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This is valid if you isolate the freezer outside of the area being cooled. You are storing energy in a thermal battery instead of a chemical battery. A thermal battery's application is limited to exactly what you are trying to do; displace heat energy. The picture OP attached will not be an...

Some of us, in our older age, roll.

Perfect. I am glad to hear stories like this. I just don't want to ruin my inverter. I know the inrush of inductive loads takes a toll on the inverter. I was trying to see the degree of degradation. Anecdotal stories like yours at least suggests the damage won't be seen for a while. I appreciate...

I did reference that earlier with the YT recommendation, but I think we all know it can be done better; hence the copper bar suggestion.

This could work if you arranged your batteries in a 48V configuration. Your inverter will have to be able to work with 48V though. If you're looking to keep the 24V configuration, you will have to find a different CC to take full advantage of your panels. @A.Justice If you look carefully...

Supervstech was speaking to the power tolerance of the charge controller. Each charge controller has a maximum input regarding voltage, current, and power. It's likely that a CC maxed out on current and low on voltage will be over the power limit. Checking the spec sheet will give the...

Hello, I looked up the specs on your UP3000-M3322. When the output is set to 230V, the allowable fluctuations are -10% to +5%. That corresponds to 207V - 242V. That's pretty much what you described seeing. As the inverter air conditioner compressor is unique to other compressors in that it is...

It's probably better missed anyway ?

Why not just dedicate the new addition solely to the 12V devices? Take them off of the AGM completely.

If all of the negatives (and, subsequently your possitives) of your set of three panels are attached together, then these are in parallel. If both sets of three panels are connected such that all of the negatives are attached through the 2x1 combiner, then you have effectively connected 6 panels...

We would all like to help you. I agree with the others that there are many places online that will help you learn these concepts. However, keep in mind the subject matter fills books on books, a lot of which you can use to get a degree. So don't be disheartened when you start seeing things that...

Yes, this device is appropriate for your proposed panel configuration. Please be careful. That is a lot of voltage for a DIYer to handle. It is advised that you not make any connections (or disconnections) while the panels are generating power.

I'm not sure the electric fields would do much to the panels. The connecting wires may get some interference, but probably no much unless you put them very physically close to the power lines. Power lines are usually very high up. You can detect the field, but it shouldn't be strong enough to...

This is the data sheet for your device. You should become familiar with it.

It's curious why you are worried about frying your system with such obvious components. Are you comfortable working with electronics like these? And do you have the skills to do so? 120V is a hefty voltage to be working with, especially if you don't know what you're doing. Personal safety must...

To clarify, the MPPT solar charge controller has an input voltage, input current, output voltage, and output current. With a 4S2P configuration, you take better advantage of the input voltage which also reduces the input current. This model has an output voltage of 12V, 24V, 36V, and 48V...

Cool. I recommend not charging to 3.6V for swollen/used cells. Charge to 3.5V. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/recommended-charge-profile-for-diy-lifepo4-batteries-sticky-post.5101/ Have you considered an active balancer? It would probably help overcome the runners that are common in used and...

You're looking for a CC that can handle at least 2kW. If you connect in a 5p2s, the current parameters can be 30A or greater. If 10p1s, you'll need a 60A or better.

All good points. Also, try to limit heat producing activities inside. Cooking should be done outdoors when possible.

I agree. Proper education before hand will be most appropriate, along with proper PPE and LOTO practices. It probably doesn't describe many of the people here asking about hooking up 10 panels in series. Glad you survived. That's pretty incredible.

The general rule of thumb, I've heard, is to multiply the operating current by a factor of 6 to achieve the inrush current.

I'm not sure what panels you would be ordering, but it's a folly to let your emotions dictate your purchases. If the total cost of the panels plus shipping is in your budget, you would be best to get them. Every month you don't have them is money paid to the electric company. How many months...

From the website I mentioned above, it looks like the max input voltage is only 115V. I don't typically rely on web pages for specifics, so please contact the manufacturer or get a datasheet you can read to confirm that information. Based on your questions, it's probably best if you didn't...

Agreed. There are 6 terminals on the solar charge controller. The two on the right most side as you look at it (maybe has a picture of a light bulb) are for an auxiliary load. I wouldn't use those terminals for much more than a light. You can toggle the output to those terminals on and off...

I've caught one of these on fire once. In my beginning years, I forgot to take the power rating into account. I think I sent a very momentary 1kW through the 1/4W resistor. Lesson learned and not forgotten. Hopefully OP won't make that mistake ?

Renogy RNG-100D-SSX2-US 100W panels (Qty:2) - $200 (& free shipping) Epever 2210AN MPPT SCC - $80 WZRELB 24V 800W (RBP80024B1) pure sine wave inverter - $95 EverStart lead acid marine & rv deep cycle battery, group size 29DC (12V/845 MCA) - (Qty:2) - $180 (+state core charge) Total price for...

Looks like there's an Eg4 6500 in OPs original setup.

Explanation: You have 1600W of power coming from your panels. The charge controller will try to use all of it (except yours will only use 1450W at 12V, but disregard that detail for this explanation). If the charge controller uses 1600W of power to charge your 14.4V battery, it will need to...

