Solar Panel for 16' Bambi

[bc_seattle]

Love the pictures. About to add solar to a '08 16' and would appreciate any other recent experiences or words of wisdom. Pictures greatly appreciated. My understanding is that:

- the 2008 specs for the DWR show that it has "Solar pre-wire"
- we need to add a solar charge controller
- we need to add a solar panel(s)
- appears that potentially two panels (one smaller) can fit on the 16'

Do folk mount them so they can tilt to absorb maximum sunlight?
Tips on the Northwest with plenty of sun obstacles (rain, clouds, trees)?

Thanks!

BC

[Yooper]

Solar panels and trees don't mix real well. If you are staying for more than 2-3 nights in a shady spot, you will find your batteries are nearing their limits.

At least that has been my experience at my favorite shaded campground on Lake Superior. I have learned which spots allow for the most sun and have been tempted to run a tethered portable freestanding panel into sunny spots out from under the trees. And I do tilt the panels to follow the sun. Adding clouds to the mix, will, of course, further complicate things. Solar panels do like sun, the brighter and the longer, the better!

That said, although I have been tempted to buy one of the Honda generators to top off my batteries, especially after a number of cloudy and shady days, I haven 't done so yet. And that is 6, going on 7, seasons into using them.

Dick

[bc_seattle]

Originally Posted by Yooper

...And I do tilt the panels to follow the sun. Dick

Thanks, good info.

Practical question: other than hauling a full on ladder is there any way to tilt the panels?

BC

[idroba]

Originally Posted by bc_seattle

Practical question: other than hauling a full on ladder is there any way to tilt the panels?

BC

The practical problem of tilting panels on the roof of an RV is just not worth the effort in terms of additional power produced, in most cases. Which way are they going to tilt depends on where you are parked today. Do you need to tilt forward, backward, to the left or to the right? What time of day is it? Who knows?

Since the sun is at a high angle in the summer when we do most of our camping, a flat or mostly flat panel is generally acceptable. When figuring out how much power you can produce with a given panel, I usually estimate about 60 to 70% of the nominal maximum output (the way panels are referred to... say a 100 watt panel). That also takes into account the sun angle, the controller losses, wiring and battery inefficiency.

I have two 100 watt panels on my 20' FC. The general output I measure is in the range of 9 to 10 amps in sunshine. At a 13.5 volt charge voltage that is 135 actual watts being delivered to the batteries, pretty close to my 70% overall efficiency estimate.

It is not worthwhile to get too hung up on maximizing the panel output in most cases. RV solar is not fixed like a rooftop system on a building, where one does work at best optimum conditions as they are always the same directional issues.

[Yooper]

BC, I haul a small step ladder (4') in my pickup bed. That allows me to reach the solar panels. I park my trailer in a north south orientation. Tilting toward the rising sun in the morning and then allowing them to flatten for the midday overhead sun is all the tilting I do. Watching my charging monitor's read out tells me this is helpful in my wooded site. At home, where I park it in a lightly wooded area in my back field, I don't bother tilting. It stays charged for months at a time with no problem.

Dick

Here's a picture of my back field location from just before our Easter Sunday thaw. Snow cap now gone!

[lewster]

Tilting your panels toward the morning sun, than flattening for 'solar noon' and then tilting again (depending on the orientation of your trailer when parked) can add 20-25% to the amperage that your batteries receive during the day. Admittedly, it is a bit of a pain to do this if you don't have any easy way to access the roof.

These figures are from my hand-held specialty meter that display watts/sq-M and are calculated using the differences between tilting the cell directly into the sun vs. horizontal (as in a static roof mount).

If you have sufficient solar array capacity on your roof that is matched to either the size of your battery bank or your actual battery usage patterns, tilting will not really be required. OTOH, if you really what to squeeze every last drop of amperage from your panels, then tilting is definitely the way to go.

