Looking for solar advice

[jcussen]

Originally Posted by Sbrownstein

Well then we all wasted out time. He told us what he wanted and what he was going to install, all we had to do is tell him which bank to rob!

You didn't upset me...my wife says that I love to bicker!

My wife says the same. This is not a new verses old debate, but instead of buying new, bought an older coach and spent the difference on upgrading coach, and the electrical system, to what I want. Not all will be comfortable with that though.
"Do what makes you happy"

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by Pyropete

Why would you discourage solar?

Good question!

Simple answer, as I stated it is a waste money.

My question for you is why would you encourage solar. Your justification was very weak.

Back when I was making electricity for utility customers, I needed a very good justification for spending money.


It is about a 1000 miles from desert southwest to the PNW. Yet I drove 7000 miles visiting family, old friends, and new places. That is why I am full time in a MH.

I clearly advocate using energy to further enjoyment of life.

The conflict arise when you take an RV designed to for luxury to be parked in a luxury high end RV park and want to 'rough it' in luxury.

[rarebear.nm]

Originally Posted by followingsea

.....

Simple answer, as I stated it is a waste money.

My question for you is why would you encourage solar. Your justification was very weak.

I clearly advocate using energy to further enjoyment of life.

The conflict arise when you take an RV designed to for luxury to be parked in a luxury high end RV park and want to 'rough it' in luxury.

Not everybody feels the need to run business cost analysis or return on investment before they sink more money into their RV. Which is already a major money drain. I know because we have two. If the OP wants to spend money "to further enjoyment of life" by installing solar to avoid listening to a generator run, then so be it. Nothing wrong with that, it's his money, is it not? The OP nor anyone else has to justify spending their own money to any of us. For many people buying a high end RV is a waste of money.

The OP wanted some help how to do something and not a board review to determine if what he wants is a good investment.

[John Hilley]

I invested in solar when it was a lot more expensive. I have never regretted it. Having all the comforts of home in wilderness areas is what I use an RV for. Can't see why people want to crowd together in a park and pay more for living than at home.

[astrocamper]

Consider creating a conduit pathway to a roof junction box to your location for your controllers. I have four 6 AWG wires in mine. Map out your roof to see what is solar panel space is useable. I had to get creative to fit 805 watts on my 20 foot long trailer. I have another 180 watts on my truck's Leer cap.

I made the decision to use four 100 amp-hour BattleBornBatteries. I am very happy with my choice. My batteries are in my living space so they get the benefit of smaller temperature extremes with access to furnace heat or air conditioning. They are also out of sight instead of on the trailer tongue.

I only bring a generator if I will be camping below 6000 feet in July or August and know I will be running a generator for 2-4 hours of air conditioning a day. For 90 minutes of air conditioning or less I just run off my batteries. It still leaves me with about 70% state of charge to carry me through the night. My batteries will be topped off by noon the next day before it gets hot again. This works if we go some where to hike in at higher elevations for the afternoon. We only use the air conditioner to cool the trailer off while cooking dinner when we return. Once the sun drops down we don't need it.

I use a Spartan 2200 watt pure sine wave inverter and have installed an EasyStart on my air conditioner to reduce the locked rotor amps. My inverter handles my air conditioner better than my Honda EU2200 when we get to higher elevations. I have often run the generator to create up to 105 DC charging amps at 14.6 volts to augment the solar output so the generator and solar are sharing the inverter load. The inverter can surge to 6600 watts for compressor startup. The generator can only surge to 2200 watts. I don't worry about running the air conditioner while starting the microwave when running off the inverter. My trailers original AC circuit breaker panel is now a sub panel connected to the inverter transfer switch output. I installed a new breaker panel connecting to the trailer outside power cord and it has a master breaker and breakers for the inverter transfer switch input and a 20 amp circuit to feed a 60 and 45 DC amp Lithium chargers. I can turn off generator power to the inverter transfer switch and send the generator power to the 1725 maximum combine wattage load feeding the 60 and 45 DC amp chargers. The generator doesn't see any surges and runs great.

I spent about $30K on my trailer and another $10K on solar, batteries, inverter, generator, wire, bus bars, breakers, disconnects, etc... My tow vehicle costs more than the trailer and power improvements combined. I consider the convenience of the quiet, reliable off grid power worth my time and money. We camped 27 nights since the install and only had power, water or sewer hookups for 2 of those nights. We don't worry about power but still need to be careful to manage our fresh, grey and black tanks to last 10+ days off grid without dumping.

