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The Journal of David A. Johnson, P.E., page 7 |
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Last Updated
on:
Monday, August 18, 2008 04:17 PM |
| Spring 2006 |
| Solar Power for RV -- I’ve been
considering taking a temporary job out of state for a period of 3 to 6 months. I need to make some extra money and this may be the only way
I can do it. To save on living expenses, I thought about buying a used class C recreational vehicle (RV). I would live in it while
working at the job site instead of paying $75 a day for a hotel room or $600 or so per month for a furnished apartment. Living in a small RV
for months at a time could be challenging. To maintain some degree of sanity I could install a satellite dish on the roof of the RV.
This would allow me to receive TV anywhere. I would use my cell phone to stay in touch with the wife and I could park the RV near a WiFi
hotspot, to connect to the internet when needed. But, electrical power could be an issue. Even running my laptop computer for a few
hours might quickly run down the RV’s 12v battery. The RV would have a generator but running it for such a light load wouldn’t make much
sense. One way to solve the problem would be to install a solar panel on the roof of the RV. I think a 100 watt panel would
collect enough power during the daytime to operate my laptop and charge the battery for the nighttime needs. An intelligent battery charger
circuit would be needed. Also, I might consider installing a 12v to 120vac inverter. This would allow me to power AC powered devices,
drawing power from the 12v battery instead of running the generator. I would need to monitor and keep track of the amp-hours drawn from the
battery and the amp-hours put back into it, during charging. Monitoring the battery voltage is not a good indicator of the battery
condition. There are some intelligent “fuel gage” monitor ICs but most of those were designed for small batteries found in cell phones and
MP3 players. Perhaps they could be modified for use in a large 12 lead acid battery. |
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