Newbie advice

[HITEKREDNEK]

Newbie to the forum & to solar power, I've got a old 30' camper that I've converted to a hillbilly toy hauler. It does have your standard 30 amp 110 volt shore power hook up, but I'm wanting to put a couple solar panels on the roof to hook up to a battery bank then to a 1500 watt power inverter to run basic 110 volt stuff fan, phone charger and possible a small dorm size fridge. So my question to you experts is without knowing really what my usage will be would 200-300 watt solar panel and a battery bank of 3-4 12v batteries fit the bill.
Thanks in advance

[HITEKREDNEK]

I should had also included that the 12v solar power will not be connected to the campers current 110 volt outlets, I'll run just 2-4 outlets straight off of the power inverter. Thanks again.

[SunEagle]

300 watts of solar panels with a 25amp MPPT charger controller will be able to support a 12v 250Ah battery system. That battery can safely produce about 750Wh a day. (250Ah x 12v x .25 = 750wh).

Now to recharge that battery system your panels will have to generate full power for about 3 hours.

Not a big system but it will keep the cell phone charged and a couple of other small wattage loads.

Forget about wiring 12volt batteries together in parallel. You want your system to be composed of 2 x 6v 225 to 250Ah batteries.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Sun eagle, thank you for the info, would it be safe and gain me more power if I was to have 2-3 of them 250 ah 12v batteries in a bank and would the 300 watts of panels be able to charge them back up?

[Sunking]

300 watt panels on a RV or Trailer is very limited and can only support a 12 volt 200 AH battery if you do not abise it like trying to run a fridge. To run a Fridge you need around 1000 watts of panels, 80 amp controller, and a 12 volt 800 AH, 500 pound $1400 battery you replace every couple of years.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Thank you Sunking, so the fridge is a no go obviously, not gona drop that kind of money every couple yrs and the weight, so should I think about jumping up to a 400 watt sys and 4 250ah batteries? If so what is some name brands to start looking for and where to buy them? Thanks again.

[Sunking]

Thank you Sunking, so the fridge is a no go obviously, not gona drop that kind of money every couple yrs and the weight, so should I think about jumping up to a 400 watt sys and 4 250ah batteries? If so what is some name brands to start looking for and where to buy them? Thanks again.

Last thing you want to do is parallel batteries. There is no reason to do that nor is there any reason to run 12 volts. You gotta get out of that 12 volt box you are trapped in. A 12 volt 250 AH if you could find one is going to weigh 180 pounds x 4 = 720 pounds. and cost more than the 12 volt 800 AH battery. 4-12 volt 250 AH batteries in parallel is 1000 AH. That would take 1500 watt sof panels and two very expensive charge controllers.

Let's try a different approach and start with 400 watts of panels configured at 12 and 24 volts.Your two options are:

At 12 volt battery requires an expensive 35 Amp MPPT Controller, and a pair of 6-volt 225 AH golf cart batteries like a pair of Trojan T-105's wired in series
At 24 volt battery requires a less expensive 15 Amp MPPT Controller and a pair of 12 volt 115 AH batteries like Trojan 27MTH wired in series.

Both batteries weigh about the same 65 pounds each and have the exact same amount of capacity. With 400 watts of panels on a Trailer, you cannot support anymore battery that, and either one can handle up to a 1000 watt Inverter. The difference is what it will cost. 24 volt will be less expensive because 24 volt uses a smaller controller and smaller wire and less hardware.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Well sh*t fire Sunking, what do suggest, I thought I had a small understanding about solar power & power inverters but now I'm just lost.

[ewarnerusa]

So to translate and hopefully get you back from being lost -> 2x6V GC batteries in series. Shoot for 300 watts or more in solar panels. No larger than a 1000 watt inverter. Forget about running a dorm (compressor) fridge off of an inverter. Does your camper have an absorption (propane) fridge? Those work best for boondocking. Also consider changing all of the camper's lighting to LEDs, they'll use a fraction of the power and put out much less heat. Cheap from China direct replacements off of ebay work great.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Ok, I think I'm back on track. Ewarnerusa no propane fridge as of yet I've thought about getting either a propane or 12 volt actual camper fridge down the line. Yes led light bulbs are at the top of the priority list
Again thank you.

