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Old 01-07-2017, 02:34 AM   #1
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Best solar charge controller and inverter for a 400w system?

My insurance came through for roof cuts and awning replacement...but instead of replacing rubber membrane on roof.. we are having entire roof life time spray coated and they recommended if going to go solar do it now as coating is 3/8 inch thick rubber or at least the brackets installed. So I opted to go for it. 4 panels installed and wired to sprayed in junction box for $500. What controller and inverter are y'all using and battery set up run time etc etc .. any info would be appreciated!


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Old 01-07-2017, 10:00 AM   #2
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Don't have your controller answer but saw your roof at an RV show in Florida last year. Really neat, but pricey. I thin they wanted around 7 grand, but boy, was it sold and never have to worry about a leak? Perfect. Congratulations, good move.
Rusty
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Old 01-07-2017, 10:01 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by Nate42379 View Post
My insurance came through for roof cuts and awning replacement...but instead of replacing rubber membrane on roof.. we are having entire roof life time spray coated and they recommended if going to go solar do it now as coating is 3/8 inch thick rubber or at least the brackets installed. So I opted to go for it. 4 panels installed and wired to sprayed in junction box for $500. What controller and inverter are y'all using and battery set up run time etc etc .. any info would be appreciated!


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See Post #781 here http://www.dutchmenowners.org/forums...html#post40493

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Old 01-07-2017, 12:03 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by lcv800 View Post
Don't have your controller answer but saw your roof at an RV show in Florida last year. Really neat, but pricey. I thin they wanted around 7 grand, but boy, was it sold and never have to worry about a leak? Perfect. Congratulations, good move.
Rusty


Campingworld wanted $9,000for rubber membrane replacement so $6,500 is kind of a deal. I think it is the right way to go.. installing the third ac as well


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Old 01-10-2017, 01:03 AM   #5
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I was hoping for a little more insight from some of the techies out there???????????? 6v, 12v batt...inverter type and size... what type of charge controller and how many amps etc etc


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Old 01-10-2017, 09:50 AM   #6
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I was hoping for a little more insight from some of the techies out there???????????? 6v, 12v batt...inverter type and size... what type of charge controller and how many amps etc etc


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4 - 6v batteries. I have a Magnum Inverter with the remote control and automatic generator start as well as the BMK Battery monitor.

Sizing all depends on what you require to run and budget involved.
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Old 01-10-2017, 10:10 AM   #7
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I was hoping for a little more insight from some of the techies out there???????????? 6v, 12v batt...inverter type and size... what type of charge controller and how many amps etc etc


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How much do you want to $pend?

Trojan T-105 6 volt batteries are the way to go. Minimum of 80 watts of solar per battery 100 watts per would be better. There are basically two choices in solar controlers PWM and MPPT. IMHO on a smaller install like an RV there isn't a clear choice.

I use a 30 amp Morningstar PWM controller for 100 watts of panels at the moment. Eventually I plan to go 200-300 watt permanent install. I currently use a Renogy 100 watt portable suitcase, it allows me to park in the shade and put the panels in the sun. They work fine for topping up the battery. Typically you want the controller as close to the batteries as feasible to minimize power loss and keep cable size to a minimum.

Inverter; you will probably want a Pure Sine Wave, size it large enough to handle the biggest load you plan to use at a time. I am planning on 2,000 watts which will be enough to handle a single cup Keurig or my wife's hair curlers.

You will also want a good power meter to track your power in and out of your battery bank. I like the Victron BM700 series, it has an optional bluetooth dongle that will allow you to read the meter remotely (did I mention that I was born lazy and raised slow?) Trimetric also makes a good one.
[/URL] it was the industry gold standard for quite a few years. There may be others out there.

Think of your battery bank as a savings account, you can pull it out but it gotta go back in or you will be cold and bankrupt.

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Old 01-10-2017, 09:50 PM   #8
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Need more info before making recommendations on a controller. I think its a bummer you were pressured into purchasing and installing panels like that. Your system needs to planned as a whole in order to have the best chance of success. Ideally you would have done an energy audit first so you know what kind of power needs you'll have on both the DC and AC side of things. Then you determine what kind of battery system and inverter will best fulfill those needs. Then you worry about how to properly recharge and maintain the batteries and that is when you design your solar charging system.

