advice/comments for my rv solar system?

[tolbert]

so my wife and i just bought a 21' forest river salem travel trailer. our first trip out, i wanted to plug in our baby monitor to watch our newborn...well i learned quick that if we aren't plugged into power, the outlets don't work!

this is where my interest in solar energy commenced.
(once i get into a hobby, i go 110%, no budget!...my wife loves it!)

so i did some research, questions on reddit, and bought/returned lots of gear...leaving me with this setup.

i start with the solar panels:

2 100 watt solar panels

these are parallel connected with branch connecter to a 20' mc4 connector wires from renogy.

the panels are connected to a charge controller and cool display unit.

now to connect the charge controller to the 12v group 27 deep cycle interstate battery (94ah).

I used 8 AWG wire with a fuse and a fuse holder. obviously fuse on the +, and grounded to metal frame.

i did seal the mounting on the roof with this good stuff.

so that does it for the charging part of my solar system.

now here is what i used for inverter part.

my 400w inverter connected via this kit with the same fuse on the + cable as used above.

please check out the links provided on the stuff i used. let me know what you think, or if i could improve at all. and best of all, if i messed anything up!

[Mike90250]

Welcome, but I'm not going on a treasure hunt with a bunch of links. Links to ebay sales are terrible, they go stale in a month or two. Links to amazon are a bit more robust.

my 400w inverter connected via this kit with the same fuse on the + cable as used above.

The fuse for the charge controller - battery connection should be a much smaller fuse then the inverter fuse,
and the inverter and charge controller wires should bolt directly to the battery terminals, or if you must sandwich them, the inverter goes to the lead battery terminal, then stack the controller lug, then the washers and nut.

Vehicle chassis. It's OK to connect to the chassis at one spot, but please run a minus wire too, because the chassis already has other (vehicle DOT lighting) running on it's chassis, and the chassis is really not a good conductor, being steel, bolted in places, bushings in other places, paint, and such, it's ok for taillights, but not domestic grade power.

[tolbert]

Welcome, but I'm not going on a treasure hunt with a bunch of links. Links to ebay sales are terrible, they go stale in a month or two. Links to amazon are a bit more robust.



The fuse for the charge controller - battery connection should be a much smaller fuse then the inverter fuse,
and the inverter and charge controller wires should bolt directly to the battery terminals, or if you must sandwich them, the inverter goes to the lead battery terminal, then stack the controller lug, then the washers and nut.

Vehicle chassis. It's OK to connect to the chassis at one spot, but please run a minus wire too, because the chassis already has other (vehicle DOT lighting) running on it's chassis, and the chassis is really not a good conductor, being steel, bolted in places, bushings in other places, paint, and such, it's ok for taillights, but not domestic grade power.

i love amazon. its my addiction!

thanks for the great info sir. can you recommend a fuse that will suffice for the battery connection please? did a little more research and found a 80 amp / 8 awg one, but wanna know your take...i tried atleast.

ill just ground the charge controller to the battery then, thought the chassis would be similar to my truck, guess not! thanks

[SunEagle]

I did not see what type of battery system you are using. I expect it to be 12volt but what is the AH rating?

With that 400watt inverter and 200watts of panels & MPPT CC you should have a battery system rated around 180 to 200Ah.

[tolbert]

I did not see what type of battery system you are using. I expect it to be 12volt but what is the AH rating?

With that 400watt inverter and 200watts of panels & MPPT CC you should have a battery system rated around 180 to 200Ah.

i have two group 27 12v deep cycle interstate batteries connected parallel. they are each 94 ah.

i just ordered this inverter, Sunforce 11240 1000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter with Remote Control. returning the cheap 400w one.

[SunEagle]

i have two group 27 12v deep cycle interstate batteries connected parallel. they are each 94 ah.

i just ordered this inverter, Sunforce 11240 1000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter with Remote Control. returning the cheap 400w one.

Ok. So you have a 12volt 188Ah battery system. That Sunforce 1000w may be a little big for your battery size. It is best to size the inverter wattage close to the battery Ah rating.

There are smaller Pure Sine Wave inverters. I think Sunforce makes a 650 watt and Xantrex makes a 600 watt one.

[tolbert]

Ok. So you have a 12volt 188Ah battery system. That Sunforce 1000w may be a little big for your battery size. It is best to size the inverter wattage close to the battery Ah rating.

There are smaller Pure Sine Wave inverters. I think Sunforce makes a 650 watt and Xantrex makes a 600 watt one.

copy that, canceled that order and grabbed the Xantrex 806-1206 PROwatt 600 SW Inverter. thanks for the help.

[mschulz]

copy that, canceled that order and grabbed the Xantrex 806-1206 PROwatt 600 SW Inverter. thanks for the help.

