Calling on Solar Techies
I have been thinking of going solar for some time and decided to pull the plug. My wants are a 400 to 500 watt system. I have four 12 volt batteries with 340ah. I am not planning on changing b...
Forum Discussion
The OP wants to RV pretty much like we do, in the woods no solar in the dark half of the year and out in the open with solar in the sunny half of the year.
Our "lifestyle" in the RV does not change between seasons and it is all off- grid. See my Profile for what we have to do that.
It is all based on the 2000w inverter doing the 120v stuff, which means MW, Toaster, and Kettle for the high draws and TV/DVD etc for the low draws. Converter/charger to recharge the batts in the dark half and mostly solar in the sunny half. Trimetric monitor to make sure we don't screw up.
Just plug the shore power cord into the inverter or else the gen when you haul that out. No need for any kind of transfer switch. Fridge and WH on gas (not auto) and converter off (no "loop")
The 2000w gen will run a 60 amp charger at the most, so you will need to use maybe 3 hours to recharge the batts 50-90 in the dark half, once a day if it is cold with lots of furnace--same as you do now. No change there.
So--get an equipment list something like in our Class C to do the similar job in the dark half, and get the 6s to go with it--toss those 12s.
For the sunny half, something around 400 or so watts flat on the roof will do it so there is not much gen time needed. Kits are a rip-off if you are the least bit handy and get the parts yourself. Panels where you can pick them up yourself and not pay shipping too. Get them on an Rving trip so you are going by there anyway.
Our "lifestyle" in the RV does not change between seasons and it is all off- grid. See my Profile for what we have to do that.
It is all based on the 2000w inverter doing the 120v stuff, which means MW, Toaster, and Kettle for the high draws and TV/DVD etc for the low draws. Converter/charger to recharge the batts in the dark half and mostly solar in the sunny half. Trimetric monitor to make sure we don't screw up.
Just plug the shore power cord into the inverter or else the gen when you haul that out. No need for any kind of transfer switch. Fridge and WH on gas (not auto) and converter off (no "loop")
The 2000w gen will run a 60 amp charger at the most, so you will need to use maybe 3 hours to recharge the batts 50-90 in the dark half, once a day if it is cold with lots of furnace--same as you do now. No change there.
So--get an equipment list something like in our Class C to do the similar job in the dark half, and get the 6s to go with it--toss those 12s.
For the sunny half, something around 400 or so watts flat on the roof will do it so there is not much gen time needed. Kits are a rip-off if you are the least bit handy and get the parts yourself. Panels where you can pick them up yourself and not pay shipping too. Get them on an Rving trip so you are going by there anyway.
