Hi all.
Just wanted share a modification I just recently completed on our Sunset Trail Reserve.
My family and I have had this trailer for a couple of seasons now and I was getting tired of camping in places that had full hook ups. The view of someones sewer pipe less that my awning length away got old really fast so I decided to do something about it. I also hated running our generator almost non stop when we did dry camp so our daughter could continue to feed her total and utter dependence on her electronics and TV. (Ok I exaggerate but you get the point)
Our older trailer had a single solar panel installed by the stealership when we purchased it and I was never impressed with it. Even on the sunniest day it would never seem to charge our batteries.
So having recently been laid off from my career in the Canadian oil patch I had/have some time to actually start doing some reading on exactly what it would take to run everything in the trailer aside from the AC and electric water heater and still be able to make "solar waffles" in the morning or be able to pull over on the side of the road and microwave some burritos.
What I decided on was 4 flexible solar panels, MPPT solar charge controller, 4 6volt golf cart batteries (2 in a portable box) and 2000 watt pure sine inverter all wired into the main 120v breaker box via an automatic transfer switch so I had 120 to all the receptacles in the trailer
I did a ton of reading on the interwebs and came across many great resources that outlined exactly why I was never really happy with my solar set up on my old trailer....Bottom line, most RV Techs don't have a clue on how to make a solar system work to it's full potential and specifically they are all very much under-wired meaning they used the 10 gauge wire from the panels to the controller and then the existing 12volt wires from the on board converter. They were setting themselves up to fail as there was no way they were going to get the 14.8volts to the battery that is 100% required to properly charge the batteries.
I designed my entire system to have less that 0.25% voltage drop from the panels to the batteries and I'm thrilled with the results.
As you can see the key to the entire system is to get the inverter and solar charge controller as close to the battery bank as possible in order to minimize voltage loss. The 4 panels are glued and screwed to the roof with the placement carefully thought out to minimize any shadows from the AC and other things on the roof falling on the panels. (any shadows on the panel can cut the power generation dramatically).
The 4 panels are rated at 24volts each. I wired 2 panels together in series for 48 volts and then combined that set in parallel on the roof with the other two panels also wired in series. This gives me around 10amps at 48 volts going to the solar controller mounted in the front storage of the trailer. I used 10gauge wire to bring the panels to a home made"combiner box" mounted to the roof of the trailer and then 6 AWG welding cable from the combiner box to the solar controller. As you see I had no real choice but to have about a foot of wires visible inside the trailer.
From the solar controller I used a 2 foot run of 6 AWG wired with an inline 50amp fuse and combined it with the 4/0 welding cable running from the battery bank to the inverter. (Also fused with a 300amp fuse between the batteries and the inverter)
The inverter itself is wired to the main breaker box using a 10gauge heavy duty extension cable into an 30amp automatic transfer switch installed at the breaker panel. This way I'm able to only run the onboard converter/battery charger when hooked up to shore power or a generator as I didn't want to charge the batteries while using inverted power.
and finally I installed a Tri Metric 2025RV battery monitor system and for anyone that is serious about boondocking, I strongly recommend you reading up on these.
So when it was all said and done I'm able to charge my batteries with about 30-40amps in good sun and should never have to plug in again unless i need AC
Wow. What an amazing setup. I can't imagine the amount of research and planning you must have done. I'm not sure I have that ability. I am fairly handy, but electricity is not my strong point. Great job. It will let you go places and stay for durations that I will never be able to.
Wow. What an amazing setup. I can't imagine the amount of research and planning you must have done. I'm not sure I have that ability. I am fairly handy, but electricity is not my strong point. Great job. It will let you go places and stay for durations that I will never be able to.
thanks...
yeah I did a whole bunch of reading to fully understand how to do it correctly and am floored when I hear how RV technicians do this type of install. Why would you put 2-3 grand into a system and not understand what has to happen to make it work to it's full potential.
In addition I advise everyone to look at the specs of the battery chargers built into their RV...odds are they simply will not work to charge the batteries to full capacity(You have to charge at 14.8 volts during the absorption stage) and keep it at 14.8 until your amps fall off. Most onboard chargers put out 13.6volts and when you figure in line loss you are lucky to get 13 volts to the batteries. Result is less time off the grid and batteries that will be destroyed in 2 years or less.
Today's RV's just seem to be made to go to an RV park and plug in.
I'm hoping to get a few local folks that want a similar set up to hire me out to design and install these until I manage to get back on track with my career in the oil patch. In case you haven't been reading the papers it's carnage in Alberta, Canada right now at it appears I'll be looking for work for an extended time. Looking forward to the break so long as it isn't TOO long.
Nice write up Doug.
How many watts did you end up with on the roof?
I wish I had your inverter wired in on my setup.
520watts on the roof. I oversized on purpose because who camps in the full sun.
The inverter is xantrex prowatt SW 2000 with a remote switch.
seems to work really well with 4 golf cart batteries hooked up with 4/0 welding cable.
Can run the microwave and the fireplace heater at the same time so it certainly puts out the watts as advertised.
That is a pretty good sized array for sure. You are right about who camps in full sun. If there are any trees around you can bet they will be over the solar panel half the time. Plus you being further north, you are affected by the suns arc more then people further south.
