Need help with configuring RV solar setup

[hemanthariyani]

Hello all,

This is my first time here and first time dealing with a solar setup. Looking forward to learning a lot from all of you.

I am planning to have a solar set up for my travel trailer. Here is what I have so far.

Solar panels: 10 x 130 Watts. (Rated Voltage = 18.9V, Rated Current = 6.9 Amps OCV = 24.6V, SSC=15Amps)
Batteries: 4 x 6V (200-250AH - Eversys Datasafe HX800FR)

I am now looking at getting an inverter and a solar charger.

Any suggestions on how these should be configured?

Should I connect all batteries in series to get 24V or should I aim for a 12V setup? From what I have gathered so far, I will need a 24V 60Amp mppt charge controller with this setup. Not sure how 12V would work. Any suggestions on reasonably priced controllers?

I guess I will need to go for something like a 24V to 110V pure sine wave inverter. Any suggestions for reasonably priced options here?

Is there something like inverter, charger, charge controller combined into one unit?

My current plan is to have everything tie into 110V system of the RV and not change anything in the RV itself - at least to start with.

Any suggestions on the setup and how to make the best use of panels and batteries I have?

Regards
Hemant

[SunEagle]

Hello all, This is my first time here and first time dealing with a solar setup. Looking forward to learning a lot from all of you. I am planning to have a solar set up for my travel trailer. Here is what I have so far. Solar panels: 10 x 130 Watts. (Rated Voltage = 18.9V, Rated Current = 6.9 Amps OCV = 24.6V, SSC=15Amps) Batteries: 4 x 6V (200-250AH - Eversys Datasafe HX800FR) I am now looking at getting an inverter and a solar charger. Any suggestions on how these should be configured? Should I connect all batteries in series to get 24V or should I aim for a 12V setup? From what I have gathered so far, I will need a 24V 60Amp mppt charge controller with this setup. Not sure how 12V would work. Any suggestions on reasonably priced controllers? I guess I will need to go for something like a 24V to 110V pure sine wave inverter. Any suggestions for reasonably priced options here? Is there something like inverter, charger, charge controller combined into one unit? My current plan is to have everything tie into 110V system of the RV and not change anything in the RV itself - at least to start with. Any suggestions on the setup and how to make the best use of panels and batteries I have? Regards Hemant

Hello Hemant and welcome to Solar Panel Talk -----------------------Based on the panels and batteries your best bet is to go with a 24volt battery system and not more than a 1000 watt 24vdc to 110vac inverter. -----------------------You are correct about needing a 60amp MPPT charge controller. Make sure you find one that can accept the total voltage of the Voc for 5 panels wired in series. That way you can make 2 strings of 5 and not need any fusing between the panels and CC. ------------------------Find a quality MPPT charging like Midnight Solar, Outback, Morningstar or Blue Sky. Going with a cheap no name brand may get you something of lesser quality.

[hemanthariyani]

Hello Hemant and welcome to Solar Panel Talk -----------------------Based on the panels and batteries your best bet is to go with a 24volt battery system and not more than a 1000 watt 24vdc to 110vac inverter. -----------------------You are correct about needing a 60amp MPPT charge controller. Make sure you find one that can accept the total voltage of the Voc for 5 panels wired in series. That way you can make 2 strings of 5 and not need any fusing between the panels and CC. ------------------------Find a quality MPPT charging like Midnight Solar, Outback, Morningstar or Blue Sky. Going with a cheap no name brand may get you something of lesser quality.

Thank you so much SunEagle. Really appreciate the response. I will look for a controller as per your recommendation.

If I connect sets of five panels in series and the two sets in parallel? Would I need any fuses etc?

And could you let me know why the 1000 watt limit recommendation on inverter? Apart from watt-hours, is there a downside of using a 2000 or 3000 watt inverter?

Regards
Hemant

[skipro3]

You may want to check out www.rv.net There is a lot of solar info there that could be what you are looking for.

[lkruper]

You may want to check out www.rv.net There is a lot of solar info there that could be what you are looking for.

Lots of sub-forums there. Which one deals with solar?

[SunEagle]

Thank you so much SunEagle. Really appreciate the response. I will look for a controller as per your recommendation. If I connect sets of five panels in series and the two sets in parallel? Would I need any fuses etc? And could you let me know why the 1000 watt limit recommendation on inverter? Apart from watt-hours, is there a downside of using a 2000 or 3000 watt inverter? Regards Hemant

If you only wire the 2 sets of panels in parallel you do not need any fusing between the panels and charge controller per the National Electric Code. Although while you aren't "required" to install fuses, some people still do. -------------------You size your inverter based on your loads and the size of the battery system. Your battery system can safely generate (at 20% DOD) about 1200 watt hours a day. Using an inverter that is too big will drain that battery system too quickly. The larger ones are also less efficient and actually can draw up to 10% of their nameplate wattage just being turned on. IMO I would even go with a smaller inverter around 600 to 800 watts.

[skipro3]

Lots of sub-forums there. Which one deals with solar?

Try clicking on this link;

https://www.google.com/search?q=google&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=rv.net:+solar+site:www.rv.net

You will get a bunch of listings for threads that deal with solar on several RV styles.
Let me know if it doesn't work for you though.

[Willy T]

The larger ones are also less efficient and actually can draw up to 10% of their nameplate wattage just being turned on.

10% really ??

[SunEagle]

10% really ??

Maybe 10% is a little high but some of the really cheap ones that you find at HF will come close to using that much.

[lkruper]

10% really ??

