600w of Solar and 400 amp lithium

[charlesk]

Wahoo, just picked our Airstream up from Lew. Wow!

We now have 600 watts of solar panels, a shiny new inverter and 400 amp hour of lithium batteries.

Lew was amazing. He delivered on everything promised and so much more. He has lived up to our high expectations.

We'll be disconnecting from shore power in a week and then we're off to See America for the next couple of years in our 30' Airstream now powered by lithium.

If you ever get a chance to meet Lew, definitely don't miss out. What wealth of knowledge and a great person.

[kvhnsn]

Can you provide me with some contact information for Lew? I am going to be undertaking a similar project, but I live in the middle of nowhere Wyoming and will need to do it by myself. I have the capabilities as I wired my entire house, just need some specific know how.

[charlesk]

Lewster is a very active member on the forums. You can find him (Lewster) in the directory and private message him from there.

Best of luck.

[gklott]

Pictures please?

[BoldAdventure]

Congrats, you'll love your batteries. I love lithiums and the peace of mind they provide me. Especially when it's raining or cold or overcast. Hell, I don't know when I last broke out the generator.

I should probably check to make sure it still runs.

[dkottum]

Our solar works best when traveling in the Southwest. Less effective in the rest of the country with more clouds and trees.

[eartick]

Would like to know what type solar panels you had Lew install and some pictures of the install. I am trying to squeeze 400 watts onto our 27 foot 65 Overlander that we are restoring.

Putting in 300 AH worth of LI with a 3KW inverter/charger to take care of the electrical requirements. Just fighting the solar panels and whether to go with standoffs or flex panels

[charlesk]

All of our components came from AM Solar. They have a great website with lots of great information.

'The panel of choice is the smaller, lighter and more efficient GS-100 panel, but these are now out of production and AM Solar has bought the entire remaining supply available in the US. The SF-100 panels are very good, just 7" longer. Being a 30' trailer, I'm sure we will have ample room for 6 of either panel."

I'll try to post some pics.

Chuck

[ghaynes755]

Easy way to check is to cutup some corrugated pieces of cardboard and lay them out on the roof. Same way installers do it. Or if you have AutoCad or Vizio contact Airstream customer support and ask for a layout drawing of your roof. Then you can play with designs using your computer. I did my Classic 30 and original FC25 using Vizio. Final check was preinstall with cardboard. Perfect match.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by charlesk

All of our components came from AM Solar. They have a great website with lots of great information.



'The panel of choice is the smaller, lighter and more efficient GS-100 panel, but these are now out of production and AM Solar has bought the entire remaining supply available in the US. The SF-100 panels are very good, just 7" longer. Being a 30' trailer, I'm sure we will have ample room for 6 of either panel."



I'll try to post some pics.



Chuck

AM Solar is now making their own version of the venerable GS-100 panels using the same Sun Power cells....... same size.......same output specs.

Also, after testing 500 watts of Grape Solar's Photo-Flex panels for 2 years, I can attest unequivocally that they DO NOT PERFORM over the long haul!!!

I am now getting a MAXIMUM of 120 watts (via Victron Blue Solar 100/50 charge controller) at solar noon, when I have seen the full 500 watts (with MPPT boost) from the same sized array of GS-100 panels from the same installation prior to charging changing to the flex panels.

Once again I caution: USE FLEX PANELS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!😱

I will never suggest or install them!!!


Lew Farber

[Climber]

I second the opinion on Lewster, the guy does wonderful work using the very best components. He installed 400w of panels from AM Solar and 220a of Lifeline AGM batteries, which work perfectly for us. In early Oct sunshine we're fully charged by 10 am. We're eager to see what the Oregon gray season brings, but so far so good.

Cheers,

Climber

[Beach Bum]

The AM solar GS solar panels are very efficient. I have 725 watts (4×135w and 3x100w) on the roof. I judge them by how well they perform in less than ideal conditions. Based on my unscientific observation using the readings from the ipn_remote reads. On a crapy day with some shade I am getting 10% plus output (70-120 watts) . At noon full with full sun I max out the 40amp solar controler. Today on the fringe of hurricane Matthew in a driving rain storm at 10am I was reading +2Amp/hrs. The extra output in less ideal condition allows for more worry free camping and less time figuring how long your batteries will last or can I camp in this less than ideal solar spot.

My reccomendation based on my 2+ years of use ....get high quality panels that work the best in less than ideal conditions. Because that will be the case most of the time. The AM solar stuff does just that i'm sure there are other manufactures that do as well too. However NO flexible, rollup, glue down ..... pannels are as efficient as the ridge ones. The flexible ones have their place in the solar world but they are not as efficient. For my money I went with performance over looking purdy. To each his own just be an informed buyer.