800 Watt Solar Install Project on an Eagle Cap 1160
So I figured I'd start a post on my latest project now rather than later. It'll likely be a while before I update this, but I figured I'd start this now since the panels I got are still on sale and I at least wanted to share that.
For those who don't know, I'm an Electrical Engineer and will also be happy to answer any questions pertaining to the choices I've outlined below.
After a lot of measuring and pricing various watts/sizes, I went with six 100watt Grape Solar panels, currently on sale at Home Depot for $97 shipped free. **I think** the sale ends 2-10-2018, but don't hold me to it if you miss it. And as a last deciding point, I also called Grape Solar and talked with a VERY nice and informative gal, Sandy, who answered all my questions. They're out of Eugene Oregon.
Lots of other panels were larger/cheaper, but given my TC's roof, I decided I could best fit 6 small 100w panels.
I measured all of the vents, skylights, AC etc and made a scale drawing of my roof using Excel - the "Cells" spaced in squares 5pixels x 5 pixels, each cell being one inch.
Now with the panels (in purple) sized to scale--
Next, to verify for sure they'll fit before I plunked down the cash, I cut peices of plastic to the exact measurements of the various panels I was looking at and layed out various options on my roof. These pics were of some 165 watt panels I was considering--
The panels arrived today.
I currently have--
* Five 125AH AGM batteries now, and I found room for 2 more.
* I run these through a Magnum Technologies 3KW Hybrid Pure Sinewave Inverter w/125amp 3-stage charger
* The Shotwagon (my trailer in my sig) has 6 more of these batteries, 600w solar through a Morning Star 45a MPPT controller and a Xantrex 2.0 1.8KW Inverter
So the plan--
* Get another Morning Star 45amp MPPT controller with the optional wired remote. I have installed several, love them, not one has failed, the high voltage to 12v conversion effiency is awesome-97%, and when you call Morning Star for help they'll talk your ear off.
* Run the panels in two pairs of three in series/parallel. That will give me two banks with an OCV of 65.7v @ 6.13amps per array. Wiring size from the roof to the controller can be minimal given a total of 12.3a current.
* Even though it's oversizing it by almost 3 steps, run 8ga from the roof to the controller to minimize cable loss.
* 4ga run from the controller to the battery bank - over-sized for the same reason.
* Going with two separate arrays minimizes loss from any single panel getting shaded and not killing the whole array.
* I chose not to wire them all in parallel because the 12v amperage would require much larger wire from the roof, and the lower voltage would lose more through the wiring resistance. Likewise, an MPPT controller running a high voltage is a happy MPPT controller. PWM would lose/waste way to much available wattage without a voltage conversion given the panel's OCV of 21v.
I just bought all the mounting brackets and MC4 connectors on Amazon today, so in a few days those will be here.
The next update will be a while, like I said, I only posted now in case any of you want to get in on the panel sale.
For those who don't know, I'm an Electrical Engineer and will also be happy to answer any questions pertaining to the choices I've outlined below.
After a lot of measuring and pricing various watts/sizes, I went with six 100watt Grape Solar panels, currently on sale at Home Depot for $97 shipped free. **I think** the sale ends 2-10-2018, but don't hold me to it if you miss it. And as a last deciding point, I also called Grape Solar and talked with a VERY nice and informative gal, Sandy, who answered all my questions. They're out of Eugene Oregon.
Lots of other panels were larger/cheaper, but given my TC's roof, I decided I could best fit 6 small 100w panels.
I measured all of the vents, skylights, AC etc and made a scale drawing of my roof using Excel - the "Cells" spaced in squares 5pixels x 5 pixels, each cell being one inch.
Now with the panels (in purple) sized to scale--
Next, to verify for sure they'll fit before I plunked down the cash, I cut peices of plastic to the exact measurements of the various panels I was looking at and layed out various options on my roof. These pics were of some 165 watt panels I was considering--
The panels arrived today.
I currently have--
* Five 125AH AGM batteries now, and I found room for 2 more.
* I run these through a Magnum Technologies 3KW Hybrid Pure Sinewave Inverter w/125amp 3-stage charger
* The Shotwagon (my trailer in my sig) has 6 more of these batteries, 600w solar through a Morning Star 45a MPPT controller and a Xantrex 2.0 1.8KW Inverter
So the plan--
* Get another Morning Star 45amp MPPT controller with the optional wired remote. I have installed several, love them, not one has failed, the high voltage to 12v conversion effiency is awesome-97%, and when you call Morning Star for help they'll talk your ear off.
* Run the panels in two pairs of three in series/parallel. That will give me two banks with an OCV of 65.7v @ 6.13amps per array. Wiring size from the roof to the controller can be minimal given a total of 12.3a current.
* Even though it's oversizing it by almost 3 steps, run 8ga from the roof to the controller to minimize cable loss.
* 4ga run from the controller to the battery bank - over-sized for the same reason.
* Going with two separate arrays minimizes loss from any single panel getting shaded and not killing the whole array.
* I chose not to wire them all in parallel because the 12v amperage would require much larger wire from the roof, and the lower voltage would lose more through the wiring resistance. Likewise, an MPPT controller running a high voltage is a happy MPPT controller. PWM would lose/waste way to much available wattage without a voltage conversion given the panel's OCV of 21v.
I just bought all the mounting brackets and MC4 connectors on Amazon today, so in a few days those will be here.
The next update will be a while, like I said, I only posted now in case any of you want to get in on the panel sale.
