I'll start out by saying I'm a bit of a noob to solar, I have some experience with electrical, I'm fairly handy, and I'm in the process of learning how to design & set up the system I'm looking for and could use some advice on how to make what I want to do work properly.
I have an enclosed trailer that I use for trips to the CA desert, the trips are usually 3 days but can be up to 5 days on occasion and I'm in the process of gathering & installing the equipment I'll need for my solar system and I'm looking for advice on design, equipment, & how to wire it 8/10 times I have full sun.
My goal is to run my mini fridge (converted mini vertical freezer) off of the batteries through a pure sign wave inverter without draining the batteries or running it off of my generator while I'm on my trips. (I went with a mini fridge & solar over propane due to the cost of a used propane fridge alone being $500+, the propane fridge size being too large to fit under my work bench, having to mount and plumb propane lines which my trailer does not currently have, and I like having 2 charged 6Vs to run my 12V LED lights in the trailer, so before you say just get a propane fridge I've weighed my options and this is how I've decided to go as it fits my needs and I can build the whole solar system for the cost of a used propane fridge alone).
I currently have:
-2 -6Vs mounted on the trailer tongue wired in series (there is not room for 4 -6V with the current battery tray configuration and it is not worth altering it to me, I'm in the 12V box)
-Mini Fridge rated at 1.1A or about 120W, which is a converted vertical mini freezer that probably runs 3 out of every 15-20 minutes for cycle run time.
-1500W Go Power Pure Sine wave inverter, Note, I'm ONLY using this to run the fridge and been told by Go Power that it only pulls the DC load required to power what ever is pulled on the AC side which is 120W, so not in fire danger.
-I've ran 1/0 on the battery set up and 10 foot positive power lead into the trailer where I'm mounting the Inverter & solar charger
Note: I've also made a test run with these batteries, this inverter, & this fridge and it went 72 hours and drained the batteries to 11.8V and this is why I need solar to keep the batteries charged, the fridge working and the lights on so charging and running off batteries only is not an option.
I Currently Need to get:
-Solar panel or panels
-MPPT charge controller
Design Questions:
I plan on getting one 315 or 335W panel (or I can get two 200-225W panels) BUT I prefer a single panel for mounting space reasons.
Q-1) Is there any difference between running one panel or two panels? I understand wattage differences but is there an advantage or dis-advantage to running one VS two panels?
Q-2) If I go with a single 315W 60 or 72 cell panel I can do a 30A MPPT controller, if the price is negligible does it matter with my current system design if I go with a larger controller say a 60A or an 80A so I have extra controller capability if I want more panels in the future can the controller be turned down or it can not be turned down and will this fry my current batteries becuase too many Amps being fed in to the system?
Q-3) With my current set up and a 30A or 40A controller how fast will the batteries charge (assuming average desert sun) and what happens to the incoming electricity once the batteries are full?
Q-4) If I remove the 2 -6V batteries from the system and the inverter is turned off, what happens to the incoming electricity from the MPPT controller, the DC line is still live or can I turn the controller off and what the panels are producing just gets eaten by the charge controller?
Wiring Questions:
I have made a diagram of how I think I'd like to run the wiring but I do have a few questions to make sure I'm not creating any issues or dangers (see attached diagram).
Q-1) Instead of making runs to the battery terminals for the inverter & solar charge controller can I just install a distribution block locally where the equipment is mounted and tie them all together there instead of at the battery terminals on the positive side?
Q-2) On the negative side, I have welded a bolt to the frame locally where the inverter & charge controller will be mounted on the inside of the trailer can I run both negative leads to this bolt and mount them together instead of making runs back to the negative battery terminals?
Q-3) The inverter has a chassis ground that is grounded to the GCFI plug on it, if I connect the chassis ground to the same terminal as the DC negative lead I believe it will create a ground loop and trip the GCFI, is this correct? If so I need to just leave the chassis ground NOT connected/grounded, correct?
I have an enclosed trailer that I use for trips to the CA desert, the trips are usually 3 days but can be up to 5 days on occasion and I'm in the process of gathering & installing the equipment I'll need for my solar system and I'm looking for advice on design, equipment, & how to wire it 8/10 times I have full sun.
My goal is to run my mini fridge (converted mini vertical freezer) off of the batteries through a pure sign wave inverter without draining the batteries or running it off of my generator while I'm on my trips. (I went with a mini fridge & solar over propane due to the cost of a used propane fridge alone being $500+, the propane fridge size being too large to fit under my work bench, having to mount and plumb propane lines which my trailer does not currently have, and I like having 2 charged 6Vs to run my 12V LED lights in the trailer, so before you say just get a propane fridge I've weighed my options and this is how I've decided to go as it fits my needs and I can build the whole solar system for the cost of a used propane fridge alone).
I currently have:
-2 -6Vs mounted on the trailer tongue wired in series (there is not room for 4 -6V with the current battery tray configuration and it is not worth altering it to me, I'm in the 12V box)
-Mini Fridge rated at 1.1A or about 120W, which is a converted vertical mini freezer that probably runs 3 out of every 15-20 minutes for cycle run time.
-1500W Go Power Pure Sine wave inverter, Note, I'm ONLY using this to run the fridge and been told by Go Power that it only pulls the DC load required to power what ever is pulled on the AC side which is 120W, so not in fire danger.
-I've ran 1/0 on the battery set up and 10 foot positive power lead into the trailer where I'm mounting the Inverter & solar charger
Note: I've also made a test run with these batteries, this inverter, & this fridge and it went 72 hours and drained the batteries to 11.8V and this is why I need solar to keep the batteries charged, the fridge working and the lights on so charging and running off batteries only is not an option.
I Currently Need to get:
-Solar panel or panels
-MPPT charge controller
Design Questions:
I plan on getting one 315 or 335W panel (or I can get two 200-225W panels) BUT I prefer a single panel for mounting space reasons.
Q-1) Is there any difference between running one panel or two panels? I understand wattage differences but is there an advantage or dis-advantage to running one VS two panels?
Q-2) If I go with a single 315W 60 or 72 cell panel I can do a 30A MPPT controller, if the price is negligible does it matter with my current system design if I go with a larger controller say a 60A or an 80A so I have extra controller capability if I want more panels in the future can the controller be turned down or it can not be turned down and will this fry my current batteries becuase too many Amps being fed in to the system?
Q-3) With my current set up and a 30A or 40A controller how fast will the batteries charge (assuming average desert sun) and what happens to the incoming electricity once the batteries are full?
Q-4) If I remove the 2 -6V batteries from the system and the inverter is turned off, what happens to the incoming electricity from the MPPT controller, the DC line is still live or can I turn the controller off and what the panels are producing just gets eaten by the charge controller?
Wiring Questions:
I have made a diagram of how I think I'd like to run the wiring but I do have a few questions to make sure I'm not creating any issues or dangers (see attached diagram).
Q-1) Instead of making runs to the battery terminals for the inverter & solar charge controller can I just install a distribution block locally where the equipment is mounted and tie them all together there instead of at the battery terminals on the positive side?
Q-2) On the negative side, I have welded a bolt to the frame locally where the inverter & charge controller will be mounted on the inside of the trailer can I run both negative leads to this bolt and mount them together instead of making runs back to the negative battery terminals?
Q-3) The inverter has a chassis ground that is grounded to the GCFI plug on it, if I connect the chassis ground to the same terminal as the DC negative lead I believe it will create a ground loop and trip the GCFI, is this correct? If so I need to just leave the chassis ground NOT connected/grounded, correct?
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