I get there.

Theboondork

Sunrise this morning at the Valley of Fires.

Last nights sunset at the Valley of Fires

Rain showers of the Valley fires Picture

Rain showers dance across the lava field.

6 Comments

Bill

5/19/2023 04:34:51 am

I'm researching mppt chg controllers that will play nice with LiFePO batteries. Some say they will but the fine print says they won't. (Epever is one brand that says Yes, but doesn't) Victron is $$ but does work with Lithium batts.

I've got a stack of 10 used 315 watt panels I bought off Craigslist 5 years ago stored in a dark shipping container. Need to get them installed on my mancave double wide roof before I'm too old to do it.

Series - or parallel......or a combo? Many YouTube vids being researched. Baffling task for an old pea brain like me.

Tom

5/19/2023 01:25:13 pm

You can research things on the Internet, until you can't tell if you're coming or going, and still not have an answer. Taking on a homestyle solar system, instead of a handful of panels on an RV like I've done, sounds like a major undertaking, so bear in mind nothing I say here may apply to what you're doing.

I have found that when dealing with the Internet sometimes it helps to find one knowledgeable person that's doing what you want to do and stick with their advice, and I've always felt that this guy, Will Prowse, even though he's young, sounds like he knows what he's doing. Google up @WillProwse, he's got a lot of videos out there on solar.... But here's what little I know.

The Renogy mppt solar controller that I'm using works just fine with LiFePO batteries. You can get a free Renogy app for your phone off the Internet that gives you a choice of what batteries you're using and the LiFePO batteries are one of your choices. But if I remember correctly the Renogy controller recognized my batteries when I hooked it up. The Renogy solar controller that I'm using now has never been hooked up to anything except LiFePO batteries. My Arctic Fox fifth wheel has a MorningStar 60 amp solar controller in it and I've never had any problems with it or the LiFePO batteries.

I've never set up a solar system for 24 V. But all the systems I've built have been for RVs and never for something that has as many panels as you're using. Their are benefits to both 12 and 24 V systems, I'm just more familiar with 12 V and figure with my lack of skills and knowledge I can do less damage with 12 V.

And speaking of doing less damage, I've always wired everything in parallel because it seemed more simple to me. And when it comes to electrical things, due to a lack of knowledge on my part I try to keep it as simple as possible.

Good luck with your project Bill, it certainly sounds like it will keep you occupied for a while.

Tom

OFM

5/19/2023 04:00:50 pm

There have been a number of questions recently about whether Morningstar controllers can be used for solar charging lithium batteries in off-grid solar applications. Morningstar’s TriStar MPPT, TriStar (PWM), ProStar MPPT, ProStar (Gen3), and SunSaver MPPT solar charge controllers support Lithium- (Li-Ion) and other battery technologies such as:

Lead Acid (PbSO4): Sealed (VRLA, AGM, Gel) and Flooded
Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion or LIB)
Lithium Iron Phosphate (“LFP”, LiFePO4)
Lithium Iron Magnesium Phosphate (LiFeMgPO4)
Lithium Manganese Oxide (“LMO”, LiMn2O4)
Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (“NMC”, LiNixMnyCozO2)
Nickel–Cadmium (NiCd or NiCad)
Nickel–Metal Hydride (NiMH or Ni–MH)
Nickel–Iron (NiFe)
Nickel–Zinc (NiZn)
Aqueous Hybrid Ion (Aquion or AHI™)

5/19/2023 04:40:03 pm

Thank you for that info, Barney. My MorningStar solar controller has been in the Arctic Fox since 2013, and for the last few years, with the lithium iron batteries, and it's never given me any problems. The Renogy controller that I'm using now is okay, but I think the MorningStar is a far better controller.

If there's one thing I could name that I never want to deal with again for the rest of my life, it would be...... mosquitoes. For some reason, they love me, but the feeling is not mutual. So good luck with your mosquito slappin, and the buzzing in your ear in the middle of the night, been there, done that, don't do that noooo more.

Tom

Linda

5/19/2023 06:39:28 pm

Off makes a repellant gizmo that has a small battery powered fan. It disperses repellent all around you and WORKS! I even clamped it to the arm of a chair and stayed bite free during a picnic! For me, that's a miracle!

5/19/2023 06:50:20 pm

I imagine that gadget would work in a lot of places but a Miami mosquito would just laugh as she ripped the arm off of your chair, took a deep breath of the poison, expanded to twice her normal size, and carried you off to feed to her kids.

Tom

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