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  • Need help in design-what would you do?

    Know very little about solar but trying to build a system. Interested to see how you guys that know solar or have already built system would build mine. Nice site, my first post. Remember on a budget but also dont want to buy junk that will fail.

    Looking for some opinions on design and equipment for my system to power my RV which is on a lot all but two to three weekends a year. I have a shed that all equipment will be housed and the solar panels on the roof. What i have so far is eight 105AH batteries that are 12 volt, this will be the size of my bank ( just because got them for next to nothing). I have a 3100W remote start generator. My goal is to use the generator in the mornings for 30 minutes or so which is peak load using toaster/microwave, running water etc. Camper is going to be used or system used for about 3 days a week. Please tell me the brand names of equipment you would use and how you would design it.

    Remember Goal is to be able to tie generator into system so i can easily remote start for morning peak power usages or on weeks with no sun, would love to never have to start actually. My plan is to have a plug on the outside of my shed to plug from my rv which is a 30 amp 120 volt. Dont want to change nothing on my rv with regards to its inverter/ plug etc. because i will be using it on other camp sites once and a while.

    Questions
    -The Bank, how would you wire it 12 Volts ( one string or two), 24 volts?
    -Solar panels, Can go with two to three with room issues, what wattage and what voltage and reliable brand name?
    -Charge controller, MPPT or PWM, what brand would you buy, on a budget dont forget.
    -Inverter, what size and brand, thinking a 3K to 4K would do not sure, would you go pure sine or not. Can i get an inverter that excepts power from my generator as well so when i start the gen. it does not use battery power? Do i need some sort of auto transfer switch?


    Thanks for the help and reading! looking forward to comments and opinions on how you guys would design

  • #2
    Remember cheap and quality don't do well together, If you want to auto start generator support and other goodies, you need to spend money. what is your budget?

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    • #3
      Please help.

      I have a champion 3100 inverter generator with remote start, model 75537I. As far as budget it will be what it will be, basically just looking for reliability/quality and don't need fancy. Need reliable power.

      Batteries, have 800Amp hours.
      Solar panels, guessing need two 250 watters and want to start with one.
      Charge controller, not sure what to get or what size.
      Inverter, unsure, hoping there is something out there that will take ac input as in my generator and will automatically reconize when i start it.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by solar4rv View Post
        I have a champion 3100 inverter generator with remote start, model 75537I. As far as budget it will be what it will be, basically just looking for reliability/quality and don't need fancy. Need reliable power.

        Batteries, have 800Amp hours.
        Solar panels, guessing need two 250 watters and want to start with one.
        Charge controller, not sure what to get or what size.
        Inverter, unsure, hoping there is something out there that will take ac input as in my generator and will automatically reconize when i start it.
        If you are still considering using those 8 12volt 105Ah batteries as a 12volt system then you will have to have about 1000 watts of panels and an 80amp CC to get the proper charging current. 500 watts of panels will only be enough for a battery system half that size.

        Your next pitfall is having more then 2 batteries wired in parallel. Due to wiring and connector resistance you will not be able to charge or discharge equally across all 8 batteries which results in at least one getting over used and failing.

        If you go cheap with a PWM charge controller you will lose about 33% of your panel wattage capabilities. Spend the money and get a good MPPT type charger.

        Depending on what your loads are you should look into getting a pure sine wave inverter which is sized not much bigger in wattage then your solar panel wattage. Go too big and you will not be able to recharge the batteries in one day.

        And as paulcheung stated. A low budget gets you cheap equipment and a system that will not produce what you want or last long.

        Only quality hardware should be used in solar / battery systems. Unfortunately that means spending more money.

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