As many others on this site will say, "Stop buying stuff". We need to get some more things figured out. Then you can get the right stuff for the job.

First, What are you trying to power besides the baby monitor? With your two batteries you only have about 180 AMPS * 12volts = 2160 Watts of power. When we cut that in half, to managed 50% DOD, you have 1080 Watts. Now for a little math, You have a 600 watt inverter and 1080 watts. How long can you run that for?

Give us what else you plan to run. You may be able to get away with a 300 watt inverter which will be much more efficient or you may need to add some batteries.

[tolbert]

As many others on this site will say, "Stop buying stuff". We need to get some more things figured out. Then you can get the right stuff for the job.

First, What are you trying to power besides the baby monitor? With your two batteries you only have about 180 AMPS * 12volts = 2160 Watts of power. When we cut that in half, to managed 50% DOD, you have 1080 Watts. Now for a little math, You have a 600 watt inverter and 1080 watts. How long can you run that for?

Give us what else you plan to run. You may be able to get away with a 300 watt inverter which will be much more efficient or you may need to add some batteries.

i just want to be able to use lights inside trailer (which all are changed to LED), run the 27" tv, radio, charge iphones, and baby monitor.

i have no more room for batteries, as the two are just on the tongue, dont have the space on the trailer. thought 2 batteries should be good.


edit: would i just be able to get a cig lighter inverter for this light work i need?

[russ]

As many others on this site will say, "Stop buying stuff". We need to get some more things figured out. Then you can get the right stuff for the job.

First, What are you trying to power besides the baby monitor? With your two batteries you only have about 180 AMPS * 12volts = 2160 Watts of power. When we cut that in half, to managed 50% DOD, you have 1080 Watts. Now for a little math, You have a 600 watt inverter and 1080 watts. How long can you run that for?

Give us what else you plan to run. You may be able to get away with a 300 watt inverter which will be much more efficient or you may need to add some batteries.

The best advice anyone can possibly give until you provide your planned consumption. The guys know the ins and outs and like to help but first you must help them.

[mschulz]

edit: would i just be able to get a cig lighter inverter for this light work i need?

Probably not.

Do you lights work when you are not plugged in? If they do they are already running on your 12 volt system.

Since you like Amazon, you can go ahead and buy one of these. http://smile.amazon.com/TS-836A-Ener...illawatt+meter

Plug your trailer in and put this between each load you plan to run. Run it for an hour and that will give you your consumption. Log it and report back. Then we can really help you out. Because you are limited to battery space, upgrading to a different or higher amp battery may have to happen if you can not live with out your TV and Radio. There are many ways to cut back on consumption.

How long are you with out shore power? Can't be too long with a new baby.

[tolbert]

Probably not.

Do you lights work when you are not plugged in? If they do they are already running on your 12 volt system.

Since you like Amazon, you can go ahead and buy one of these. http://smile.amazon.com/TS-836A-Ener...illawatt+meter

Plug your trailer in and put this between each load you plan to run. Run it for an hour and that will give you your consumption. Log it and report back. Then we can really help you out. Because you are limited to battery space, upgrading to a different or higher amp battery may have to happen if you can not live with out your TV and Radio. There are many ways to cut back on consumption.

How long are you with out shore power? Can't be too long with a new baby.

correct, lights are off the battery system.

i went ahead and ordered the item you suggested, i will heed your instructions and report back, thanks for that.

its not so much can't live without tv/radio when dry camping as much as its me being a guy and having every gadget out there, and then going 110% into the field, solar has me super interested. i really dont even need this setup, but im already in it and want to learn the most i can. thanks for helping out so far guys!

[mschulz]

correct, lights are off the battery system.

its not so much can't live without tv/radio when dry camping as much as its me being a guy and having every gadget out there, and then going 110% into the field, solar has me super interested. i really dont even need this setup, but im already in it and want to learn the most i can. thanks for helping out so far guys!

You can run all of this if you want, and even more, it just costs money.

[tolbert]

You can run all of this if you want, and even more, it just costs money.

well i will want the best possible for my battery bank.

[Sunking]

i have two group 27 12v deep cycle interstate batteries connected parallel. they are each 94 ah.

OK do you have any idea what that means?

It means your batteries are only good for about 750 watt hours per day. It means you need a panel wattage of roughly 400 watts if using a 40 amp MPPT, or 600 watts if using PWM. It means you can only support a 400 watt inverter.

750 watts of power is not very much power. In fact if you drove the RV every day you would not need any solar, all it would take is a $50 battery isolator and run your RV engine 1 hour per day to recharge. What are you going to do on cloudy days? You do know you have to park in full sun with no shade from sun up to sun set right? Hope you have a generator.