Installing an inverter

I have a Xantrex Prosine 2.0 (2,000 watts true sine wave)... Alas, no longer made.

As for the "Solar" part, It does not matter what inverter you buy.

The prosine is no longer made, so I can not recommend it as support will vanish soon. but most any TRUE SINE WAVE inverter should be in the same quality range, I do recommend a TRUE SINE WAVE over an MSW for a whole lot of reaons, but mostly because of two.
1: Radio frequency interference (I am a ham and like to be able to use my radio, MSW inverters can do a number on am radios in the area, and SSB is am)

2: There used to be a list on the X-power (Another Xantrsx product) Web site, "Things that may not work properly with an MSW inverter" It was a long list, They forgot "Anything needing more power than it produces"

The list for my prosine is much shorter, In fact it is "anything needing more power than it produces".

Anytihng that works on 2,000 or less of shore power, works on the prosine.

Batteries,, Xantrex recommends one pair of GC-2 per Kilowatt of inverter or more

Or in round figures, 400 amp hours per kilowatt... OR MORE

More is always better. (Except that if you put in too many batteries, you exceed your GVW rating)

Shadow Catcher wrote:
From a reliable source http://www.magnumenergy.com US made able to handle the some times higher voltages encountered during the winter with a solar system.

They must be talking about Grid Tie Solar, not Off Grid like on an RV. The panels do put out more voltage when cold compared to hot, but that is not an issue with Off Grid RV systems.

We use a Xantrex Pro Watt 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter, was less than $400.

From a reliable source http://www.magnumenergy.com US made able to handle the some times higher voltages encountered during the winter with a solar system.

Shadow Catcher wrote:
able to handle the some times higher voltages encountered during the winter with a solar system.

What voltages would be higher in winter?

Just keep in mind the 2000WATT INVERTER requires alot of batteries... The 2000WATT Inverter will need 160-180AMPS @12VDC to operate at full output.

Also the 100-120WATT SOLAR Panels only give around 6-8AMPS of usable DC Current for each panel at the battery terminals when in the high sun so several panels will be needed to replinish your depleted batteries...

Everything has to run from your battery banks and your SOLAR PANELS and on-board generator functions to keep the battery banks charged up. Having a large enough battery bank and a quick smart mode way of keeping them re-charged to me in a quick time frame would be the primary mission for operations off the power grid...

You basically will need around 20AMPS of re-charge capacity per battery to re-charge that battery in a three hour time span using smart mode charging technology whether or not the charge is coming from your on-board generator or solar panels. Will take some planning to figure out which method to use depending on where you are at the time and other events that may be on-going.

I am just now starting to plan for adding solar panels as well. In my case which is way smaller than your setup I plan of running my generator for two hours each morning at 8AM to get my battery banks over the high current re-charge requirements and then allow the solar panels to get everything back up to the 90% charge state before the SUN DAY loses it's high sun. It may take both of these methods to get my battery bank backup to their 90% charge state so that I can run our nightly run off of the batteries until 8AM the next morning.

Since I am NOT a motorhome I really have to watch where I can run my generator anything I want to. Most of the time I am allowed to run my generator from 8AM-10AM in the mornings and then again from 4:30PM to 7:30PM depending on which CG we are at here on the East side of the US. Some Natl Forest areas will allow 8AM to 8PM but not always the case. Generally the motorhomes with their built-in generators seems to be able to run them anytime. I hear them running alot after 8PM at night alot.

To me this makes adding solar panels and INVERTERs important if you want to do alot of camping off the power grids...

Food for thought
Roy Ken

From a reliable source http://www.magnumenergy.com US made able to handle the some times higher voltages encountered during the winter with a solar system.