[Sunking]

Well sh*t fire Sunking, what do suggest, I thought I had a small understanding about solar power & power inverters but now I'm just lost.

I already told you exactly what will work.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Sunking, I do apologize for what ever reason only a small part of your post showed up the first time I looked at it, I'm going to look around to find them batteries you suggested, will any solar panel do the job or do I want to look for a specific type, name brand? Thanks again.

[SunEagle]

Sun eagle, thank you for the info, would it be safe and gain me more power if I was to have 2-3 of them 250 ah 12v batteries in a bank and would the 300 watts of panels be able to charge them back up?

You do not want to have multiple 12 volt batteries wired in parallel. You need to find 6 volt type and wire 2 in series. I know Interstate makes a 6v 232Ah which will work if you get 2 of them or go with the Trojans that Sunking listed which are higher quality but will cost more.

Then your 300 watts of panels wired to a 30 amp MPPT type CC. If you want more than 360 watts of panel you will need to go to a higher amp rated CC which starts to cost.

300 watts fits just nicely with a 12votl 232Ah battery system. It will not run that fridge but will get you enough to power some LED lights and small loads for a few hours.

[Sunking]

Sunking, I do apologize for what ever reason only a small part of your post showed up the first time I looked at it, I'm going to look around to find them batteries you suggested, will any solar panel do the job or do I want to look for a specific type, name brand? Thanks again.

Any 200 to 250 AH 6-Volt Golf Cart battery will work just fine. Trojan just makes the best. If you go to a Box Store like Wally World, Costco, Tire and Supply will have them, and they are made by Interstate. Another good one is US Battery.

OK for panels no big deal either. Just try to use panels made for Grid Tied system and not battery panels. Battery panels have 36 cells. Another give away is power as battery panels are usually 190 watts and less with 36 cells. You want 60 to 72 cell panels. As for wattage 200 to 325 watts.

Your Charge Controller determines what you can do. At 12 volt battery use this formula to figure out what size you need. Amps = Panel Wattage / 13 Volts. Example 200 watts / 13 volts = 15 amps. Likewise for a 24 volt battery 400 watts / 26 volts = 15 amps. Here is a clue if you have chosen a real and quality MPPT Charge controller. A 15 amp model will cost you $200, a 30 amp Model some $350. Look at Morningstar line up.

If it were me in your shoes I would look a 200 to 250 watt panel, a MS SunSaver MPPT 15 Amp Controller, a pair of 6-volt golf cart batteries, and a good 500 watt True Sine Wave Inverter. Also make sure you buy a decent 15 to 20 amp 12 volt Marine Type battery charger so you can charge and maintain your batteries properly. Solar cannot do that.

To be honest if your trips are 3 days or less, you do not need solar. All you need is batteries, Inverter, and charger. Save the cash. Just conserve energy like turning off the Inverter when not being used. You can even run a line from the Alternator and an Anderson Connector to use the alternator to top off batteries while you drive. ! hour engine run time is 2 or 4 days of solar. Think before you jump in.

Biggest challenge you are going to face is obtaining batteries. The rest of the stuff you can order online and get delivered easily. Batteries can be delivered but a PIA and dangerous because they come Dry Charged and they send the Acid separately that you have to mix. If you do not know what you are doing is extremely dangerous. Example add water to acid and it blows up in your face. You will be blind and have severe acid burns over the majority of your body.

Do you have Golf Cart Shops or Golf Courses around? Those are excellent sources of batteries. Other options is if you are in a city there are distributors. Also Wallmart, Sams, Costco, and large Automotive will have Generic Golf Cart batteries. Do your homework and good luck.

Here is an example wiring diagram for you. Larger than you need, but the pieces all fit the same. I can help you with actual wire and fuse sizes.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Thank you so much Sunking, that sums it up. Are trips do last upto a week at times, most the time we are in the woods riding though. I do plan on using 1 of the extra wires in the trailer wiring to top off the batteries while driving, my concern was I think I've got something like a 190 amp or maybe a 200 amp altanator on my truck and that's a lot of amps to put through a 12-16 guage wire, I'm not for sure what the 7 wire trailer wiring is I'm just guessing, is this common and safe?
Again thanks to all for the help.