Ask questions, share ideas, promote your event and much much more. You have come to the right place.
So go ahead and register, create your username and password and join the fun. You MUST include your first and last name in your registration. We urge you to subscribe to the Announcements topic at least, to get important info from the Flounders in your email inbox. The subscribe link is at the bottom of each page in the topics.
If you receive a log in message saying your profile is waiting approval please email admin(at)hushville(dot)org
solar panel recommendations
Hi Gang, I'd like to be able to recharge the deepcycle AGM battery I use for lighting, and wonder what 100W panels and charge controllers folks have used awhile and like. I'm not sure if I'll mount it (only while parked) on top of the van or glue it to the playa. Don't wanna spend more than necessary, but don't want something that requires replacement in a few years either. Will likely only use it 1-4 weeks per year in addition to the Burn. Compactness/ease of transport is a plus. So, if you have experience with such, lemme know whatcha like. Cheers! Plum
i've just started doing research on this myself. have you already done the math and figured 100W is the size you need? (what's the Ah of your battery, the watts or amps draw of your lighting/devices, and how long do you plan to run them?)
I found these guys have a nice easy tutorial that gives an idea of what you'll need https://www.theplayalabs.com/solar-tutorial
I bought a Renogy 100W system to charge my 100 A-hr. deep cycle auxiliary battery. When the battery is 20-30% discharged this system will recharge it in only a few hours. Hell, it even appears to charge some just from ambient light from the sky, even without direct sun on it. I bought the monocrystaline kit on this page https://www.renogy.com/renogy-100w-12v/starter-kit/. It was on sale for $170 when I bought it, which seemed like a really good deal for a good-quality kit. The current price may be $200 or so, but look at their closeout/sale stuff too. I anticipate using 1-3A, with a possible max of 5A lighting load at night. 5A for 10 hours would nominally discharge the battery by 50%. A chart I saw showed battery lifetime cut from 6000 to 1000 charge-discharge cycles when the usual discharge was increased from 10% discharged to 50% discharged, and a further cut to 600 cycles when discharged 80% routinely. So I'd like to stay at 50% or less discharge per night. Plum