We go green! 290 watts of Zamp solar panels installed

Project wrap-up, final thoughts, panel performance

I'm going to restate my warning once again:

BE VERY CAREFUL when working with the wiring - even though the panels are covered up while you're doing the install, they could still be generating electricity! Never short the leads together - tape one lead up if you have to! Especially be careful when you're connecting the solderless ring connectors to the backside of the charge controller - you could easily let one connector touch the other if you're not careful.

To recap the project - carefully plan. Where can I install the panels? How can I get the wiring from the panels on the roof inside the RV? Where is the best place to mount the charge controller? Where can I connect the output? To the battery bank? To the DC breaker buss? Other?

This project reminded somewhat of the roof air install. There was a mechanical component - installing the roof air vs. installing the solar panels, and there was an electrical component - getting 110VAC to the roof air vs. wiring the panels to/from the charge controller. Both were a bit of work and both are completely satisfying.

Panel specs

Here's the specification sticker on the back of one of my 145 watt Zamp panels. As you can see, the maximum current output from this panel (one panel) is 8.748 amps and that of course is under optimum conditions - I assume which is full sunlight at a 90 degree angle to the panel surface which rarely happens unless you happen to live at zero degrees of Latitude (the Equator) and it's the Summer Solstice.

So what's the real-world performance? To sum it up in one word - impressive. Check out the picture below:

Panel output at 4:30 PM

Six amps - big deal you say! How about this - the picture was taken at 4:30 PM (we're currently in Colorado) with a haze in the atmosphere due to wildfires in the West. Knock me over with a feather. Breaking news. It's 5PM and the panels are giving me 6.4 amps. I can't believe the performance. We routinely see 12 amps at mid-day if we have a clear sky. Most impressive.

I wanted to test the Zamp charge controller's performance so I cut off our Xantrex charger and let the panels and the panel controller do its thing for a day (during daylight.) I wanted to be certain the controller knew how to float the brand new (and expensive Lifeline AGM 31XT) house battery bank.

The charge test went well. At first I thought the algorithm inside the Zamp charge controller wasn't quite tweaked correctly since it seemed like it was floating the batteries a couple or three tenths of a volt too high but it was responding to the house battery bank load (lights, etc.) I am now satisfied it will take good care of our $1,000+ battery bank.

Thanks for reading along. Now get going and spend some money.

Page 1 - Introduction
Page 2 - Planning
Page 3 - Tools, supplies required, job start
Page 4 - Installation - on the roof
Page 5 - Installation - inside the coach
Page 6 - This page