Installed 200 watt solar panels

[Cfoxtrot]

I installed a 200 watt solar charging kit from "WindyNation". Worst part was poking holes in my roof!

The kit contains:
2ea 100 watt solar panels and mounting brackets
40ft of wire
All the necessary connectors to for the panels
1ea charge controller

I pre-wired the panels on the ground and tucked all the connectors under the panels to keep them out of the weather.


Then the fun starts, with all brackets installed and pre-wiring complete I hauled the panels up on the roof for placement. After a bit of measuring I secured them to the roof in a bed of Dicor sealant. The front brackets are attached to the roof truss and the rear brackets fell between trusses. Then I sealed over the entire bracket with Dicor.


I removed the vent cover for the fridge and ran the wire through the vent down along side of the fridge. Then followed the sink drain vent pipe down into the space below the fridge.


I will follow up with charge controller installation on my next post as I have reached my maximum picture upload for this post...

[Cfoxtrot]

I chose to mount the charge controller under the fridge as I did not want to cut into any panels. So I added hinges and a door jamb to the vent cover to create a swing open access door and mounted the charge controller to the inside of the vent . Which worked out really well because the charge controller is at a 45 degree angle making reading the display easy. Once the vent door is closed it all looks original.



I ran the the battery charging wires right to the main lugs on the power distribution panel which was close and convenient. And after all connections were made and the sun came out the system is working well.



Now were ready for some dry camping Memorial day weekend to try it out!

[Festus2]

Congratulations on a very nice mod. Do you have any concern about the charge controller being located close to the furnace? (At least it looks like it might be in the photo).

[Cfoxtrot]

Originally Posted by Festus2

Congratulations on a very nice mod. Do you have any concern about the charge controller being located close to the furnace? (At least it looks like it might be in the photo).

Thanks Festus,
No, the controller really is not close to the furnace, it's probably nearly a foot away. And the heat sink is facing the vented door, and it has an upper operating range up to 140 degrees F. Should be no problem at all.

[T3/T4 Hybrid]

Looks very professional. I'm going to be doing some dry RVing in June. This has me thinking!

Thanks for sharing.

[Comptech]

Very nice job.... What did it cost for the parts?

[Andymon]

How did you actually attach them to the roof?

[Cfoxtrot]

Originally Posted by T3/T4 Hybrid

Looks very professional. I'm going to be doing some dry RVing in June. This has me thinking!

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Hybrid. Thinking is a good thing!

Originally Posted by Comptech

Very nice job.... What did it cost for the parts?

Thanks Comptech. The solar kit I chose was $356. You can get a 200 watt kit similar from Amazon for $328 but will not have a digital display on the charge controller and the panels will be polycrystalline vs monocrystalline solar panels.

Originally Posted by Andymon

How did you actually attach them to the roof?

Andymon, the panels came with "L" brackets that I attached directly to the roof. On the front brackets I was able to hit a roof truss so I used self drilling screws to fasten them. On the rear brackets, they were no where near a truss, so I used #12 stainless steel wood screws attached to the roof decking. On all brackets I put down a layer of Dicor sealant under the brackets and after the brackets/screws were installed I went over the bracket/screw with more Dicor sealant. Hope this helps.

[SLIMSHADIE]

Nice install, got some questions.
Have any pics hooking the controller to the distibution box?
So the controller stops charging the batteries when full?
Any problems when plugged in at the campgruond and the soler charging also?
I take it once installed, pretty much nothing else to do but monitor whats going on with the solar. Seems to be a fair price for a little solar system.

[Cfoxtrot]

Originally Posted by SLIMSHADIE

Nice install, got some questions.
Have any pics hooking the controller to the distibution box?
So the controller stops charging the batteries when full?
Any problems when plugged in at the campgruond and the soler charging also?
I take it once installed, pretty much nothing else to do but monitor whats going on with the solar. Seems to be a fair price for a little solar system.

Thanks Slimshadie, Here is a picture of the connections to the distribution panel. Not sure how well you can tell by the picture, the positive lug had an available terminal that I attached the Pos wire to. However the negative lug had both terminals occupied so I had to share one of the terminals with the wire that was already there.


The controller goes into "float" charge mode once the batteries voltage reaches 13.8 volts to prevent overcharging.

There are no issues when plugging in with the solar system, the panels have diodes pre-installed to prevent back feeding and the controller doesn't mind.

Yep, once it's installed it's pretty much hands off except occasional cleaning of the panels and checking the water levels on your batteries.

Hope this helps...

[SLIMSHADIE]

Thanks, that sums it up. I was wondering about backfeeding but you answered it.

[mikell]

I have 100 and am putting another on before summer. I went right to the batteries because that was the easiest. The next thing will be a bypass switch for the fridge so it's the only thing running from the batteries when the battery disconnect is off.

