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Old 05-25-2018, 08:55 PM   #1
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Anyone self contained?

Has anyone hooked up solar for their power? Would you mind sharing what you used with a wiring diagram?
Thanks!
Joe
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Old 05-26-2018, 12:08 AM   #2
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There's not much to be gained by a new thread on this. A little searching will come up with tons of info on this topic.
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Old 05-26-2018, 05:02 AM   #3
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Do you have a link? When I type in solar, nothing shows up.
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Old 05-26-2018, 05:26 AM   #4
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Not sure what specific info you are looking for. Solar install can vary from a few hundred dollars for a solar panel or two you connect directly to your battery(s) and prop the panels up facing the sun outside your RV, to a $5000-$10,000 system to power just about everything you could want to use in your RV except for running your air conditioner for more than 2-3 hours when you include lithium batteries.



Here are several links with lots of detailed educational material.

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)
The 12volt Side of Life Part 2
RV Electrical
Last updated


If you really would like to dive into lots of info about whole RV solar installs I can give you 8-10 more links with lots of great info.


Also going to Forums - Escapees Discussion Forum and doing a search for "solar" will bring up a number of topics with great info
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Old 05-26-2018, 09:00 AM   #5
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Two major things to consider. Where to mount and electric storage capacity. You did not say what kind of RV you had. How much real estate you have on your roof or portable units on the ground are involved in the panel selection. Batteries must be deep cell and with current technology the lithium are best but will cost thousands. You have to decide how many batteries you have room for. (At least two or more.) They key is to install as many amp/hours as possible. After these choices are made then a wiring design can be made.
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Old 05-26-2018, 09:13 AM   #6
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Simple! 10 gauge from each of my three 100 watt solar panels to the combiner box. 8 gauge from box to controller. 6 gauge from controller to batteries. All within 2% loss or less. Haven’t used generator in last 60 days of camping.

See https://www.windynation.com/jzv/inf/...ight-wire-size

Remember “solar” isn’t “power.” Solar recharges batteries. Need adequate panels to recharge batteries. Need adequate batteries to store power.
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Old 05-26-2018, 07:42 PM   #7
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For the past several years most of our camping has been primitive (or boondocking), no "shore power". We have gotten by with 2-3 45W panels on the ground feeding the charge controller. Changing all the lights to LED helps extend the batteries' charge a lot too.

FWIW, rather than opening the battery compartment every time we set up camp to connect the panels, I came up with the idea to use the trailer's 7-pin connector, since the tow vehicle charges the house batteries through that. This is no longer an option with my 'new' motorhome, the connector is now the opposite gender and feeding that would only charge the chassis battery. So we added new connectors to solar-feed the house batteries at either end. Also, we don't want to roof-mount the panels because that exposes them to possible hail damage.
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Old 05-27-2018, 01:05 PM   #8
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Simple! 10 gauge from each of my three 100 watt solar panels to the combiner box. 8 gauge from box to controller. 6 gauge from controller to batteries. All within 2% loss or less. Haven’t used generator in last 60 days of camping.

See https://www.windynation.com/jzv/inf/...ight-wire-size

Remember “solar” isn’t “power.” Solar recharges batteries. Need adequate panels to recharge batteries. Need adequate batteries to store power.

I always use a wire size calculator to size my wire runs. Here is one I like: Voltage Drop Calculator - for single and 3 phase ac systems and dc systems It is pretty simple to use, doesn't require you to remember to make sure your length measurement is for double the one way distance. The current has to travel round trip so the wire length has to be for both ways.



The cost of a little heavier wire to go from 2% loss to a 1% loss or even 0.5% loss is very minor compared to the cost of your system. Additionally if you design and build for 2% loss and in the future decide you want to add a panel or two, you are going to experience even greater loss. Far better to get as much power from the solar panels, charge controller, batteries as possible.



A lot of this is covered in great detail in the links I gave earlier in this topic. Don't depend on a half or full page reply in a forum entry for info. Go to the many page documents which cover batteries, solar and charging.
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Old 05-27-2018, 01:32 PM   #9
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“Additionally if you design and build for 2% loss and in the future decide you want to add a panel or two, you are going to experience even greater loss.”

I did, Al! I wired for 400 watts but only installed 300. Fills by 1 pm most days. My MPPT maxes at 30 amps so if I needed more than 400 I’d get a separate system. Can’t see that need however.
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Old 05-28-2018, 06:14 PM   #10
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“Additionally if you design and build for 2% loss and in the future decide you want to add a panel or two, you are going to experience even greater loss.”

I did, Al! I wired for 400 watts but only installed 300. Fills by 1 pm most days. My MPPT maxes at 30 amps so if I needed more than 400 I’d get a separate system. Can’t see that need however.
That was excellent foresight to wire for 400 watts of solar and only install 300 watts.

My main thrust is to emphasize that anyone planning on installing solar is not to look at your wiring sizes and just duplicate what you installed, but to spend time researching wire size, power needs, and many more things.

You being able to fill your batteries by 1pm most days, means you did a good job of designing your system.
Others really must be sure they do a good job of estimating their daily battery power requirements if they want to dry camp for more than a day or two.
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Old 05-28-2018, 06:16 PM   #11
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Agree, Al!
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Old 05-29-2018, 02:32 AM   #12
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For the past several years... We have gotten by with 2-3 45W panels
Oops, make that 2-3 15W panels, for a total of 45W charging currently.
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Old 05-29-2018, 06:36 AM   #13
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As long your 30 to 45 solar watts brings your battery to 100% daily, that’s enough for your needs. Most is absorption phase anyway.
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Old 05-30-2018, 08:11 PM   #14
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The "best" power saver I have found is to replace any incandescent light bulbs with leds. This reduces your load significantly so your stored power in the batteries will last longer.
I have helped several couples do this as they did not have the means to purchase the solar but greatly reduced their use of a generator.
More info on your rig and how you intend to use it would help members here guide you.
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Old 05-31-2018, 02:50 PM   #15
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I have a 1989 Elandan, can someone recommend what solar panel set up to use as a charging system.
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Old 05-31-2018, 02:58 PM   #16
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Start with an energy survey to determine how many amp hours you use in an average day then multiply by 1.5. Then you can determine the "heart" of any solar system...the batteries. You need at least...at least...twice that number of battery capacity. Then, if that number is say 200, you'll need panels that are rated at least 200 watts...1 solar watt per battery amp hour capacity. Any of the major brands are good. I'm a WindyNation guy.
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Old 05-31-2018, 03:22 PM   #17
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Measure all of the open space on your roof. Pick a brand or model that would total to the highest number of watts possible. From there back into controllers and batteries. Plan for one amp/hr of battery for every watt of solar. You can never have enough. I have 12,000 watts on my house and could use more. Your pocket book may be the limit.
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Old 05-31-2018, 07:36 PM   #18
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Appears your Elandan has sufficient roof real estate.
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Old 06-13-2018, 05:40 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by JoeKan View Post
Has anyone hooked up solar for their power? Would you mind sharing what you used with a wiring diagram?
Thanks!
Joe

I just emailed a friend of mine. I hope he posts here for you.
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Old 06-14-2018, 04:40 PM   #20
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Start with an energy survey to determine how many amp hours you use in an average day then multiply by 1.5. Then you can determine the "heart" of any solar system...the batteries. You need at least...at least...twice that number of battery capacity. Then, if that number is say 200, you'll need panels that are rated at least 200 watts...1 solar watt per battery amp hour capacity. Any of the major brands are good. I'm a WindyNation guy.
Thank you for the information, will come in handy, i am in canada so some of the manufacturers are not available to me.
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