[drboyd]

I had thought for a while about trying to make a remote power tilt mechanism using a couple of linear actuators. But then I got lazy and cheap.

[bc_seattle]

Originally Posted by Yooper

BC, I haul a small step ladder (4') in my pickup bed. That allows me to reach the solar panels. I park my trailer in a north south orientation. Tilting toward the rising sun in the morning and then allowing them to flatten for the midday overhead sun is all the tilting I do. Watching my charging monitor's read out tells me this is helpful in my wooded site. At home, where I park it in a lightly wooded area in my back field, I don't bother tilting. It stays charged for months at a time with no problem.

Dick

Here's a picture of my back field location from just before our Easter Sunday thaw. Snow cap now gone!

GREAT PICTURE. Good idea on the ladder... am considering one of the telescoping pack-small ladders.

[bc_seattle]

…. Quick update on adding solar to our ’08 16’ DWR:

I took a roadtrip to see Lew in Hood River, OR. This is a very cool town to visit. Lew set me up in an RV campground on the WA side of the river. Hood River is a very cool town and area, well worth the trip.

Lew and his son installed two of the AM Solar GS100 panels giving us 200 watts of potential power. He did not use the existing AS solar pre-wire and instead ran new/heavier wire. The install also included a combiner box, solar charge controller, and battery monitor. Lew is a true pro and I’d highly recommend him.

Lew is also a true outdoorsman and can recommend cycling, hiking, wind-sports, whatever that may interest you while in town.

The system works great. Over the Memorial Day weekend we tested it out in the Methow valley. Battery back to 100% every day even in partial shade and on the day that was overcast.



Lew’s mobile office. In good weather, he does the install right in the campground.


Doing my “work” for the install = staying out of Lew’s hair. This is at the top of a
great ride from Hood River to the Cooper Spur Ski Area.


Scenery on the ride. Hood River is a great playground.


The two AM Solar 100w panels. Note that we removed the original Winegard antennae.


The TV antennae replacement: Jack TV.


The roofline. Wasn't sure where we were going to place the Jack TV. Eventually
plan to add a shim to level it out, purely cosmetic.


Camping this past weekend #1


Camping this past weekend #2

[Airrogant]

I want that! Would you be willing to share the price, and more details on the components used?

What's your experience so far? Will this keep your batteries topped-off when the sun is out? Or does the size of the panels mean that the system is undersized?

Does anyone recommend anyone near the Chicago area that could do this?

[bc_seattle]

Originally Posted by Airrogant

I want that! Would you be willing to share the price, and more details on the components used?

What's your experience so far? Will this keep your batteries topped-off when the sun is out? Or does the size of the panels mean that the system is undersized?

Does anyone recommend anyone near the Chicago area that could do this?

Yes… I'll PM you the $info and happy to share the component list. One of the big choice is the panels… happy so far with the AM Solar. I was considering one of the flexible panels, there are some here that have had success with this. There are some potential issues so I decided to go with the hard panel. The AM Solar 100w panel is compact which is great for a 16' and lightweight.

So far my experience boon docking is limited to one three-day weekend with my wife and teenage son. We parked in a partially shaded spot with two days of sun and one overcast. Each day, the battery (a no-name group 24) was back to 100% by noon or earlier.

We've also upgraded our lights to LED, I swapped out the fridge fan for a quieter and more energy efficient pair of fans, and we didn't use the heater. So we we're exactly sucking electricity.

My experience is that with some thoughtfulness on electric consumption and if you don't need much heat, you can essentially go forever in the 16' with 200w of solar. Well not counting the holding tank.

[karenandkirk]

Hi BC Seattle,
We are brand new to the Airstream world, having just purchased a 16' Bambi. We would also like to add solar and your post has inspired us. Would you mind sharing your component list with us as well? I'm not exactly sure how communicating works on this forum. I'll just hit the post reply button and see what happens...!

