Installed my solar panels!

[ehidle]

Finally got around to putting my solar panels up. I used some strut track and angled solar panel mounts to attach to the roof. I finished just too late yesterday to see how much I would get out of them and of course it is cloudy and dark today, so I will have to see the results this weekend, but it's done!

These are two Newpowa 200W, 24V panels in parallel feeding an Aims Power 30A MPPT charge controller. I have 465Ah of battery storage in total and a 1.5kW low frequency inverter feeding the pre-wired solar circuit. The OTG pre-wire option on the rig made this so much easier than it could have been.





Here's a pic of the 400Ah battery I built for the rig. This is in parallel with the crappy lead acid on the tongue that I can switch to if this dies.

[Northofu1]

Looks good, can you adjust the panels to lay flat while in transit?

[ehidle]

Originally Posted by Northofu1

Looks good, can you adjust the panels to lay flat while in transit?

Yep, those tilt mounts are adjustable (with enough work). They lay down pretty flat:

[wiredgeorge]

You reckon when it rains the water will be rolling over your awning (if closed) and soak whoever pops out the door?

[ehidle]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

You reckon when it rains the water will be rolling over your awning (if closed) and soak whoever pops out the door?

That's a good point.. luckily I can move them up a notch on the mounting brackets if it becomes an issue. I think there's enough space for the water to make it into the rain gutter instead but we'll see.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by ehidle

That's a good point.. luckily I can move them up a notch on the mounting brackets if it becomes an issue. I think there's enough space for the water to make it into the rain gutter instead but we'll see.

Looks like a clean install; I might have put the wires atop your roof in some wire loom from the auto parts store to keep them from getting snagged/damaged.

[ehidle]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Looks like a clean install; I might have put the wires atop your roof in some wire loom from the auto parts store to keep them from getting snagged/damaged.

I have a big roll of it sitting on my front porch for those and all the cables in the passthrough for the battery, inverter, and solar controller. Just need to find another hunk of time

[Northofu1]

Perfect. Happy

[Mastrblastr]

Nice job! I have 2-100 watt Newpowa panels on a custom power tilt system on my rig, going to an Epever 20A MPPT controller charging 2-6V deep cycle batteries. We are always camping off grid and we never run out of power. Solar is a godsend for us as I don’t like listening to a generator when I’m in the bush. I have a small 1000 watt generator that I don’t bother bringing anymore as the solar system I have works so well, there’s no point!

[ehidle]

I posted the picture of my giant battery earlier in the thread, and last week I finally got around to ripping out the Capital Grill from the ODK (this is free to good home if anyone in the upstate of SC, NEGA, or WNC wants it) and permanently installed the inverter and giant battery it its space.

I like this location better than the passthrough storage for a number of reasons.

First, the cabinet for the outdoor grill is right behind the electrical panel where 12V is distributed. I was having big issues with the long run of #6 they used from the tongue battery to the system causing large voltage drops when loads were drawn. Putting the battery and inverter right behind the electrical panel solves this problem completely.

Second, it moves about 150lbs off of the tongue area (100lb battery and 50lb inverter) and over the rear axle of the rig. I could get another 50lbs off the tongue by removing the lead acid battery but it's nice to have a backup up there.

I had to modify the cabinet somewhat to get the battery in. It was about 1/2" too tall to fit through the opening where the grill was.

Anyway, here's what it looks like. I wish they had put the 120V hookups on the other side on the inverter... I want access to that 120V plug from the outside so I will have to live with having those there. Once I get some loom on them it won't look so janky.

[jasin1]

Nice looking install!

[flybouy]

How much heat does that inverter create when in use? I'd think you'd need to have that open when using?

[ehidle]

Originally Posted by flybouy

How much heat does that inverter create when in use? I'd think you'd need to have that open when using?

It's ~90% efficient so when I'm making coffee it'll be throwing off about 100W in waste heat for a few minutes. With the Cougar OTG package there is only one circuit held up and the only things I have on it are the TV/PC and the coffee maker.

Just sitting there idle it's about 30W so not really anything to write home about. If it gets too hot it will let me know.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by ehidle

It's ~90% efficient so when I'm making coffee it'll be throwing off about 100W in waste heat for a few minutes. With the Cougar OTG package there is only one circuit held up and the only things I have on it are the TV/PC and the coffee maker.

Just sitting there idle it's about 30W so not really anything to write home about. If it gets too hot it will let me know.

What coffee maker are you using? I tried mine for a minute the other day(keurig about 1400 watts) and it was a load on my gc2 Trojans

[ehidle]

Originally Posted by bjasin1

What coffee maker are you using? I tried mine for a minute the other day(keurig about 1400 watts) and it was a load on my gc2 Trojans

It's a Mr Coffee I got at Walmart for about 30 bucks. I measured it at right around 1000W at point of load using a Kill-A-Watt. My homemade battery handled it great. It registered a peak of 102A, which included the inverter and all the 12V stuff in the rig at the time.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by ehidle

It's a Mr Coffee I got at Walmart for about 30 bucks. I measured it at right around 1000W at point of load using a Kill-A-Watt. My homemade battery handled it great. It registered a peak of 102A, which included the inverter and all the 12V stuff in the rig at the time.

Yeah I saw a mainstays brand. Walmart brand probably that is 700 watts. I may try that

[roadglide]

Originally Posted by bjasin1

What coffee maker are you using? I tried mine for a minute the other day(keurig about 1400 watts) and it was a load on my gc2 Trojans

I believe if you had a volt meter inside where you can monitor your batteries while using a coffee pot you might think twice about using high amps small Appliances . It freaks me out to seeing my 3 AGM 12 volt batteries hit 12.3 when using the toaster.

[jxnbbl]

Just curious, the way the panels are mounted....can you angle them the other way? IF you park your trailer so your door is south its great, but what happens when your site forces you to park with your door to the north?

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by roadglide

I believe if you had a volt meter inside where you can monitor your batteries while using a coffee pot you might think twice about using high amps small Appliances . It freaks me out to seeing my 3 AGM 12 volt batteries hit 12.3 when using the toaster.

Yeah my victron alarm went off because of voltage drop so it kinda freaked me out. I should have been watching via Bluetooth.. keurig is just to much of a drain

[ehidle]

Originally Posted by roadglide

I believe if you had a volt meter inside where you can monitor your batteries while using a coffee pot you might think twice about using high amps small Appliances . It freaks me out to seeing my 3 AGM 12 volt batteries hit 12.3 when using the toaster.

When I built the battery I installed a Thornwave bluetooth module and an LCD display on the front, so I can get realtime data and history on my phone as well as a nice display for when I have the battery out for ham radio or other stuff I can use it for.

Here is what I get in the realtime display but it does show the peak current. I haven't played with the chart recording capabilities of the module but maybe I'll do that next. Generally though I designed this battery to comfortably supply 200+ amps so I'm not worried about anything the RV is going to throw at it.



And here's a picture of the display at 130A. It dropped from 13.2 to 12.9V, which isn't that much at all given the current. That comes to about 2.3 milliohms internal resistance.