GoView trailers have on average 40% more solar generating capacity than most of our competitors. Some might ask, "Is that really necessary?"
Areas north of the sunbelt get significantly less sun during the winter months. When you couple this decreased sunlight with storms or overcast days, you can quickly run power deficits which can become unsustainable. Providers have long realized this problem and have come up with many solutions such as powering down key components during daytime hours, using diesel generators, and more recently using costly fuel cell generators.
In many cases these problems could be solved more cost effectively by increasing battery amp hour capacity and solar array wattage.
Here are the factors that must be used in calculating the solar charging system:
1. Load or current draw in watts: Add up the wattage of all the devices that will be drawing power from the system. This is the single most important number in your system design. This can be found in the specification sheet for all devices.
2. Solar Zone: Different parts of the country receive more sun than others. If you live in Seattle you understand this concept. Refer to the chart on the left to determine your solar zone.
3. Solar generation: Solar panels are not 100% efficient. As an example, if you have a 100 Watt panel, we estimate you should be able to support 12.5 Watts of continuous power generation in zone 2. This 100 Watt panel might produce anywhere from 200 Watts to 700 watts in a 24 hour period which is a big range. The excess power is stored in the battery for a literal "rainy day".
4. Deployable area and cost are 2 other factors in sizing your solar array. More panels take up more space and on many sites there is a limited area for deployment. Adding additional wattage can also increase the cost and if the system is not designed properly may not produce any additional benefit.
Summary: Solar system designers must use all of the above information to determine the proper size of solar array and battery storage bank. Most of our systems need to sustain between 90 and 140 watts of continuous loads. In southern states we can do this with 700 watts of solar and 800 AH of backup battery. In northern states we use systems with more than 1300 watts of solar and 1600 AH of backup battery.