Charging without Solar

[Thos]

I have some solar panels and an LV-1012 MPPT. But for the extended weeks of cloud and overcast in the god-awful Canadian winter in my motorhome, I have ordered a K-Tor Power Box 50 so that I can generate some body heat while recharging my batteries with pedal power.
I am told that the Power Box 50 can be connected directly to my batteries for recharging them.
This is essential because I see that my LV-1012 has no connections for a DC input other than from the solar panels and unfortunately I will not be parked anywhere near where I could hook-up to an AC input.
So I really look forward to being able to keep my electrical requirements to an absolute minimum. And I can completely light up my desk with some full spectrum light from a 4ft 40w. single tube fluorescent fixture.
But I won't have any Internet connection so I will keep myself entertained by checking out all the building and fixing videos I have downloaded from Youtube with my 50 watt laptop.
So that just leaves keeping my batteries warm enough to be happy and hopefully keeping me warm enough too because I can cook on the wood stove that I have installed in my motorhome so that I don't have to be hiking out of the bush now and then just to backpack in some more propane for the stove & furnace. If I've got to do that then I might as well be living in a motel in town.
Originally, I had believed that I would of course use the wood stove for general daily heating but that has become unfeasible because although it is a micro-mini woodstove that I have built out of a 20 pound propane tank, it still goes through an incredible quantity of firewood during the long cold winter months.
So if am going to be running the light and the laptop from the LV-1012's AC output using 90 watts, then maybe I should get one or two 12v low wattage heaters to connect directly to one of the batteries in order to get them warmed up in the morning. I've got a 12v 3 socket car lighter plug adapter that I can plug into a second adapter which is a 12v lighter socket with short wires and two big alligator clips for clipping on to my battery terminals.
Then I could run one or two small 12v heaters for the batteries to keep warm and a low wattage 12v inverter to power the laptop and all directly from my batteries.
If anything that I have said so far sounds totally impractical then please let me know.
The area that I really need some help and advice on is the part where I need one or two more heaters to keep myself warm. Should they be the highest wattage 12v heaters that I can find? I mean, I guess I could hook-up half a dozen 12v heaters directly to the batteries.
Or should I be plugging the LV-1012's AC output into a 3 socket adapter so that I can plug in a couple of 120 volt space heaters?
And since the LV-1012 is a 1000 watt MPPT, then I guess I had better make sure that I never hook-up two 600w space heaters to it because it will get wrecked.
Thos

 

[circus]

If anything that I have said so far sounds totally impractical then please let me know.

Stock up on thermal underwear. Some are even battery powered.

 

[StevAR]

I too dread the extended cloudyseason. I would swap out the florescent lights for leds...

While i have 400w of monocrystaline panels on a 40w mppt, they require full sun to work.

I have the parts to make a 400 watt bike generator but they are said to only work with lead batteries... Plus it takes up a lot of room.

My idea is to add "200 watts" of amphorious panels from Harbor freight since they work in gloom. (I'll be hanging mine vertically facing south. Lots of urban survivalists hang them in Windows; Apparently, they produce power all day. Just not much. And they don't last as long as mono.

The kit comes with 12v led lights but i don't know How juices they use.

I'm not exactly sure how to hook them to my main battery. Perhaps I'll have a big switch to two batteries? Like a diverter.

If one set of panels does nothing, disconnect them and use the amphorious panels.

Anyway, it's an idea.

 

[StevAR]

...
Add a bunch of thermal mass - rocks - once at your parking spot to put near your woodstove.

If you have extra panels and access to sand you can make a solar powered heater with some cheap thermo thingys... See this video...

Just make it bigger. I was gonna make one out of a big stainless pot on some bricks. You don't even need a battery for it.

But more batteries is a good idea.

 

[Short_Shot]

Oof.

Electric heat is an absolute killer without sufficient solar to power them.

Look at the power consumption before you consider this. As the previous comment stated it is possible to get heat just on yourself which would be vastly more efficient.

Heated battery powered undergarments would consume a ton less power since you only have to heat yourself.

If one set of panels does nothing, disconnect them and use the amphorious panels.

Anyway, it's an idea.

What an amorphious panel exactly?

...
Add a bunch of thermal mass - rocks - once at your parking spot to put near your woodstove.

If you have extra panels and access to sand you can make a solar powered heater with some cheap thermo thingys... See this video...

Just make it bigger. I was gonna make one out of a big stainless pot on some bricks. You don't even need a battery for it.

But more batteries is a good idea.

Thermal mass does not cut back on heating fuel requirements. It simply extends the gaps when the heat source burns down to a lower output or shuts down.

You need a literal ton of thermal mass to have any significant effect for more than an hour, or for an area more than just a few inches away from it. The body and contents of a dwelling or camper are far greater thermal mass than a small pile of rocks.

OP would be far better served by a heat pump such as a mini split. The power consumption is about a third that of straight electric heating for the same BTUs.

Down side is most will require going to at least a 2000w inverter.

And that still says nothing about OPs solar capacity.

 

[Tecnodave]

If you build that generator bike you will be creating heat as well

What i do not see here is a consistent source of electricity, no grid, little to no solar

skip the electric heat...

skip the inverter

all DC

 

[camelCase]

My 2 cents is to save your $ and buy a chainsaw instead. I don't think I'm exaggerating to say you could pedal that unit 24/7 and not make enough power to raise the temperature inside your motor home a measurable amount.

