Re: [VAC] Solar how to?

[tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi Luminum62,

You wrote:
"I don't see the value of a fixed collector"
Now that is an invitation if I ever saw one. 
So -- here goes.

We ignored the nay sayers, persisted and even added panels and 
batteries as our familiarity with and confidence in this
blossoming technology increased. On one of our Airstreams, 
our expansion efforts continued yearly until we decided four 
panels and four batteries was overkill for our needs. When it
came 
time to put panels on our other  Airstreams, we stayed at 2-3. 
At one point we wrote articles about what we learned from our
solar panels/batteries experiences. They were published in 
the VAC newsletter.

One of the things we did for awhile with our fixed panels was
tilt them to face the sun 2x a day (am & pm) so more power would 
go to the batteries.  When tilting became old hat because of the 
need to return to our campsite every afternoon and tilt them the
other way, I remembered back to our overkill experience.

As a rule of thumb, I had been using one panel per battery. When
combined with tilting, we had more than enough power for our 
particular needs. So when I added an extra panel and NOT an extra
battery, we had more than enough power for our particular
needs, but I didn't need to return every afternoon to tilt
them for the afternoon sun, nor did I need to tilt them first
thing in the morning, nor at noon time. The extra panel took
care of that.

When it dawned on me the panels were always there, always 
doing their job, every day of every week of every month of 
every year and I didn't need to pay any attention to them 
(except for keeping the surfaces clean), I went on to other 
projects -- like installing inverters to provide 120 volt power 
without being connected to any utility pole -- ever -- and like 
converting all incandescent lights to fluorescents. 

Terry & Sandie #6477