[rarebear.nm]

Jeff- Great solar install that seems to fit your needs well. Also good example of a system design. If you have a wiring diagram that would be great for reference.

[757driver]

Originally Posted by followingsea

Good question!

Simple answer, as I stated it is a waste money.

My question for you is why would you encourage solar. Your justification was very weak.

Back when I was making electricity for utility customers, I needed a very good justification for spending money.


It is about a 1000 miles from desert southwest to the PNW. Yet I drove 7000 miles visiting family, old friends, and new places. That is why I am full time in a MH.

I clearly advocate using energy to further enjoyment of life.

The conflict arise when you take an RV designed to for luxury to be parked in a luxury high end RV park and want to 'rough it' in luxury.

Not a waste of money at all, far from it. My solar install is now paid for in electricity generated and substantially reduced generator run times. Why should I go back to coolers, candles, and coal (extreme example) just to spend quiet times in the desert boondocking?

[astrocamper]

Originally Posted by rarebear.nm

Jeff- Great solar install that seems to fit your needs well. Also good example of a system design. If you have a wiring diagram that would be great for reference.

Here is a PDF showing a logical layout. It doesn't include the 180 watts of solar going to the factory installed ZAMP 10 amp controller.

I installed a 5 conductor 6 AWG cable between my front storage using where the new breaker panels is located along with all the charge controllers, inverter and chargers. That cable ran to the location under the stove where the original 120 volt electrical panel was located. I used splice blocks to connect the hot and neutral from the power pigtail connect the ground to the existing ground at the original breaker panel. The hot, neutral and ground go to my new breaker panel and then to the inverter transfer switch. The output of the transfer switch returns the hot and neutral on the additional conductors back to the original trailer breaker panel. I ran this 5 conductor cable in a flexible conduit.

[TajMahal]

Originally Posted by rarebear.nm

The OP nor anyone else has to justify spending their own money to any of us. For many people buying a high end RV is a waste of money.

And for others that may not have the coin either to buy a expensive rig!!

Originally Posted by rarebear.nm

The OP wanted some help how to do something and not a board review to determine if what he wants is a good investment.

The OP hasn't been seen nor heard from since post #7. This topic isn't even on the same page as to what the OP wanted to know. Haven't y'all beatin this horse to death enough? I think you have!

[rarebear.nm]

Jeff- nice graphics in your diagram. I'll post some images of my solar setup.

1050 watt Silfab 350 w panels
Morningstar 60 controller, with remote panel
Trimetric 2030 battery monitor
4 6v Deka GC batteries 460 AHr
1 PD 60 amp & 1 PD 45 amp converters (both are turned off at the breakers, don't need them)
Battery Protect Device

Diagram of main portion of the 12 volt control panel


Image of same


two of three panels and fused combiner box, each panel is fused


Custom made mounting Z brackets to clear some roof top vents, made from 3 x 5 x 1/4 angle aluminum


The original 12 volt distribution box was left untouched. Of note in the diagram is the two 12v pos buss bars. The top one terminates the batteries, all charging sources and all important loads (jacks, landing gear and propane sensor, etc). The second pos buss feeds all other 12 volt circuits. The battery protect is located between them with a bypass switch if I want to over ride the protection.

The downhaul cable from the roof combiner box is 4 ga copper. The main battery cables are 2 - 0 gauge.

[tmw188]

It has come down to this once again on this forum. The OP ask for solar advice and he got it. Not all agree it is cost effective or money wise in their opinion. Let the OP take what he can from all this and move on.

[jcussen]

Originally Posted by rayza

Hi,

I want to get started with solar on my Class A - 2018 Newmar Bay Star. I want to start out simple and small and grow it. I really don't know what I even need to get started. I don't want to have to rebuy. Anybody who can provide a guideline of what parts are needed I would appreciate it.

I am already pre-wired for solar - 6 gauge wire from roof to battery compartment. I have a Xantrex Freedom X True Sine 2000W inverter that is used to power the refrigerator and an outdoor dometic cooler. It has the capability to hardwire and auto-switch on shore power.

Here is my plan, please let me know if I am missing anything. Parts for what I need to get started would be appreciated

1. Add 1 Solar Panel. Add charge controller? Wire to existing batteries. Goal is to just be able to run my 12V and refrigerators longer when in sun and boondocking.

Parts to buy: 1 solar panel (200W preferred), charge controller?