When we camp in the fall I can tell the difference from the middle of Sept. to the middle of Oct. in what my panel is getting from the sun. I made up some legs so I can raise my panel to better get the angle of the sun later in the season.
You have a nice setup. Get out there, put it to use , and enjoy it.
That is a pretty good sized array for sure. You are right about who camps in full sun. If there are any trees around you can bet they will be over the solar panel half the time. Plus you being further north, you are affected by the suns arc more then people further south.
When we camp in the fall I can tell the difference from the middle of Sept. to the middle of Oct. in what my panel is getting from the sun. I made up some legs so I can raise my panel to better get the angle of the sun later in the season.
You have a nice setup. Get out there, put it to use , and enjoy it.
Great job on your install. I have been doing a bunch of research as well on what I call phase 1 - Inverter install, Auto transfer switch, and replace the stock converter. Did you hapen to look a different vendors and if you did why did you select the brand of gear you went with? I have been looking at different manufactures and right now leaning to GoPower.
Great job on your install. I have been doing a bunch of research as well on what I call phase 1 - Inverter install, Auto transfer switch, and replace the stock converter. Did you hapen to look a different vendors and if you did why did you select the brand of gear you went with? I have been looking at different manufactures and right now leaning to GoPower.
Suggestions?
Thank you.
I looked at several vendors actually, go power being one of them.
For the inverter my only criteria was that it had to be pure sine wave and at least 1500 watts and no more that 3000watts. I wasn't interested in a unit with a built in battery charger nor built in transfer switch. I decided after much research on Xantrex Prowatt SW 2000. The main thing I can suggest to you is make sure that the overvoltage shut off is at least 15.5volts because if you use (and you should) a temperature probe off your solar controller it is possible to see 15volt to your batteries from the charger when the weather is cold. Make sure you mount the inverter as close to the batteries as possible at use at least 4/0 cable.
For the transfer switch, I used a GE model. I know go power makes one that appears to work well. I just bought what my supplier had to be honest.
AS for the RV power converter swap out. I can't help you there because I haven't found one that is any good in my opinion. None that I saw put out a charge voltage of 14.8volts during the absorption stage and none were adjustable. I also could not find one that had temperature compensation. If you can't get at least 14.8volts to the batteries then I wouldn't waste my money. Instead, there are inverter/chargers that from what I understand work very very well and have temperature compensation. I have heard magnum energy puts out a number of good units and come highly recommended by folks I trust. (this same person has zero good to say about anything "go power") If you do go to the expense of upgrading your converter make sure you have sufficient gauge wire running from the converter to the batteries. When I looked at the install in my Sunset Trail reserve the stock unit only put out 13.6volts MAX and when you factor in line loss based on the wire you are lucky to get 13.2 volts to the batteries. This will destroy your batteries in no time.
Solar Panels....the only real thing I looked for was price per watt AND I wanted flexible.
Solar controller.
Again, as close to the battery bank as possible (get one with a remote read out but put the actual controller close) MAke sure it has temperature compensation and make sure you can adjust the voltages. I went with a tracer 4215b MPPT controller and I'm happy. I've heard that trimetic makes a good one.
And finally...do yourself a favor and get a tri-metric 2025 battery monitor.
In My opinion this is a must have.
here is a blog that I recommend you read. This guy truely knows what he's doing.
I did some looking over the weekend at the vendors you listed and I really like the Xantrex Prowatt SW 2000. I am also interested in some of the inverter/charges they offer. The use of an inverter/chargere may make my wirining issues easier but I need to do some more work on that issue. Crossroads did not use heavy wire in the unit and I suspect some of my dislike of the stock converter is partly due to the wire leading to significant voltage loss.
I appreciate the response and if I get going on the project I will post some pic's. Camping may get in the way of actually doing the work over the summer months!
I really appreciate you sharing what you did.
So you mounted 2 batteries on the tunge and you keep 2 separate. I like this idea it keeps your tunge weight down.
Everything else is installed in the basement?
Which ST reserve do you have?
How many amp hours do you have?
Ballpark equipment, wiring and batteries what is the cost?
I'm looking at doing the same thing myself. I just like to do things once. So I rather save and get good stuff and run larger wires so later it's only about adding panels and batteries.
I am about to do a similar solar set up. I want to run 4 panels with two pairs in series and then paralleled. The higher voltage will have less voltage loss. Much like the original post.
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2014 Z-1 ZT301BH--- Got hail damaged and been replaced.
2016 REZERVE RFZ-31BH
Reese Pro Series 16k hitch
2006 Chevy 2500HD 6.0L ext. Cab 8' bed.
520watts on the roof. I oversized on purpose because who camps in the full sun.
The inverter is xantrex prowatt SW 2000 with a remote switch.
seems to work really well with 4 golf cart batteries hooked up with 4/0 welding cable.
Can run the microwave and the fireplace heater at the same time so it certainly puts out the watts as advertised.
looking forward to solar waffles this summer
Amazing project. So I take it you get almost 11 useable amps at 120v if my math is correct? 520/48=10+.
Any detectable heat/resistance with that heavy wired setup?
You have to be voted the best dad for this year.
To spend a tidy amount so she can play with her electronics...Nice.
Oh...I'm sure the wife isn't complaining too much either!
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