[Cfoxtrot]

Originally Posted by mikell

I have 100 and am putting another on before summer. I went right to the batteries because that was the easiest. The next thing will be a bypass switch for the fridge so it's the only thing running from the batteries when the battery disconnect is off.

I would have went directly to the batteries, however the refrigerator vent and the power distribution panel were definitely the closest/easiest option for me. Plus it turned out to be a great location to access the charge controller to monitor the system.

Good luck with the next 100 install!

[Bbfd]

Thanks for the write up and most importantly the pictures. Yesterday I purchased a 300w mono kit with 20 amp controller, brackets and 40' of wire from Solar Blvd for $415 with free shipping so am anxious to install. Your install will be similar to what I do thus some good ideas. I had not thought about tying right into the 12v lugs but then again why reinvent things and run more wire that may not be needed. My plan is to tie in a Trimetric battery monitor which along with a genset and 2 6v batteries give me all the 'toys' I need.

[Cfoxtrot]

Originally Posted by Bbfd

Thanks for the write up and most importantly the pictures. Yesterday I purchased a 300w mono kit with 20 amp controller, brackets and 40' of wire from Solar Blvd for $415 with free shipping so am anxious to install. Your install will be similar to what I do thus some good ideas. I had not thought about tying right into the 12v lugs but then again why reinvent things and run more wire that may not be needed. My plan is to tie in a Trimetric battery monitor which along with a genset and 2 6v batteries give me all the 'toys' I need.

No problem, hope this helps even if it's a little! Just looked at the 300 watt kit you ordered looks nice(and a good price), with that and your other "toys" you should be all set!

Good luck with the install!

[carlosjackal]

Good work mate, pretty much exactly what I did.

Only difference was:

I went back and put the DC wires from the Solar which fed through the fridge inside some flexi coil just to prevent any sharp bits rubbing over time.

I don't have an AC charger as I had to remove this because we run on 240v here.

My panel came with some moulded plastic mounting brackets which 'glue' on the panel first, then you 'glue' the touch points of the brackets to the roof. The panel hasn't flown off yet so I am guessing it work. That said, it wouldn't have bothered me if I had to put screws into the roof either.

Regards

Carl

[carlosjackal]

I ran the the battery charging wires right to the main lugs on the power distribution panel which was close and convenient. And after all connections were made and the sun came out the system is working well.
Attachment 8332


Now were ready for some dry camping Memorial day weekend to try it out![/QUOTE]


Hi mate, on the charger, I see you only have the wires coming in from the PV panels, then the output out to the trailer load. Is there a reason for this config?

I ask because on mine I am using the controller to manage the DC to/from Batteries so the load will utilise either the PV or batteries or both depending on load requirement.

I am sure you have done it right, but I am trying to get my head around how your controller works.

[Cfoxtrot]

Originally Posted by carlosjackal

I ran the the battery charging wires right to the main lugs on the power distribution panel which was close and convenient. And after all connections were made and the sun came out the system is working well.
Attachment 8332


Now were ready for some dry camping Memorial day weekend to try it out!

Hi mate, on the charger, I see you only have the wires coming in from the PV panels, then the output out to the trailer load. Is there a reason for this config?

I ask because on mine I am using the controller to manage the DC to/from Batteries so the load will utilise either the PV or batteries or both depending on load requirement.

I am sure you have done it right, but I am trying to get my head around how your controller works.

[/QUOTE]

Carl,
The reason I wired it like this is because the Manufacture of my charge controller recommended this method. They recommend connecting only "light" loads to the load terminals.

Here is a quote from the manual..."The connection of a DC load is optional and most applications will not utilize this connection. It is designed to be used with 12VDC lighting or small 12VDC appliances."

The load output on my controller is rated at 30 amps, and while it is not probable, it is possible to exceed the 30 amp load rating of the controller. So if I connected the "load" to the distribution panel I would then have to fuse the wire to the distribution panel at or below 30 amps, thus limiting the 12 VDC to the entire camper to that fuse. And if that fuse blows then I would loose power to the entire camper.

In my setup the load will still utilize both battery and solar as it is all in a parallel circuit. The only thing it doesn't do is... the controller does not track load usage nor can it disconnect the load when the battery voltage is low.

That's my thinking on it...
Chris

[carlosjackal]

Good comments. I may rethink my wiring now. cheers

[dave-g]

nice looking install. I have thought about this mod for a few years- mainly to keep the battery up while the unit is in storage. By I can not seem to get over cutting a hole in the roof, and screwing the panels down.

Funny- when I was 19 I cut a hole in the roof of my brand new pick up truck to install a sun roof. I guess a 52 I'm loosing my _alls.