2. Hardwire bedroom circuit to inverter. This will be for charging devices at night when boondocking as there is no 12V in the back. Is this even an option? Not sure what to do here.

3. Add 5 more solar panels for a total of 1200W.

4. Replace batteries with 4x 12V 250Ah batteries for a total of 1000Ah https://www.wholesalesolar.com/99250...8d-agm-battery

5. Upgrade inverter to 3500 watt (or 4000 watt) pure sine wave inverter. Goal would be to wire up the kitchen and be able to run induction cooktop or microwave as well as current load.

6. Add 4 solar panels for a total of 10 panels, 2000W. Goal would be to be able to run 1 AC when in full sun. Would like something to auto turn off AC if watts drop down below a certain threshold, not sure what this would be.

Am I dreaming, is all of this possible? Would really appreciate help in getting started with what I need for #1 and #2.

This thread kind of went off the rails but have to
admire your ambition. First thing would be a good battery monitor, this will help you with everything else. For #1 would go with a bigger panel if you want to end up with 2000 watts. Much cheaper per watt than smaller panels and more efficient space wise. With a bigger panel, you will need a MPPT controller, get as big as you can afford to allow for your expansion.
For #2 you will have to wire in your 110 circuits in the back to your inverter, as well as your ac. you might need some help with that.
#4 do consider lithium ion, some posts on this thread about them.
#5 your choice, but I run everything you are talking about, [one at a time] on 3000 watt inverter/charger.
#6 by the time you reach this point, you should have a pretty good handle on it. You will find some inverters can be programmed to turn off at a certain voltage.
But as many have suggested, watch every video and read every article you can about adding solar.
I envy your journey, I started with a Harbor Freight, three panel 45 watt system about 20 years ago. Think it was about $300 then, solar is a lot cheaper now. AND I learn something new every day.

[gremlin]

Call AM Solar in Oregon and talk to them they did a great job with our Bay Star Sport, I didn't add the extra 2 AGM's per zRobotMan, but I did put in the 2 LifeLine AGM's where I the stock batteries were. The lowest I've seen it is around 80% and that's after a night of the furnace working, and then making coffee and toast of off the inverter in the morning. The Solar we have on means that it's usually charged backup by mid-day in the summer, and bit later in the spring/fall. The only time we run our generator now is if we need AC

[n6medjim]

Best advice I've found on the Internet, bar none:


https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/...ging-puzzle-2/


In reading his info, you should quickly find that the factory solar panel wiring is sub par and that there are not a lot of folks out there who really understand what's going on with photovoltaic cells, deep discharge house batteries ("Marine deep discharge" ain't them!), proper wiring, etc. etc.



An excellent resource re just batteries, I rely heavily on batteryuniversity.com


Good luck!

-- Jim

Originally Posted by rayza

Hi,

I want to get started with solar on my Class A - 2018 Newmar Bay Star. I want to start out simple and small and grow it. I really don't know what I even need to get started. I don't want to have to rebuy. Anybody who can provide a guideline of what parts are needed I would appreciate it.

I am already pre-wired for solar - 6 gauge wire from roof to battery compartment. I have a Xantrex Freedom X True Sine 2000W inverter that is used to power the refrigerator and an outdoor dometic cooler. It has the capability to hardwire and auto-switch on shore power.

Here is my plan, please let me know if I am missing anything. Parts for what I need to get started would be appreciated

1. Add 1 Solar Panel. Add charge controller? Wire to existing batteries. Goal is to just be able to run my 12V and refrigerators longer when in sun and boondocking.

Parts to buy: 1 solar panel (200W preferred), charge controller?

2. Hardwire bedroom circuit to inverter. This will be for charging devices at night when boondocking as there is no 12V in the back. Is this even an option? Not sure what to do here.

3. Add 5 more solar panels for a total of 1200W.

4. Replace batteries with 4x 12V 250Ah batteries for a total of 1000Ah https://www.wholesalesolar.com/99250...8d-agm-battery

5. Upgrade inverter to 3500 watt (or 4000 watt) pure sine wave inverter. Goal would be to wire up the kitchen and be able to run induction cooktop or microwave as well as current load.

6. Add 4 solar panels for a total of 10 panels, 2000W. Goal would be to be able to run 1 AC when in full sun. Would like something to auto turn off AC if watts drop down below a certain threshold, not sure what this would be.

Am I dreaming, is all of this possible? Would really appreciate help in getting started with what I need for #1 and #2.