[SkyDog]

Just picked up my Bambi and cannot wait to get out in a couple weeks! We did two 100 watt panels and a 350 inverter for charging devices.

[Llittle54]

I've been following the solar threads and reluctantly have been convinced to run new wires (8ga) in my 2016 16'. The big question now is HOW! I'd love to hear the details on how to run the 8 ga from the AM controller box to the SC 2030 controller I have mounted under the front dinette seat. I'm a little freaked about punching a hole in the AS! I have the TM 2030 monitor mounted in my closet and easily ran my monitor wires from the closet to the controller. Detailed help and/or pics including sealing and finishing would be very appreciated! Planning on 2 - 100w panels.
Thanks in advance

[DRowell]

I have not seen what the set up is for factory solar on the 2021 Bambi 16s but I know I did not like the price. I installed my own. I installed two 100W Renogy RNG-100D-SS panels (chosen for dimension), panel wiring adapters to fit the Zamp prewired roof box, a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100-20 Charge Controller with BlueTooth monitoring, two 12V DC 20A circuit breakers all connected to a 100AH Lithium battery (installed by the dealer). Total cost $709 (not including the battery, and my labor was "free"). I chose to use the rear deck beside the AC to keep the weight behind the axles so as to avoid adding to the tongue weight, infact, reducing it somewhat. Because my Volvo XC60 has a 350 pound tongue weight limit, I placed the battery in the rear, under the bed, and use only one propane tank (and no batteries) on the front. Adding the panels to the rear allows me to carry more towards the front of the trailer without exceeding the max tongue weight for the vehicle. There is room for 380W to 420W solar depending on sizes of panels chosen for the front of the roof if someone is into heavy usage.

[kevinkatz]

Looks great install. I see your desire not to have too much tongue weight. There are many examples of trailers that have too much comparative weight to the rear becoming quite unstable and swaying. Just a thought to consider.

[DRowell]

I appreciate the light tongue weight scenario having experienced it from a new boat trailer poorly adjusted for the boat. It got my attention! The boat was then positioned further forward. I weigh the tongue weight then fill the fresh water tank to reach the Volvo XC60 max 350 pounds, 10% of the max gross weight and on the border of acceptable, especially if I have not reached the 3500 pound gross weight limit. By my measurement for the 16RB, each gallon of water adds 2.6 pounds of tongue weight and 8.3 pounds of gross weight. Experience with weight and balance on aircraft has helped.

[DeepSearch]

DRowell, I am about to do the same thing to my 2021 16' Bambi. Any advice as I start?
My first task is to find the "pre-wire". I have the same Victron controller as you and a zamp panel already.

[DeepSearch]

Originally Posted by DeepSearch

DRowell, I am about to do the same thing to my 2021 16' Bambi. Any advice as I start?
My first task is to find the "pre-wire". I have the same Victron controller as you and a zamp panel already.

I found the "pre-wire" under the roadside seat of the dinette. now on to the rest. I'll post pictures when I have it all set up.

[DRowell]

Hi DS,
I don't know where my earlier reply went but the location of the pre wiring was in it. That is where I mounted the Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100-20 Charge Controller with BlueTooth and fed it to the electrical bus there, thus to the battery. There is a pre wired lead in the closet for a Victron controller monitor that, for factory solar, is installed by the water heater control by the sink. I think the other end is under the panel in the curb side bed platform where it can be connected in some manner to the electrical panel, I think. That is not needed since the phone app bluetoothed to the Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100-20 Charge Controller will give the equivalent info.

Of note, the charge controller can be set for lithium or other types of batteries. The charge and float voltage for lithium is higher. I have a lithium battery and the full charge voltage runs between 14.2V and 14.5V. After pulling the trailer for a day with no power usage the voltage ends up at 13.2V to 13.5V, a lead acid battery full charge. I assume that the car charging system which is set for lead acid batteries "siphons off" from the lithium battery until the voltage matches the car battery's. I have not found information on this.

Regards,
Don