Inverter vs solar generator

[Acga1]

Hello..my wife and I just purchased a 2021 ForestRiver Heritage Glen 310BHI…this is our first travel trailer and are greenhorns at it. Camper will stay year round on our vacation property and used as an off grid setup. I am leaning towards a Titan Solar generator vs a dual fuel invertor generator for a lot of reasons…gas, noise, having to fill it in the middle of the night, etc… Being that our camper is 50A and the Titan is 30A, can I safely use a 50-30 dogbone adapter to power the camper? Anything to be aware of? Propane in this camper I was surprised does handle quiet a bit… I realize that power management will be something we would need to be aware of. That being said I don’t see us ever running everything at the same time, especially the 2 AC’s.

Anyone here use the Titan? How do you like it?
We are leaning towards their invertor kit with 2 batteries and 500watts of solar panels to start.

Thank you for the help.

 

[Rich W.]

Id be curious to see exactly what you are getting and for how much with the Titan kit. I took a brief look at their website and saw what looks like an inexpensive 3kw inverter, no panels, and a 2kwh li-ion battery (equivalent to 170 ah at 12v for comparison) for over $3000.

This would have to be fully charged by the time the sun goes down to get you through the night and have enough power left over in the morning for a pot of coffee and some brief micro-wave time. So the second battery would really be essential for a reliable system and then you are in it for nearly $5000.

Without doing the math, Id say you could probably run one AC for about 3 hours with the components you listed if conditions are perfect. I dont want to discourage you, and I like the fact that they are using li-ion batteries as long as their power management is top quality, and having the inverter, charge controllers, and battery charger in one unit is convenient, but you are paying more for the convenience of the chassis and I would question the quality of the components. And you’d still need a generator to fill the gaps.

I like your goals and I can say from experience that having an AC run off an inverter, batteries, and solar with no other noise is quite satisfying, but this system will likely only frustrate you if that is your goal. Also while I prefer li-ion for efficiency, LiFePO4 technology is much more forgiving and user friendly.

 

[CornerstoneRVservices]

[quoted post removed - spammer]

Did I just have a stroke? What in the world does this have to do with solar powering an RV? Where does Panda Express fall into the realm of inverters and generators? I'm new at this so maybe I missed something, can anyone fill me in on what this means?

 

[Neal]

Did I just have a stroke? What in the world does this have to do with solar powering an RV? Where does Panda Express fall into the realm of inverters and generators? I'm new at this so maybe I missed something, can anyone fill me in on what this means?

It was a spammer. If you see suspect content such as this please click (tap) the REPORT link in the lower left of the post to bring it to staff's attention for handling. I will remove the post from your quote above as that spammer has been removed.

 

[CornerstoneRVservices]

I figured it was something like that. Does this happen often on the forum? Anyone else hungry for some Chinese?

 

[Neal]

I figured it was something like that. Does this happen often on the forum? Anyone else hungry for some Chinese?

Rarely as this system has great spam detection.

 

[Rich W.]

[quoted post removed - spammer]

Did I just have a stroke? What in the world does this have to do with solar powering an RV? Where does Panda Express fall into the realm of inverters and generators? I'm new at this so maybe I missed something, can anyone fill me in on what this means?

I saw that in an email. Obviously also a translation and a clumsy one at that. I get a lot of emails like that but this is the first time Ive seen one in a forum like this.

OK back on topic. If I were doing this I would buy a good quality inverter/charger ($1300), one quality MPPT controller ($300) and invest the balance in a bank of LiFePO4 big enough to meet your needs, or Li-ion if you have the technical know-how.

However I have to admit I like the all-in-one “solar generator” concept. And I really like the stackble li-ion battery option. My only concern is that you have no controll over the selection of the internals and probably little if any control over charge settings.

I looked at the charge parameters for their batteries and they are little more aggressive than what I would use, but still slightly (very slightly) below max. To provide a better safety/longevity strategy, I would set the max on this battery bank to 28.7, not 29.2, but they are making the distinction that the theoretical max is 29.4 (2.1 per cell). They are charging at 2.085 per cell, and I charge mine at 2.05.

My theory (and I’m not an expert) is that it‘s better to invest in more batteries and charge them conservatively for longer life, then buy fewer batteries and try to get more out of them, due to their cost and sensitivity. They either disgree or are trying to boost specs without regard for the longest possible battery life. This also applies to the minimal charge (safety cut-out) level.

Heat, overcharging, and excessive discharge are the enemies of li-ion batteries, so more conservative charging and shut-down settings, and keeping the bank in a temperature controlled environment are critical for protecting them.

