Burro enters solar system

[rabbit]

I'm told a single pic is worth 1K words so here's a REALLY mouthy post in pictorial form. You can provide captions or I'd be glad to answer questions about anything that piques interest.

jack

[Rusty01]

Looks great ! How many watts is your panel ? And does it run everything you need to run while boondocking ? It appears that you are charging two batteries. rb

[jen b]

Very cool! What is the knobby thing we're looking at in the third and last photos? I would like to eyeball this setup at the midatlantic fest this month to see how all the wires get attached to what.

[rabbit]

Originally Posted by Rusty Baker

Looks great ! How many watts is your panel ? And does it run everything you need to run while boondocking ? It appears that you are charging two batteries. rb

I've only just hooked it up on Friday, 1 July, Rusty, so can't say how it will keep up will demand on the battery, particularly in the "shoulder" season camping that we are accustomed to (I camped in a shelter half-type pup tent at Jane's Island, MD in March of 1973; it has to better than that!). The low-sunshine months might be a challenge. Panel is 80 watts; was described as an Evergreen by ebay seller. Clearly marked BP Solar/TATA on the front so we danced the dance of mutual irritation by email for a couple days at which pt. I decided to keep it.

jack

[rabbit]

Originally Posted by jen b

Very cool! What is the knobby thing we're looking at in the third and last photos? I would like to eyeball this setup at the midatlantic fest this month to see how all the wires get attached to what.

See you there, Jen. You won't find the wiring of the controller very complex once you ignore all the schematics of terminal strips which aren't the one you've got and just wire the thing in a big loop; isn't all electricity either a big loop (series) or a bunch of loops on loops (parallel). About the worst part for me was working with the Anderson power pole connectors (quick disconnects) between the battery and the panel and battery, extension cord and panel. Managed to crimp and assemble 8 of the darn things without ruining any and I needed eight and only had eight. As they cost approx a dollar apiece, this seemed like a big deal at the time.

The black plastic knob is part of a caged utility light which came with both a stake (only see the round top of it in the picture) for in ground use, an alligator clamp for pole mounting, and a tilt-base. I scavenged the stakes and clamps off six of these because not wanted by my employer. Same with the lawnmower handle which is now the latitude-adjusting prop; I think I've had it sitting around since 1993. The small piece of bright steel next to the "stake & knob" is the ferrule thru which ran the starter cord. I did turn it over for a position advantageous to the operation of this fabulous "avoiding the Dorothy/tornado" design. There are also two steel tent stakes which hold down the bottom frame member of the panel.

jack