Please help me with solar setup

jrnymn7 wrote:
Jim,

Do you run the trailer loads off the bank, or off the controller's load output?

thanxx!

Our first trip with the 230w panel and Eco-w I was trying to get the controller into bulk and see what it could do up there at mid day. No inverter to pull it down so I turned on both exhaust fans, controller jumped to 4a and the battery stayed in float. I added all 17 of the LED lights, battery stayed in float. Added the furnace fan and the controller put out 11a, battery stayed in float.

Finally I found a 12, 200w coffee pot buried in the storage, took the solar offline until the pot dropped the battery to 13.4v and brought the solar back online. The solar jumped into bulk at 16a, the pot ran like it has never done before and the battery sat at 13.4v. That's when I knew it wasn't just a battery charger, it was a micro generator too.

The next year I went with two 245w panels, the inverter, bigger bank and played with the toys. The panels couldn't run a microwave pulling 1375w alone but the difference in the voltage under load fell much slower than with out the solar. In fact we could run the microwave for 10 minutes before the voltage hit 12v, only a few minutes were possible without the solar. Things like the auto drip and hair dryer never got the voltage low but they don't run that long either.

The three 250w system is designed around the ability to run the 5000 BTU air conditioner off of the panels after the bank helps with the start up surge. Two panels can't do it but it took running it for four hours with the compressor always on to get the voltage under load to 12v. The third panel will add another 17a and that will run the unit on it's own. So most of the time the batteries will be in float unless we run a load too big for the system to cover or it's too dark for it to produce.