But too late for that, you've got panels installed and you now need to design around them. So we need to know the nominal voltage and wattage of the panels you've mounted and if they are wired in parallel or series before recommending a controller.

Features you should be looking for in a controller are:
  • Programmable setpoints - you'll want to be able to get the batteries up to 14.8V for bulk and absorption charging stages.
  • Temperature compensation - ambient temperature affects your voltage setpoints. A controller with temperature compensation will make sure you are charging to the appropriate voltages based on ambient temperatures.
  • Adjustable charging profiles - I change my storage charging profiles from camping season use.

To be honest, I've only use my Morningstar Tristar 45 PWM and it is a great controller that has all of those features. It cost around $200. I did not get the display panel for it and just hook it up to my laptop to interface with it.

Number of batteries and size of inverter will be based on your needs, so need more info on that as well. Since you've already got panels installed, their recharging capacity may drive this selection as well.
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Old 01-10-2017, 10:00 PM   #9
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Need more info before making recommendations on a controller. I think its a bummer you were pressured into purchasing and installing panels like that. Your system needs to planned as a whole in order to have the best chance of success. Ideally you would have done an energy audit first so you know what kind of power needs you'll have on both the DC and AC side of things. Then you determine what kind of battery system and inverter will best fulfill those needs. Then you worry about how to properly recharge and maintain the batteries and that is when you design your solar charging system.



But too late for that, you've got panels installed and you now need to design around them. So we need to know the nominal voltage and wattage of the panels you've mounted and if they are wired in parallel or series before recommending a controller.



Features you should be looking for in a controller are:
  • Programmable setpoints - you'll want to be able to get the batteries up to 14.8V for bulk and absorption charging stages.
  • Temperature compensation - ambient temperature affects your voltage setpoints. A controller with temperature compensation will make sure you are charging to the appropriate voltages based on ambient temperatures.
  • Adjustable charging profiles - I change my storage charging profiles from camping season use.



To be honest, I've only use my Morningstar Tristar 45 PWM and it is a great controller that has all of those features. It cost around $200. I did not get the display panel for it and just hook it up to my laptop to interface with it.



Number of batteries and size of inverter will be based on your needs, so need more info on that as well. Since you've already got panels installed, their recharging capacity may drive this selection as well.


Thank you very much for the input... I'm looking to run heater all night. and 2 led tv's and DVD players in the evening for about 4 hrs each, water pump intermittently... all lights are led as to start conservation there..not sure on 4 12v batteries or 4 6v batteries...looking at 3000w pure sine inverter and a real good controller...New and totally ignorant to solar. Thank you for Patiance.


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Old 01-10-2017, 10:02 PM   #10
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4 - 6v batteries. I have a Magnum Inverter with the remote control and automatic generator start as well as the BMK Battery monitor.

Sizing all depends on what you require to run and budget involved.


Thank you bud


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Old 01-10-2017, 10:39 PM   #11
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Thank you very much for the input... I'm looking to run heater all night. and 2 led tv's and DVD players in the evening for about 4 hrs each, water pump intermittently... all lights are led as to start conservation there..not sure on 4 12v batteries or 4 6v batteries...looking at 3000w pure sine inverter and a real good controller...New and totally ignorant to solar. Thank you for Patiance.


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4 batteries is overkill for that described usage but no one complains about having extra battery capacity. 4 battery setups become necessary if you're needing a lot of AC electric like for a residential fridge 24/7 or occasional high draw items like microwaves and coffee machines. Or you're just a power hog. 3000 watt inverter is humongous, if you're not going to run a microwave or coffee maker then I'd say go no bigger than 1000 watts. 2000 watts if you are planning on running appliances like that. There are a lot of DC amps being moved around if you're talking about 3000 watts and 4 batteries might not be enough. No use buying a very expensive 3000 watt unit if you don't have the batteries to run it at max.

I have a similar usage as you describe and we get by just fine with 2x6V batteries in series and 280 watts of solar. My 300 watt inverter is all I really need to run when we usually use, but I do have a 1500 watt on installed as well.
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Old 01-10-2017, 11:48 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by Nate42379 View Post
Thank you very much for the input... I'm looking to run heater all night. and 2 led tv's and DVD players in the evening for about 4 hrs each, water pump intermittently... all lights are led as to start conservation there..not sure on 4 12v batteries or 4 6v batteries...looking at 3000w pure sine inverter and a real good controller...New and totally ignorant to solar. Thank you for Patiance.


