Why can't I use my Inv/Charger for Solar

[Fl_Richard]

Originally Posted by Gilleshps

No more generator!

Some how I'm not a believer.

[Dr4Film]

I don't buy it either!

Try running two A/C's in 100F degree heat off of your setup!

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[CapnMorgan]

Goodness, I'm seriously embarrassed at my ignorance being the OP for this thread. I guess we all are newbie's at some point.

[varankins3]

Wish I was a DIYer...but working around all this electricity scares me! I realize it will probably cost me double of what everyone on here says they can do it themselves, but if one doesn't have a clue, one shouldn't be messing with with this. I am excited to get solar as that means less fuel consumed over time (except for hot days when I MUST have my AC!). We are expecting to spend our winter in Key West dry camping at the NAS Sigsbee and there will be plenty of sun and all kinds of fuel down there are beyond our budget. The idea of having all the battery power we really need is surely a liberating idea

[mel s]

Sounds like you want to use your solar to charge your batteries and deplete the batteries using them to power your inverter/charger to charge the batteries.
That would be "perpetual charging"..... (like perpetual motion, perpetual charging is impossible.

Simply use your solar, or add more panels, and charge your batteries.
Use the batteries for your 12VDC uses, and occasionally for small 120VAC uses via the inverter.
If the solar can't keep up, fire up the genset occasionally or camp a night or two in a RV park, plug into shore power and use the inverter/charger to fully charge your batteries.

[Gocoffeer]

CptnMorgan: If you really wanted to use a solar array to feed your Xantrex it would cost you in a few ways but you could add a solar controller to the hardware that you have on board and invert the 12 or 24 v solar power to 120v AC ....feed the Xantrex with the solar power and take the losses on double inversion. It seems silly since most of us have an MPPT charge controller ($450ish to $600 ish US) and we use that to feed the batteries and then the inverter is fed from the batteries. Now I go along with all the advice that states ...ADD a charge controller is you do not have one installed already.... it is a smart device. It senses shore power and will curb battery charging when on generator or when the Xantrex is charging. Then .... you have all the bases covered.

[CapnMorgan]

Originally Posted by Gocoffeer

CptnMorgan: If you really wanted to use a solar array to feed your Xantrex...

Gocoffer: At the time of this post I didn't have a clue. It has been a year since my original post and if I could I would delete the entire thread. I have now installed my Trimetric and am in the process of reducing amp hours used, by installing LED's and other things. One of the things I realized was that in order for the DW to have the TV on all night, I was running the Xantrex 2000 watt inverter to power the 37 watt TV. I have installed a small inverter just for that TV, that has made a noticeable difference. I am not going to install any additional solar (i have 1 factory installed 100 watt panel) until I have reduced my wasteful energy usage and since my current location requires running the AC for a couple of hours a day, solar, would not be very helpful at this time of year and this location.

[Groovy]

How funny that a thread like this would resurface and the OP would have long since figured out the answers... sounds like you have a great solution, Capn Morgan.

In case anyone else has followed this thread through, it seems the original confusion was over the nature of inverters, converters, generators, charge controllers and all those other beastly things that are so confusing at first...

Here's the first of a series of posts that helps get these guys in line and make sense out of them all:

Solar Tutorial Part I - Understanding the Basics

[Gilleshps]

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

I don't buy it either!

Try running two A/C's in 100F degree heat off of your setup!

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Lol, the only rig running two AC's off the inverter is a prevost. Its been over a year since the install, and I still "haven't" ran the generator, or been plugged into shore power since (And I'm a full timer). In fact I just sold my Honda EU2000 so you guys can believe what you want.

If I'm camping in 100deg heat, I can assure you there's a lake or river involved.

[96 Wideglide]

Looks like my old Dolphin camped next to ya !!

[Gilleshps]

Its possible! Did you sell it to a couple from Washington?

[Old Scout]

Running 120v A/C on bats--really?.....lets do some math: assume A/C pulls 12 amps 120v continuous [nevermind the 15-18 amps to start]; 12 amps AC is about 120 amps DC, which is about 1200 watts DC. How many solar panels to produce 1200 DC watts????? How many house bats required to produce 120 DC amps [12 AC amps] for an hour????? Six 6-volt bats have around 660 amp/hours [330 useable]--at 120 amps DC, maybe 2.5 hours run time. The numbers here are approx. but you get the point--lots of watts needed to run an A/C--what am I missing????

[wa8yxm]

I re-read your post and now have a question..

Are you desiring to;
One: Plug solar into inverter/charger and use charger electronics in the device to control Battery charging -or-

Two: Plug solar cells in in place of battery and go to 120 volt direct

First case: IN theory one could design an inverter charger to work this way but it's not so you can not.

Second case.. My inverter can easily suck up to 2,000 watts of battery power (more in fact) in solar terms you'd need several thousand watts of panels to power it. That's a lot of solar panels.

Best option: use solar with a proper NON PWM controller to charge batteries and use batteries to power inverter

Why Non PWM.. Cause I listen to radios and what a PWM does to them is ... Nasty. (AM radios no less)

[RickO]

Guys, be aware that this thread is 2 1/2 years old and the OP has posted his conclusion, etc.

Rick