Quote:
Originally Posted by jcussen
Agree. Am in South Texas, have a Tesla so checked out Solar with them. Appears I will need about 8000 watts of solar on the roof with a payback of 21 years to break even. My 1455 watts on the motorhome will not make much of a difference. But do have 5200 watts solar on the S&B that will recharge my car and run 2 refrigerators. This is a homemade system with no grid tie.
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You sound to be in a best case situation. You have already bought two solar systems and have good use of the derived energy and where to put it (Tesla).
Your RV is 28% of your total system. Where does that energy go when you aren't boondocking in the RV? Just float charge the RV batteries? If so, then 25% of the RV system isn't being utilized.
And, being in Texas where the sun shines bright, you have the capability to use most of the available sun power. Maybe utilizing the RV solar 12 months of the year will decrease the payback a few years for the total system.
So, what's the magical "box" that uses solar derived power when it's available to meet the current demand and not pull from the utility company meter...is that the "relay"? so:
Solar panels > charge controller > batteries > inverter > relay > circuit panel > outlets and appliances
and if solar not enough for demand:
Utility company > pay meter > relay > circuit panel > outlets and appliances
If that's the case then:
RV solar system > battery > inverter > new 110 volt line to house > magical relay > house solar relay? Or circuit panel directly?
Or should the RV charge the house solar battery (if you have a house solar system):
RV solar > battery > inverter > new 110 volt line > charger > house solar batteries
I assume we don't want to feed battery voltage to the house (large battery cables, long lengths, incompatible voltage with house batteries etc)
And if one only has RV solar an not house solar:
RV solar new 110 volt line to house > magical relay > circuit panel feed?
This week we are writing a software driver for a solar energy consumption meter. (Modbus RS485). One step towards managing these "complicated" systems. A charge controller monitoring driver would be next.