Ordered my solar today!

[JJaxon]

After toiling, learning, and procrastinating, I ordered $6300.00 +/- worth of solar equipment, my winter project.

210w panels (4) = 840w total
Tilt mounts for all panels.
Misc cabling and tools.

100Ah 12v Battle Born batteries (4)
Victron 150/70 MPPT solar charge controller w/ BT
Victron Multiplus 3000inverter charger
Victron Energy Bus smart dongle
Victron BMV 712 Battery monitor
other stuff

There are probably other items i've ordered, but my mind is not remembering all of it. There will be more to order locally once I know battery cable lengths and sizes too.

Almost everything was a Cyber Monday discounted price. Glancing at the receipts and my pre estimates I've saved about $720 as shown.
The labor is mine to own.

[falconetti]

wow! cant wait to see progress pics.

[midmo]

Sounds like an awesome system! Congrats and wishing you a smooth install

[chuckster57]

Congrats. Your going to be busy!! Post progress and pics.

[BeagleMan]

You're ahead of me! LOL! But, good looking set up! Cannot wait to see the end result. Keep us posted

[JJaxon]

I'll be making an install video for my YouTube channel. It will not be a how to,,, but more of a how I did it... and I'll post a link here. Expect April ish.

[roadglide]

The smart dongel sounds like fun. The system your designing will run microwaves ,toasters. I bet you’re running a full House system to the converter. I have small a solar system that functional with two 250 watt panels . Will be looking forward following your install.

[KRumm]

You have a great setup!... The only thing I would I would recommend is to add a 5th panel... That would put you over the 70 amp limit of your charge controller but it will be highly unlikely that you will get 100% efficiency of your array and if it goes over 70 amps by 10-20% it won't hurt the charge controller

[JJaxon]

Originally Posted by KRumm

You have a great setup!... The only thing I would I would recommend is to add a 5th panel... That would put you over the 70 amp limit of your charge controller but it will be highly unlikely that you will get 100% efficiency of your array and if it goes over 70 amps by 10-20% it won't hurt the charge controller

This is interesting indeed. I won't plan on adding panels until I get some real world use and results from this as it is. However, I have no working knowledge of "going over" on the charge controller. It's a learn as I go project too. Thanks for recommendation.

[andrewl04]

I have been doing research/planning for a similar setup. Although Black Friday is over, curious where you found the best deals for the Victron gear. Good luck with your install!

[JJaxon]

Originally Posted by andrewl04

I have been doing research/planning for a similar setup. Although Black Friday is over, curious where you found the best deals for the Victron gear. Good luck with your install!

Battle Born batteries had a cyber Monday sale, I got better prices from them on all the Victron than I could find anywhere else. Their support people are incredibly helpful, helping me understand the size charge controller, other things compatible based on the panels I bought somewhere else.

*side note - it all shipped today via FedEx!!

[andrewl04]

Originally Posted by JJaxon

Battle Born batteries had a cyber Monday sale, I got better prices from them on all the Victron than I could find anywhere else. Their support people are incredibly helpful, helping me understand the size charge controller, other things compatible based on the panels I bought somewhere else.

*side note - it all shipped today via FedEx!!

Nice. I picked up a BB battery from them as part of their sale too. Still finalizing the charge controller, etc. that I’ll be getting. Thanks and enjoy/good luck.

[DevilDoc7898]

Three years ago I installed a solar system on my TT due to power outages from hurricanes here in Florida. I run 4 solar batteries and the whole TT runs from those. I even run the A/C. Well worth the money. I only spent 3k on mine for panels, inverter, charge controller and parts to install.

[Wenwanderer]

We have a similar set up. 8ea 175wt panels and 7ea BB 24v batteries. We love the freedom to camp anywhere and be off grid. We’ve had our system 1.5 years, and have never had any issues! Hope you enjoy your set up as much as we do.

[mikec557]

+1 for BattleBorn

For those still shopping for products ...

Not accounting for Holiday sale pricing which may or may not be better elsewhere, BattleBorn gives a pretty good discount to members of Escapees RV Club. Annual membership for Escapees is about $40/45 a year so you have to factor that in if your pricing things. This is what the discount is as of now:

"You can now purchase their 100Ah 12V deep cycle (non-GC2) batteries for an exclusive price of $874 per battery, plus a 15% discount on accessories"

Accessories includes Victron and Progressive Dynamics products among other things.

