FYI Solar 101 - A General Guide to Solar in your RV or Motorhome

[Richpatty]

And as you may have seen, this is what my battery compartment looks like now….

 

[Notsotalltexan]

That's a thing of beauty. With an A/C register? And, you insulated the compartment? Wow. I had not seen this. I imagine I can search and find this and more if I look. Are your batteries 100Ah or 200?

 

[Richpatty]

Thanks! Here is the whole thread on my lithium battery install.

Move to Lithium

So as I get ready for my Lithium project, I began to think about the best way to wire them. I will have 8 100ah GC2 sized battleborns. I know many of you use the wiring method on the left (see below). I have seen articles that say the diagram on the right pulls power from the batteries...

rvforums.com

 

[Notsotalltexan]

Ha. Yup. Patty is my wife.

Hey Rich--

My Ventana luckily was prepped for Solar at the factory. I found the spot on the roof, under which Neal mentioned he found the wires. In what basement compartment do those wires originate?

Thank you.

 

[Richpatty]

Hi!
The other end of these wires can be found in the first pass through compartment. Approx where we talked about mounting the controller. It should be coiled up on the ceiling of that compartment.

Rich

 

[Notsotalltexan]

I am just beginning to install my kit received from AMSolar. I probably could have saved some dough if I'd bought everything myself but on the other hand, they will be there with any and all questions as I embark on my install. Yesterday I located the solar prep cover expecting to find an opening but there was just a red mark. So I took my multi-tool and cut an access and bingo, there they were.
Today I pulled six solar panel boxes, one at a time, onto the roof. My two battery cinch down straps came in handy and worked like a charm. Then I set out my six 200W Rich panel boxes where they'll be placed.

AmSolar sent me 90' of the UV resistant #10/2 cable so I was able to be a bit more generous on the lengths. Tomorrow I think I'll get all of my butt connectors done and heat shrinking work finished on the solar panel connectors then secure the combiner box down and finally I will mount the panels and secure the cable to the roof with the accessories they provided. I hope to do all of you mobile solar veterans proud. I did order 6 of the T-Knob sets so that I can tilt my panels if necessary.

I thank all of you for your encouragement and assistance which I know I will be needing more of soon.

Laurent Perron

 

[Richpatty]

Great! I know it was an exciting (if not a bit nerve wracking) project. Keep us posted! And good luck figuring out the layout of where the panels will go. I took a picture of the roof from a drone and then laid out the few different ways to do it. I tended to put my panels on the sides to maximize the room in the middle of the roof so I didn't have to walk near the edges more than I had to.

Before

After

 

[Notsotalltexan]

Great! I know it was an exciting (if not a bit nerve wracking) project. Keep us posted! And good luck figuring out the layout of where the panels will go. I took a picture of the roof from a drone and then laid out the few different ways to do it. I tended to put my panels on the sides to maximize the room in the middle of the roof so I didn't have to walk near the edges more than I had to.

Before
View attachment 18362
After

View attachment 18363

A thing of beauty. Thanks for sharing this Rich. My 3709 has only two A/C units, front and back so I can fit five about five inches apart perpendicular between the two units and number six is going parallel just behind the driver's seat. I will have to watch my spacing on the five to give the combiner box about a foot of space between two of the five. My panels are 200W each. I do have room for two more panels but will wait and see what I can run with this system.

 

[Neal]

Important tip from @Chuggs and as @Richpatty alluded is to make sure with your placement you can still walk on the roof and access each panel.

 

[Notsotalltexan]

Yes thank you Neal. Originally my plan was to configure the six like Rich did which I still could do but allowing the room on both sides of the panels seems good too. I have a healthy respect for staying safely on the roof at all times.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Another tip:
Shadows on the panel over a single cell will cancel the complete panel, and overheat the shaded cell.

 

[Notsotalltexan]

Thank you Kevin.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Thank you Kevin.

