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dirty panels are not the end of the world, in fact there as been some studies on the refracting effect of dust when the panels are not in optional orientation [ie like on a vehicle]

possibly there might be 48v at start up but at the half way point it will 24v, which is fine.

update, i think i found solution. since my plan all along was to string together 12v led strips for a total of 48v, i could wire the switch in the middle so that it will be at 24v. that would allow me to use common off the shelf [aka amazon] switches since many are rated at 24v usually at 5 amp.

yep, i said smaller generators are less efficient, which the OP is using. a larger generator will be a slightly different story but even with your generator solar will still pay for it self in a few years in gas costs alone not to mention the price of the generator, the hassle of dealing with...

the OP was about solar vs gas geny costs. gas generator produces about 4-7 kwh per gallon, smaller gens are less efficient. the last pic i saw showed they had 1200 watts of solar, depending on location that will yield an average of 6-6.6 kwh per day so likely more than what one gallon will...

i was considering plywood with a fire resistant paint, but now i'm looking at pegboard. something around the 300 lbs load capacity. either power-coated steel or ABS. the steel would be fire proof and the coating would offer some electrical insulation [ie arc protection]. ABS would not be...

if you want to go down the rabbit hole for peak efficiency you can check out my blog. my planned system is close to your current system. i need to squeeze out every last watt since this is a mobile setup

maybe i need to know more about your "a 50a to 15a adapter where it feeds both inverters 120v same phase." is it feeding 120v to both inverters or just one? what is the source of these two 120v feeds? is it coming from a 240v source and being split or is coming from a 120v and being...

if there are more options that would make my life easier i've been looking at different ways to convert 120VAC input from the grid into 240VAC to feed into my two multipluses paired for split phase. my knowledge of the setup came from currentconnected Current Connected LLC...

didn't follow all of that because i don't know anything about generators, however, if i'm getting the gist of it, then the issue is a paired victron, setup for split phase can only be charged at 240VAC as a pair and the individual inverters cannot be charged at 120VAC separately

thanks, figured it would work i was just a little taken aback when i started digging into low amp 48 volt switches and fuses and found next to none. even the old school glass fuses rated up to 250v are somewhat useless if are hoping to find a fuse holder that states it is rated above 32v. the...

nothing, but it should be faster and easier to ask first

maybe but that one is listed as not available, i did point out in my first post that i could get some 'to-spec' items if i ordered from digikey or mouser, etc..., however, i can get 20 12v 20a switches on amazon for the price of one 48v 2a switch on digikey. which is why i'm asking the...

vs

that is what i'm thinking i just wanted some validation. i'm planning on a dozen or so of these direct from the 48v battery connections so i will put in one main switch at the battery with a high rating to turn off all of them. i'm planning on having four 50 watt white led strips and two 50...

a 12v 20A DC switch is tiny, light and cheap, a 120VAC house switch is large, heavy and pricey. however, the real question then is how to find a cheap low amp 48v fuse. only thing i've found are the old school glass fuses, unfortunately, all the fuse holders for glass fuses are only rated up...

i had a similar question and my system is a victron inverter, however, i still want to double the check the safety of using a 12VDC switch at 48VDC [really 50-60VDC]. i need to power a 50 watt LED. other than ordering from digikey or mouser, etc... there does not seem be any way to get low amp...

plus it just rolls off the tongue so nicely ;)

while the above responses are correct useful info i think the OP wanted something like this?

here is what you need to know about conspiracy theorists, they don't exist "a hypothesis is constructed before any applicable research has been done. A theory, on the other hand, is supported by evidence" what we really have are conspiracy hypothesists

my solution to avoid surplus power is to drive electric, i'll have about 120 kwh of batteries that need feeding so i'd only see surplus if i stayed in one spot for a long time in very sunny weather.

has anyone tried using a NO thermal switch? there are lots in the 40-100C range but it is harder to find some a little lower here is one but for some reason the 30C is missing. i use a NO 40C to control my passive solar heater on my house. it works great and it does not waste power

yep, dual separate solar systems is a bit silly and i hope to find something better but my situation is a little different; i don't have an alternator so unless i use a DC/DC from the 48v to the 12v i would have to rely on the small amount of power from the native 12v system in the van. i could...

i'm hoping for more options too, i've not yet settled on how to deal with my 12 volt needs. originally i wanted to eliminate all of them and run everything on 48VDC or 120/240VAC but i realized i could save some power [eg 50-100 watts a day] by having a 12v system to run items that are...

i wish all the sales people attempting to sell me solar would look up before knocking on my door. every time they show up i just stand there pointing up until they go away

as a possible starting point you can look at my "build" thread in my signature below, however, note it is very incomplete and very disorganized and needs to be updated i'm planning on an electric only camper van that will only be charged by solar or plugging into the grid. i'm looking at...

while yes, we do need more info on this project, based on what they wrote we can't assume they meant they wanted it fully charged in 1-4 hours, it could be that they will only be charging it from solar for 1-4 hours a day.

i got mine from Current Connected but i've not yet tried using it

another option if you plan to have continuous 120VAC in your setup is to use some premade items like this on at 35F off at 45F, however, there are various temp range options out there

even though i'm a big electric tankless fan, i agree with the others that a heat pump tank unit is the most efficient, however, don't be scared by the wattage ratings on tankless units. that number is normally the max value and you are unlikely to get anywhere near it. i have an ecosmart 18k...

that is about what my 10 CF [283 liters] chest freezer gets when running as a frig. generally running a chest freezer at 40F will use 1/3 the rated kwh/y it would have as a freezer

these generally have a set temperature and a set threshold, you also need to make sure you get NC [normally closed] for colder than room temp and a NO [normally open] for warmer than room temp. that 5C NC will close around 0C and open when it is warmer than 5C, if you wanted the batteries to be...

has anyone tried using a Bimetal Thermostat? i use one for my passive solar heater and it works great. skip all the electronics and vampric loads

i'd like to see some fancy ways improve efficiency. for example most RV/boat fridges are 12v and very few are 48v so you need to convert the voltage if you have a 48v system. so can a victron cerbo turn on/off a DC/DC using with temp sensor trigger?

if LEDs are done, i would like to see some parallel/series combos of 12 VDC strings used with different battery voltages [eg 12, 24 or 48]