 

[Acga1]

I saw that in an email. Obviously also a translation and a clumsy one at that. I get a lot of emails like that but this is the first time Ive seen one in a forum like this.

OK back on topic. If I were doing this I would buy a good quality inverter/charger ($1300), one quality MPPT controller ($300) and invest the balance in a bank of LiFePO4 big enough to meet your needs, or Li-ion if you have the technical know-how.

However I have to admit I like the all-in-one “solar generator” concept. And I really like the stackble li-ion battery option. My only concern is that you have no controll over the selection of the internals and probably little if any control over charge settings.

I looked at the charge parameters for their batteries and they are little more aggressive than what I would use, but still slightly (very slightly) below max. To provide a better safety/longevity strategy, I would set the max on this battery bank to 28.7, not 29.2, but they are making the distinction that the theoretical max is 29.4 (2.1 per cell). They are charging at 2.085 per cell, and I charge mine at 2.05.

My theory (and I’m not an expert) is that it‘s better to invest in more batteries and charge them conservatively for longer life, then buy fewer batteries and try to get more out of them, due to their cost and sensitivity. They either disgree or are trying to boost specs without regard for the longest possible battery life. This also applies to the minimal charge (safety cut-out) level.

Heat, overcharging, and excessive discharge are the enemies of li-ion batteries, so more conservative charging and shut-down settings, and keeping the bank in a temperature controlled environment are critical for protecting them.

Thank you for taking the time to reply and give some thoughts on this. Very helpful. We are 1st time camper owners and this part of it can get a bit overwhelming with all the options and opinions out there. Since our use is off grid and the camper will stay put, this concept is appealing.

 

[SaltyVetAdventures]

If your goal is to run an air conditioner off solar/battery, you are going be spending crap loads of money to get that ability. With two batteries and 500 watts of solar, you will be lucky to get an hour or so of air conditioner time.

Your best bet is a hybrid system. Get a decent solar set up with 400-800 watts worth of panels. Get 200-300 amp hours of lithium batteries. That will run most of what you need no problem. Also, get a 2000 watt inverter generator since they are generally quiet and efficient. Use the generator for hot days that you need air conditioner or cloudy days when you don't have enough sun. You can also use the generator to top off the batteries before bed.

You can get a solar set up that will do everything you want but the price isn't worth it right now unless you have money to burn. A nice hybrid setup is the way to go.

One other thing...if you have more than one AC unit then you will need a bigger generator. And you don't want to know what the cost of a solar set up would be to run two AC units for several hours. And make sure to put micro air soft starts on your air conditioners....google if you want to know why.

Keep us updated on your journey. Good luck.

 

[Acga1]

If your goal is to run an air conditioner off solar/battery, you are going be spending crap loads of money to get that ability. With two batteries and 500 watts of solar, you will be lucky to get an hour or so of air conditioner time.

Your best bet is a hybrid system. Get a decent solar set up with 400-800 watts worth of panels. Get 200-300 amp hours of lithium batteries. That will run most of what you need no problem. Also, get a 2000 watt inverter generator since they are generally quiet and efficient. Use the generator for hot days that you need air conditioner or cloudy days when you don't have enough sun. You can also use the generator to top off the batteries before bed.

You can get a solar set up that will do everything you want but the price isn't worth it right now unless you have money to burn. A nice hybrid setup is the way to go.

One other thing...if you have more than one AC unit then you will need a bigger generator. And you don't want to know what the cost of a solar set up would be to run two AC units for several hours. And make sure to put micro air soft starts on your air conditioners....google if you want to know why.

Keep us updated on your journey. Good luck.

Thank you very much for this information. I’m at a loss on this. I’m trying to figure out the best solution
Our camper is set up for 50 amps. 2 AC’s and wiring for a dryer.
Dryer we will never install.
AC’s I see us really using the main unit and alternating if needed to run the master.

I’m not looking to run the AC for hours on end. This is a weekend/vacation setup for us so having the ability to run it for long periods of time is not to crucial.

Following is what I have in camper:
2 AC’s: 1-15,000btu and 1-13.5btu
Electric fireplace: 12amps or about 1465 watts
Microwave: about 1350watts
Occasional coffee pot use at 1520watts
Misc tv’s +\- 108 watts

We know this will take some learning as we would have to maybe turn an item off to use another. Say the AC is running, we might need to shut it off the run the microwave, etc.

Speaking of batteries: we have 1 for the 12v side of things and want to upgrade those as well. Have no idea which brand/ style is good for that. Camper does have 1 solar panel for the 12V battery which is currently installed.