 

[FilterGuy]

...
Add a bunch of thermal mass - rocks - once at your parking spot to put near your woodstove.

If you have extra panels and access to sand you can make a solar powered heater with some cheap thermo thingys... See this video...

Just make it bigger. I was gonna make one out of a big stainless pot on some bricks. You don't even need a battery for it.

But more batteries is a good idea.

Any time you are trying to drive a heating element directly from a solar panel, try to make the resistance of the heating eliment match the Vmp and Imp of the solar panel. R = Vmp/Imp. This will help get the most power out of the panel. If the resistance is way off, the panel will be operating someplace way off of its max power point.

 

[Tecnodave]

2 100 watt amorphous harbor freight panels in canada in winter will make 30 to 40 watts maybe they do better than monocrystalline or polycrystalline panels through clouds, mist, etc.

short shot, amorphous panels are vapor depostied on a flexible backing, there are no cells, way less efficient but better low light preformance

 

[StevAR]

Oof.

Electric heat is an absolute killer without sufficient solar to power them.

Look at the power consumption before you consider this. As the previous comment stated it is possible to get heat just on yourself which would be vastly more efficient.

Heated battery powered undergarments would consume a ton less power since you only have to heat yourself.


What an amorphious panel exactly?


Thermal mass does not cut back on heating fuel requirements. It simply extends the gaps when the heat source burns down to a lower output or shuts down.

You need a literal ton of thermal mass to have any significant effect for more than an hour, or for an area more than just a few inches away from it. The body and contents of a dwelling or camper are far greater thermal mass than a small pile of rocks.

OP would be far better served by a heat pump such as a mini split. The power consumption is about a third that of straight electric heating for the same BTUs.

Down side is most will require going to at least a 2000w inverter.

And that still says nothing about OPs solar capacity.

Amphorious panels? They are the main type of panels used on those little solar yard light things, except bigger.

100 Watt Amorphous Solar Panel Kit

Amazing deals on this 100 Watt Solar Panel Kit at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

They are considered inferior because of output, but they require less light to work. They have a much shorter lifespan too. But, they work in cloudy situations...

They are a better than nothing solution.
...
But yeah, fire GOOD!
Electric heat BAD!

 

[Tecnodave]

My 2 cents is to save your $ and buy a chainsaw instead. I don't think I'm exaggerating to say you could pedal that unit 24/7 and not make enough power to raise the temperature inside your motor home a measurable amount.

that was a joke.......

 

[Tecnodave]

I have 4 cadmium telluride panels that do well in poor light and fog but poor effeciency 24 x 48 inch 75 watt

 

[StevAR]

I have 4 cadmium telluride panels that do well in poor light and fog but poor effeciency 24 x 48 inch 75 watt

That's cool. That's about the same size as a hf 20w amphorious. They seem better than amphorious too.

Hmm toxic!
2 for $130 @

DM 77W CdTe Solar Module, 12v CdTe Solar Panels

USA made solar panels and photovoltaic products including solar cells, solar modules, CdTe thin film, grid-tie systems, off-grid kits, solar attic fans at factory direct price.

www.dmsolar.com

 

[Short_Shot]

Amphorious panels? They are the main type of panels used on those little solar yard light things, except bigger.

Amorphous is the word you're looking for I believe.

Edit: didn't even know "amorphous" panels existed. Learned something new.

Amorphious isn't a thing.

Edit two: I realize that's a bit pedantic about a spelling error but I work in plastics and have a coworker who says it that way just to drive me nuts. And it works every time.

 

[StevAR]

Amorphous is the word you're looking for I believe.

Edit: didn't even know "amorphous" panels existed. Learned something new.

Amorphious isn't a thing.

According to my spellchecker it is! Lol!

I learned something too! There's more kinds of amorphous than i thought.

 

[Short_Shot]

According to my spellchecker it is! Lol!

I learned something too! There's more kinds of amorphous than i thought.

I had to add it to mine to accept the spelling. I assure you that the extra i is a typo lol

It even says as much in your link.

 

[Tecnodave]

Yes isnt apples super appleautobutchermyspelling a work of art?

 

[Short_Shot]

Yes isnt apples super appleautobutchermyspelling a work of art?

Android auto correct isn't much better I promise.

 

[StevAR]

Yes isnt apples super appleautobutchermyspelling a work of art?

Android is my butcher!

Hey thanks for the heads up on that panel! Much better than harbour fright!

 

[Short_Shot]

That's cool. That's about the same size as a hf 20w amphorious. They seem better than amphorious too.

Hmm toxic!
2 for $130 @

DM 77W CdTe Solar Module, 12v CdTe Solar Panels

USA made solar panels and photovoltaic products including solar cells, solar modules, CdTe thin film, grid-tie systems, off-grid kits, solar attic fans at factory direct price.

www.dmsolar.com

That is neat. I wonder if I can squeeze a 50w one on top of my tongue box in place of the 3x smaller panels I have doing 50w now.

Only they get me 35w on the best days and like 5 or 6 on the worst.