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Keep in mind a real deep cycle 6 volt battery will weigh in at about 65 pounds each.
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Old 01-11-2017, 03:02 PM   #13
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Sorry, I totally missed that you said 400 watts in the OP title. That kind of wattage should be ideally suited to 2 to 4 batteries. Any less than 2 and you're flirting with potentially too high of a charge rate for a single battery. More than 4 and you won't have enough wattage to getting meaningful recharge on a daily basis, although it would be a great maintainer or supplement to generator charging. With 2 batteries, you could run a 1000 watt inverter pretty well but that isn't large enough to run a microwave or coffee machine if those things are important. My 2x6V batteries and 1500 watt inverter cannot run my microwave which draws around 1500 watts, it causes too much voltage drop and the inverter shuts down on low input voltage. 4 batteries could run a 2000 watt inverter pretty well and should be able to run those types of high draw appliances without trouble. Although using them more than sporadically will use a big chunk of your battery charge.

There are various solar tutorial links and I don't really have a favorite. But use google and read a few of them. You'll get the basics. An often recommended blog is the "Handy Bob" one. And I agree, I learned some stuff by reading through it despite his curmudgeoness. So I'll link to it.
https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/
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Old 01-11-2017, 10:06 PM   #14
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Thank you all... this info is very helpful and very much appreciated!!! May go with 2 27 series 12v deep cycles and a 24 series cranking battery for genset.


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Old 01-12-2017, 04:32 PM   #15
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I don't have an onboard genny so I don't actually know, but wouldn't the genny's starting battery be independent of your camper's power system? Does it get charged by the generator itself via an alternator or something?
I bring it up because you don't want to be mixing different types of batteries in parallel. It will mess with your charging due to imbalances.
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Old 01-13-2017, 12:42 AM   #16
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I don't have an onboard genny so I don't actually know, but wouldn't the genny's starting battery be independent of your camper's power system? Does it get charged by the generator itself via an alternator or something?
I bring it up because you don't want to be mixing different types of batteries in parallel. It will mess with your charging due to imbalances.
Depends on how the system is set up. On my motor home I am pretty sure the generator is started off the chassis batteries, then the batteries are recharged via the converter. Which could cause problems if they are too low to start the generator. Have to get someone with a trailer to chime in on how theirs is wired.

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Old 01-13-2017, 10:53 AM   #17
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Depends on how the system is set up. On my motor home I am pretty sure the generator is started off the chassis batteries, then the batteries are recharged via the converter. Which could cause problems if they are too low to start the generator. Have to get someone with a trailer to chime in on how theirs is wired.

Aaron
My original wiring had the generator connected to the one OE supplied battery. When I went with the 4 - 6v batteries, I did the same and connected the generator to these. OF course I have an AGS as part of my inverter setup so when the battery voltage and/or amperage goes below my preset, the generator starts up.
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Old 01-13-2017, 12:29 PM   #18
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My original wiring had the generator connected to the one OE supplied battery. When I went with the 4 - 6v batteries, I did the same and connected the generator to these. OF course I have an AGS as part of my inverter setup so when the battery voltage and/or amperage goes below my preset, the generator starts up.


Awesome idea.... will be looking into that set up ... that will keep me from being stranded and having to jumpstart genset at night.


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Old 01-13-2017, 02:51 PM   #19
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Awesome idea.... will be looking into that set up ... that will keep me from being stranded and having to jumpstart genset at night.


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While there can always be scenarios that caused the batteries to get too low, I suspect your 400 watts of solar will go a long way to preventing those scenarios from occurring.
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Old 01-14-2017, 01:31 PM   #20
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While there can always be scenarios that caused the batteries to get too low, I suspect your 400 watts of solar will go a long way to preventing those scenarios from occurring.
We take our dogs dry camping at NASCAR tracks with us, so the AGS will also start up based on temperature if we choose to ensure the generator is running before the thermostat calls for an AC unit to kick on. That way they stay cool on those hot days when we are in the track. Otherwise our solar array does a great job keeping everything up and running as well.
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