Your welcome.
The whole array is one controller? If so that will effect the output of the complete array.

This picture explains why my system has 4 controllers! It also explains why my nickname is Bubba on this site only.

I am getting ready to remove the awning and replace it with two panels to use as shade. The added panels will use micro inverters. If that works well I may add some on the other side of the rig.

 

[Notsotalltexan]

I love your setup. Yes my charger is a Victron 150 | 85. So I suppose all my eggs will be in one basket. In our case, we do have the diesel generator to fall back on and, we're not full timers. We have an unimproved .6 acre lot near Red River, NM in the southern Rockies at 9200 feet elevation where we plan on spending most of the summer or as base camp for trips up north in CO and other western states when it's 100+ at home in San Antonio.

Will you use your awning arms as a frame to support your new array? What will happen to your screened in porch? So with your added panels I'd imagine you'll be producing over 1000 watts? Plenty of sunshine there in the Grand Canyon State. And the brown barrels are for?

 

[Notsotalltexan]

I love your setup. Yes my charger is a Victron 150 | 85. So I suppose all my eggs will be in one basket. In our case, we do have the diesel generator to fall back on and, we're not full timers. We have an unimproved .6 acre lot near Red River, NM in the southern Rockies at 9200 feet elevation where we plan on spending most of the summer or as base camp for trips up north in CO and other western states when it's 100+ at home in San Antonio.

Will you use your awning arms as a frame to support your new array? What will happen to your screened in porch? So with your added panels I'd imagine you'll be producing over 1000 watts? Plenty of sunshine there in the Grand Canyon State. And the brown barrels are for?

Oh, and what's your dog's name?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I love your setup. Yes my charger is a Victron 150 | 85. So I suppose all my eggs will be in one basket. In our case, we do have the diesel generator to fall back on and, we're not full timers. We have an unimproved .6 acre lot near Red River, NM in the southern Rockies at 9200 feet elevation where we plan on spending most of the summer or as base camp for trips up north in CO and other western states when it's 100+ at home in San Antonio.

Will you use your awning arms as a frame to support your new array? What will happen to your screened in porch? So with your added panels I'd imagine you'll be producing over 1000 watts? Plenty of sunshine there in the Grand Canyon State. And the brown barrels are for?

The dogs name is minie, Saundra thought she was going to be much smaller (rescue).

I am brain dead lately with the loss of Saundra. Thanks for the arm idea! I like it!

The screen room (roll-in), is the reason the awning will be removed. There is room for 500 to 600 watts of solar. One panel in front, one in back. I have the panels over the cab of the flatbed, I will use. That will bring the on trailer wattage to 2000w.

The cargo trailer has 1000 watts, you don't see that, would like to bring over to the trailer, but I will need to put the trailer on the scale before I make that happen.

The drums are water storage/water purification system. For storage that gives me about 1month of water.

With Saundra gone, I am trying to get down to one truck,one trailer (screen room pulls behind fifth).

 

[Notsotalltexan]

The dogs name is minie, Saundra thought she was going to be much smaller (rescue).

I am brain dead lately with the loss of Saundra. Thanks for the arm idea! I like it!

The screen room (roll-in), is the reason the awning will be removed. There is room for 500 to 600 watts of solar. One panel in front, one in back. I have the panels over the cab of the flatbed, I will use. That will bring the on trailer wattage to 2000w.

The cargo trailer has 1000 watts, you don't see that, would like to bring over to the trailer, but I will need to put the trailer on the scale before I make that happen.

The drums are water storage/water purification system. For storage that gives me about 1month of water.

With Saundra gone, I am trying to get down to one truck,one trailer (screen room pulls behind fifth).

Dear Kevin--

I am sorry to hear that you're hurting from your loss. Saundra was your wife? How many years were you together?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Dear Kevin--

I am sorry to hear that you're hurting from your loss. Saundra was your wife? How many years were you together?

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