new solar system

[raymond123]

this summer i built a smalll cabin in the PNW. I purchased 2 lead acid 8D batteries for heavy equipment ( great price through my employer ). They are 210 AH each, i had them running off a Noma 12v 100watt panel and pwm controller. a 3000 watt inverter from canadian tire. it did the trick for construction, generator ran a lot and always had lots of battery available when needed. The question is, now that I'm out of the construction phase and looking to leave the cabin on solar permanent. are these lead acid batteries going to be ok if left unattended for a month at a time? I'm going to have to calculate how much panel to purchase, but should i add more of these batteries to my system, or more onto something better. (I'm only paying 120$ can. for this large lead acid battery).

any thoughts, id be happy to hear.

 

[Deleted member 783]

If fully charged, they will be fine for a month, depending on what you are asking out of them at the end of that month. Assuming the panels would be connected though, so would they stay charged?

100 watts is very weak for that battery. Quadrupling that would be closer to ideal. I'd probably do that before upgrading the batteries.

Letting us know what your goals are for the system would help. Calculating your loads and giving us the battery bank voltage would help more.

 

[raymond123]

thanks! yes i agree, more panels is going to be needed, i just have to figure out my available light to calculate, my loads are light, one ceiling fan, water pump, LED lights and a small electric fridge to start. (until full size propane or a proper solar fridge becomes a must ). charging phones and laptop.

 

[Craig]

I left my lead acid batteries unattended for 7 months with .01 loss in voltage. It was from October to May in Idaho so it was not and has not been a problem.