Could be higher. Say an inverter that has a 1 amp load all the time (=12w) and that is pulling a 12w load.... efficiency would be 50%

[jimindenver]

One thing that needs to be considered are the 12v systems of the RV. You will need either a second bank or a means of converting the 24v to 12v. Any method of doing this means losses not incurred while using a 12v battery to power the rig.

You must plan on running some stuff with that kind of wattage. we run 750w and 675 Ah of battery at 12v and average up too 200 Ah a day. The heavy days are when we use the little air conditioner for four or five hours pulling amps in the mid 30's. Luckily the A/C will run off of the panels mid day but it's only 5000 BTU. With 1300w you should be able to run one a few sizes larger. A mini split would be even better but we don't need it often enough to justify the expense. Outside of that the majority of the cooking is done on a hot plate, two or three pots of coffee come from the auto drip and the TV/Sat may run 12 hours a day keeping the dogs quiet. Eventually we will add a smaller residential fridge for longer trips and a heating element to the water heater.

On the inverter, last year we ran two inverters. A 3000w Ebay PSW that lasted a year until it showed its dislike of the start up surge of the air conditioner by becoming a useless brick. Since it took so much power at idle we ran a Powerbright 150w MSW inverter for the TV/Sat and phone charging. With that inverter everything they say about MSW was true. The chargers and satellite box ran HOT and the TV had vertical lines in it. So when the big inverter died I was on the hunt for two PSW units. I knew the smaller would be a Morningstar 300w fanless but dreaded picking out the big one. Someone told me to try out a Tripp-lite 1250fc that he had run for 5 years 24/7 for a residential fridge. he said that yes it's MSW but not all of those are created equal. The Tripp-lite is a industrial inverter made for heavy loads and will start your A/C without braking a sweat. He said it has a huge transformer for doing this and has a cleaner sine wave too. Well for $200 I gave it a shot. He was right, the compressor on the A/C starts so easy that you wouldn't know it was running until the cold air comes out if you are not looking at a kill a watt. The phone chargers and satellite dish run no warmer than at home and the TV picture is brilliant. They do make a 2400w 24v unit too.

I look forward to seeing what you want out of your system and how it works out.

[Sunking]

10% really ??

Absolutely, even a hack like yourself knows that. Yes I can call you a Hack, you earned it.

[hemanthariyani]

One thing that needs to be considered are the 12v systems of the RV. You will need either a second bank or a means of converting the 24v to 12v. Any method of doing this means losses not incurred while using a 12v battery to power the rig.

You must plan on running some stuff with that kind of wattage. we run 750w and 675 Ah of battery at 12v and average up too 200 Ah a day. The heavy days are when we use the little air conditioner for four or five hours pulling amps in the mid 30's. Luckily the A/C will run off of the panels mid day but it's only 5000 BTU. With 1300w you should be able to run one a few sizes larger. A mini split would be even better but we don't need it often enough to justify the expense. Outside of that the majority of the cooking is done on a hot plate, two or three pots of coffee come from the auto drip and the TV/Sat may run 12 hours a day keeping the dogs quiet. Eventually we will add a smaller residential fridge for longer trips and a heating element to the water heater.

On the inverter, last year we ran two inverters. A 3000w Ebay PSW that lasted a year until it showed its dislike of the start up surge of the air conditioner by becoming a useless brick. Since it took so much power at idle we ran a Powerbright 150w MSW inverter for the TV/Sat and phone charging. With that inverter everything they say about MSW was true. The chargers and satellite box ran HOT and the TV had vertical lines in it. So when the big inverter died I was on the hunt for two PSW units. I knew the smaller would be a Morningstar 300w fanless but dreaded picking out the big one. Someone told me to try out a Tripp-lite 1250fc that he had run for 5 years 24/7 for a residential fridge. he said that yes it's MSW but not all of those are created equal. The Tripp-lite is a industrial inverter made for heavy loads and will start your A/C without braking a sweat. He said it has a huge transformer for doing this and has a cleaner sine wave too. Well for $200 I gave it a shot. He was right, the compressor on the A/C starts so easy that you wouldn't know it was running until the cold air comes out if you are not looking at a kill a watt. The phone chargers and satellite dish run no warmer than at home and the TV picture is brilliant. They do make a 2400w 24v unit too.

I look forward to seeing what you want out of your system and how it works out.

Thanks a lot jimindenver. This is some great information.

Regarding 12V vs 24V, my first implementation will certainly not be ideal. I am thinking of using the inverter to supply to the RV and let RV's 120V to 12V take care of the rest. Certainly far from ideal but I guess for a first timer like me, it is less intrusive to existing electrical system. I would love to get any pointers on how to solve this problem though.

Thanks a lot for inverter insigths - I will take a look at Tripp-lite - certainly a tempting option. Any comments on idle power drain with 1250fc? If I order one, I will try and get a waveform to see what it looks like.

I will certainly post what I can come up with. Thanks to all in this forum for helping out.

Hemant

[hemanthariyani]

Try clicking on this link;

https://www.google.com/search?q=google&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=rv.net:+solar+site:www.rv.net

You will get a bunch of listings for threads that deal with solar on several RV styles.
Let me know if it doesn't work for you though.

Thanks a lot skipro3. A lot of helpful information there.

[Willy T]

Absolutely, even a hack like yourself knows that. Yes I can call you a Hack, you earned it.

There you go again labeling and name calling. Grow up !!!

Read the post and define "Larger "

The larger ones are also less efficient and actually can draw up to 10% of their nameplate wattage just being turned on.