I bought a lot of my system through them.
2x Battleborn 100Ah, Victron 100/50 MPPT charge controller w/BT, Victron BMV-712 w/BT, Progressive Dynamics Charger/Converter for lithium.

[Dallasrules]

Are you going to use a combiner box for the panels? I liked the ease of wiring, the fact that you have a breaker that you can turn off, and the added lightning protection. Well worth the added $124. I love my Victron battery monitor. Also, don't forget your inline fuses. I bought a hammer crimper from Amazon and cut all my cables to length. It was only about $17.

I bought my solar setup from a guy that purchased all the items, and then never got it up and running. I got 4 x 250w panels morning star ts45 controller, 2000w/4000w inverter, and 4 125A vmax tank batteries, plus all the fuses and most of the wiring for $1500. I added the combiner box and victron 712 battery monitor. I also just picked up another 7 vmax tank batteries off of ebay from a guy moving and taking his system down. I got all 7 batteries for $500. He says they have never been below 50%. The vmax tanks are great batteries for those of us that can't afford Brattleborn lithiums.

By the way if you want to learn more about the benefits of oversizing your array, morningstar has a free webinar on their website.

[SR71 Jet Mech]

Man sounds like a great setup. You will enjoy the project!! Mine has been up for 3 years now and I still “tinker” all the time. Trying to figure out how to heat without propane or tons of electricity is my now project to enhance my rig. Opens the door to a whole new world of “tinkering “.

Can’t wait to hear about it down the road!!

Scott

[Jim2366]

I enjoy reading these post about the solar power. I am trying to learn and would like get a good solar system. I believe that we all need to be prepared just in case we don't have electric. There are good reasons for solar, to help the environment, but my reason is in case the grid goes out to survive or to camp in nice areas without electric. My first choice is electric.

[jetalkington]

I just bought a 2021 Cougar 29 MBS. I will be tackling this same job next summer. I live near Rockford and it looks like your in Danville.

I will be following what your doing.

It looks like your using Victron Energy products. They have an app that may help with your calculations.
https://www.victronenergy.com/suppor...loads/software

Also, I like the Circuit Wizard from Blue Sea. You can find it in your app store.

I also follow a guy that is do this in vans and his info is a lot of help. Explorist.life. He is a trainer for Victron Energy. There is a lot of good info there.

I am currently rehabbing a 1990 Toyota Sunrader and will be adding solar to that. The sites above have given me lots of good information.

If I can help let me know.

[JJaxon]

My roof top work is complete. I installed the 4 panels with tilt mounts, I made a combiner box to tie them together in 2S2P, then down through the Jaboni port. That factory wire ran down through the wall between the shower and the front bedroom, and terminated just behind the InCommand panel in the basement. It was cut and capped, then continued under the basement floor and forward to the original battery bay and capped again. This fwd leg I will not use, as it is not removable, or anchored under the floor and is not where I need it to be.

This PV cable from the roof was long enough to reach over the rear wall of the basement but too short to reach the fwd wall. I struggled with another option- to run it back into the compartment that has the outside refrigerator and TV in it. Plenty of room there for 4 BB batteries, charge controller etc, but I'd lose the fridge.

So, The PV wire went forward over the center of the basement, where I mounted to the aluminum frame above and installed a DC breaker double pole switch as a disconnect. I will add about 7ft of PV cable to get to the Charge Controller which will mount on the front wall of the basement. The 4 BB batteries, the Victron CC, Victron 3000MP inverter, a Victron Lynx distributer. A Smart Phase Selector (on back order) and various other hardware will all be mounted here at the front wall of the basement.


I am wanting to have full connectivity to the service panel in the garage. It is 50amp service, meaning 2 legs of 120v. The SPS is necessary for the 3 way connect of shore power / generator / solar. Im waiting on the SPS to become available, says spring 2021. Many people use the 4/0 wire for their install. I spoke with battle Born on the phone and they said that is complete overkill, that with my set up I can use 1/0 cables. Ordered and waiting FedEx delivery tomorrow.

Certainly complex and costly, I'm not taking shortcuts, and learning as I go.

Progress is slow, but steady. I did a 200 mile road trip and the roof install is all secure and solid. No issues there.