Our new solar/inverter power system

[work2much]

Some expressed interest in our system on another thread. Here it is.


Not a great roof shot but here is a progress shot. You can walk the entire roof for cleaning and maintenance.



Combiner box with circuit breakers for each series connected panels. Panels are 200w arranged in 3 in series 4 groups. approximately 100v @24v.




The batteries are installed under the stairs on a sliding tray. I relocated the basement wall to add space for the equipment and additional storage. (see picture below)





BMS unit for battery.





Pretty much complete. The blue tape is that stock basement wall line. You can see how much wasted space existed behind the stock basement wall to hide the waste pipe.



We have a couple weeks now on the road and everything has been great. The 4000 watt inverter will run everything we need including 2 big loads like air conditioner and microwave or water heater at the same time. The solar has been generating 10-16kwh per day mainly limited by the solar charger tapering off as the battery is full often. I could easily increase this by 30% with tilting panels. Not needing more power though as we try and avoid hot weather and the need to run the a/c a lot.

Cheers 🙂

[goducks10]

Very impressive. I'm envious of people that have the knowledge and skills to do what you did.
My meager 100Wx4 Grape Solar setup would look like a Yugo parked next to your Lamborghini. 🙂
Well done sir.

[ramyankee]

Ridiculously beautiful. I would ask what can you do with that system but a better question is what can't you do.

Well done!

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Outstanding !!

:C

[Campinfan]

We were just out there but did not stay at Custer but nearby. Custer is beautiful. The whole area is amazing. We had a great vacation...we left just as the Biker rally was starting.

[work2much]

Thanks for all the nice comments! We are headed out of Custer State Park in South Dakota tomorrow to Fort Robinson in Nebraska for a few days. Custer State Park is a great place to stay if you enjoy hiking some pretty amazing trails. Clean well maintained park.

Cheers.

[treeofliberty]

That is a very elegant, powerful, and professional system. I have a smaller variant of your configuration: Reflection, 540 w solar, 580 ah battery, 2800 w Magnum inverter. I say this because I can relate to your experience and expertise in designing and installing such a system. Every time we sit down to an after-dinner espresso while boondocking, we appreciate what this system adds to the experience. Very nicely done!

[servitrike]

thank u for sharing. . . this is the kind of set up i would hope to acheive.

great job u did.

[naturist]

The price of solar components, particularly panels, has been going down while the expected lifespan and reliability has been going up, so much so, that if I were building a house from scratch today, I would design and build it strictly solar power, and not mess around with the electrical grid at all.

I was just cruising for solar panels a few minutes ago, and found 320 watt, 33 volt, mono crystalline panels for $208, which is 65 cents per watt.

[pianotuna]

Very nice. I wish I had gone 48 volts.

[work2much]

schlep1967 wrote:
Wow! I'm thinking you could teach manufacturers how to do this.

There is some movement in large systems. Keystone Montana offers a big system now.

Link


$20,000 though for a system smaller than mine. If you can supply your own labor you can save a bunch. My system all in including a couple specialty tools to make the custom length cables was under $10k. Still though it is cool to see solar becoming a more prominent feature/option on newer RV's.

[schlep1967]

Wow! I'm thinking you could teach manufacturers how to do this.

[servitrike]

thank u for sharing. . . this is the kind of set up i would hope to acheive.

great job u did.

[lee_worsdell]

wow that's crazy. nice job iam lucky if I get my batteries put back in the right way

[work2much]

CA Traveler wrote:
I hope you’ll provide some more information on your setup as I’m interested. I’m guessing 12x 40 cell 200W panels for 2400w. Is the battery bank 24V and there is a 24 to 12V converter?

Yes, (12) x 200 watt panels. Link

The battery bank is (24) CALB 3.2v @100Ah cells configured 3p/8s for a 24v battery @ 300Ah with a Daly 200AH @24v BMS.

There are (2) Victron Orion 24 to 12v converters in parallel to handle the house circuits, electric jacks, slides etc..