Solar & Inverter Question

[jimgior]

I have a 2007 Vista 30b and want to add solar to charge the house batteries, then add an inverter from the house batteries and plug the 30a power cord into it.

My question is - how to I prevent the power converter/charger from charging the batteries and creating a loop? When solar is connected I only want solar to charge the batteries.

[Lv2Roam2]

It should be helpful to read about solar systems on the AMSolar website <amsolar.com>. There are other similar sites that are very instructive.

Generally, solar systems are wired independently of shore power / charger systems, except for their ending connections at the batteries. A solar system and your on-board charger can simultaneously charge the batteries.

Also note that typically your inverter would be wired to power a few circuits rather than your entire 110 system (which you may be thinking by plugging your 30 amp plug into the inverter).

[powercat_ras]

> I only want solar to charge the batteries ...

The solar panels wire to a charge controller that wire to the batteries. If there are 12 volt loads drawing power then the the solar will handle those and any power remaining coming from the solar controller will flow into the batteries.


> How can I prevent the converter/charger from taking power from the inverter to charge the batteries and creating a power loop ...

Your idea to make 120 volts available everywhere by plugging your shore cable into an inverter is possible with some manual intervention as follows:

The converter charger will be on a dedicated breaker, switch it off.
The refrigerator will be on a dedicated breaker, switch it off and run the refrigerator on propane.

You would need a very large solar array and battery bank to try and run the refrigerator in AC mode off the inverter.

Manually make sure you don't operate the Air Conditioner or Heat Pump or any other large loads like heaters while on inverter

[jimgior]

Thanks for the responses - just what I was looking for

[Leevormelker]

Good morning from gales ferry, ct. We have a 2014 winner sightelseer 30a with 900 watts of Kyocera solar and a midnight solar charge controller. This system is combined with two inverters. A 1000watt inverter dedicated to the entertainment loads...tvs satellite dish. Plus a 2000 watt since wave feeding the 50 amps feed. Yes we Do have a power loop issue if we run the larger inverter and the xantrex smart charger. The fix for that is to turn your converter breaker off. You will need to poke around to find the correct breaker circuit. Good luck. Lee. Ps the solar and inverters were the best add-on we have done... Now we have full boondock and it's quite too

[Jaeger]

I'm planning a similar, but different, install. Rather than have the inverter supply power to the entire power converter, I believe our solution will be to use a "automatic transfer switch" on just one circuit.

I haven't chosen a switch yet, but I believe the way it works is to allow power to flow through normally as if the inverter were not present most of the time. But if there is no power from the primary (shore-based) source, and there is power from the inverter, the unit disconnects the shore-source and closes the circuit from the inverter.

In order to keep things affordable, I'm going to connect just one circuit breaker on the AC side of the power converter to the transfer switch, specifically the circuit that supplies our TV, coffee maker, and microwave. If I ever need AC power from the inverter in some other part of the trailer, I'll just use a short extension cord.

Our desire for AC power is primarily for the coffee maker and toaster early in the morning, then more rarely for the TV in the evening. At other times through the day, we've got a Honda eu2200i. But quiet as that generator is, there are plenty of places we want to go with restrictions, and rightly so, on the hours and locations a generator can be used.

[powercat_ras]

I feed a 3,000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter to the two breaker fed circuits that serve all the 120 V outlets in my RV , and to the Microwave, on a 3rd circuit, after the Energy Management System switcher, via 3 home made transfer switches.

I also have installed a 15 Amp DPDT switch that I can use to manually transfer a 4th circuit that serves refrigerator 120 V outlet to the inverter, so I can run the refrigerator on AC using the inverter while driving down the road , so can run the refrigerator while leaving the propane off while traveling down the road.

I do this using three home made transfer switches, made with 20 Amp DPDT 120 VAC coil appliance relays. Relay goes into a deep plastic duplex box. You can buy the 15/20 amp small transfer switches made for a branch circuit already made at higher cost.

You wire:
Hot and Neutral coming from the normal AC source to the relay coil and to the NO contacts
Hot and Neutral coming from the Inverter AC source to the NC contacts
Hot and Neutral going to the load to the Common contacts

All the Hot on one side and all the Neutral on the other side.

All the grounds sliced together.

I used 12/2 w Ground Romex to connect the inverter to the transfer switches and refrigerator switch box and that is rated for 20 Amps. I only used such a large inverter so it could handle the Microwave Oven startup current. I have a 15 Amp slow-blo fuse at the inverter for wiring and branch circuit protection when on inverter.

Finally, many inverters including the one I used from Windy Nation do not bond Neutral and Ground together, and when permanently mounting an inverter, it is recommended that they be tied together, I did that near the inverter. This is needed for any GFCIs downstream of inverter fed power to work properly.

[rvbud]

Hi Jim...

I added a GoPower Elite 480W (3 panels) solar system with 2000W inverter in our 2008 29R. Also moved the chassis battery to the front ahead of radiator (fabricated a battery tray) and replaced 2-12v with 4-6v T-105 Trojans (yes, you can fit 4-6v under the entry step). The GoPower automatic switch (converts from shoreline or generator) works flawlessly (requires remote switch) and the charger/converter is great for keeping both the coach and chassis batteries at charge through the solar set up. In addition, added a 3-stage Battery Tender trickle charger into the system to keep the chassis battery up when on shoreline power. (Highly advise replacing the stock charger/converter.)

I would do this all over again in a second. Nice to be able to use the microwave, coffee maker when dry camping. I can even power a pancake air compressor.

Diagram of my setup and specs for wiring are attached.

http://www.winnieowners.com/forums/m...picture686.png

http://www.winnieowners.com/forums/m...picture684.jpg

Send me an email if you would like more info...I'll do my best.