That was a great thought! Glad you expanded it for me ?

That's an odd reason to go with brass connections. From a mechanical view, your point may be valid. However, since the end goal is for the facilitation of electrical current, I would warn against using brass as the conductivity is poor. Sourcing materials shouldn't be a problem with the...

Good point about the load being distributed across both banks. However, there will still be the full load applied to the output of the batteries, to include fuse(s), wires, equipment (like the inverter), etc. We are in agreement that to purchase such a stove warrants a larger system than what...

I think researching more is a great idea. In that spirit, I'll start you off. I should caution you that powering inductive loads, like a fridge compressor, requires equipment that can handle about 6-7 times the operating current of the device, for just a fraction of a second. This is called...

Please look up your specific model to ensure you can do this. 5 Amps is probably fine, but you really need to look it up to maintain equipment safety (and any warranty you might have).

You need to look up the specifics in your manual. What is the model of your inverters?

The charge controller has two parameters dealing with current. There is input current (from the panels) and output current (to the batteries). Under full sun (angled at the sun), the 10 panels in parallel (yours are in series right now) will produce around 50A. That is the input current to the...

It appears your setup is optimal in the current parallel configuration. Given the probability of shadows, a series configuration would not be advised. You could, of course, try seeing if it does make a difference tomorrow morning ?. It's suggested to perform rewiring when panels are not active...

You've got a good start. An extra 200ah battery with panels totaling 1kw will be plenty to run low power freezers and some lights.

OP was going to purchase new panels rated at over 400W. When the sun is positioned 90* perpendicular to the panels, the max production will occur. It appears your experience with these devices falls short of expectations, but from a safety standpoint, you must base recommendations on printed...

Busbars are good for keeping things tidy and secure. The lugs on your 3/0 wires are fairly big. Overlapping them may be a bit hard on the battery terminals depending on the quality of your batteries. With only two batteries, you'll probably be ok with using just wires. Wires undergo something...

I'm not familiar with this device, but I do know that the 3.6kW rating everyone keeps citing is really the AC output. It doesn't necessarily represent the total power capacity of the unit. In fact, this model has a max DC input of 4680W. It would be very odd for a unit to accept 4.7kW in, but...

I suspect string 2 isn't coming through. Maybe it's turned off or not hooked up correctly? Shaded panel, open circuit, connected wrong, etc. The 3.6kW should be the max output AC. The PV panels show 3.8kW DC. if you’re in a very sunny area, 10 panels at 385W each could produce the 3.8kW you're...

This is from your AC unit's manual:

This explains why you can't run it on 220 even though it's more stable. It seems the device needs a stable 230V, which doesn't appear to be possible with your current setup.

@Goboatingnow I'm not sure what you're trying to say about brass. Are you referring to the ~6.3 ohms/meter brass exhibits? It doesn't appear to really matter what we tell  you, but for all the people who have some reasonable way of getting copper, chose it instead of brass.

If you're set on not having a lifepo4 battery or equivalent, then this is probably the best way to do it. You are trying to store excess solar energy for the purpose of cooling your room. Before air conditioners, wealthy people could use ice to cool a room. That's where the "1 ton" jargon comes...

The outlet doesn't pull 1500W, it's rated to handle that amount. The wires that connect to that outlet are (should be) rated to carry 15A of current, at least in the U.S. And if they are wired to code, they should be on a breaker. A qualified electrician can speak more to that. You could use a...

There will be more current coming from the solar panel to the battery than the battery to the fan. I would suggest making the wires from the battery to the fan the longest. That should save you some money on appropriately sized wire. Just make sure your battery is protected from the environment.

Don't get too obsessed with it. Electrons don't really flow at all (they drift, but this is not what is referred to as current). Energy is carried in the field of the electrons. You could dive deep into what's really happening but you don't have to have an EE degree for DIY level projects. If...

Use copper instead of aluminum. And don't ever use brass. You can look up the conductivity of these metals to see why. As for the DIY part of this, you can certainly make a copper busbar out of copper piping from the big box store. Youtube has a lot of clips on how to do this, usually involving...

You're using the idea of thermal mass to act as a thermal battery. It's a very useful thing. Water has a very high specific heat so it can hold a lot of heat energy. This means that in solid form (ice), it will absorb a lot of heat from the environment (cool down the surrounding area). By having...

https://www.enfsolar.com/pv/inverter-datasheet/13080 It's hard to tell if this model can be stacked. The data sheet is in Chinese. Maybe you can find one in English if you look a bit harder than I did. You can contact the manufacturer to get a proper answer. Just be sure you're even equipped...

If you're going to spend money on conditioning the air, it's best placed in insulation first. Your trailer looks fairly straight edged so it shouldn't be too difficult. My van, on the other hand, was a bit trickier to do with all the rounded sides and roof. I've got R-5 for just about...

Shattered glass on the panel will degrade performance. Did you remove the shattered glass before covering in clear plastic? You can test the performance of the panel with a digital multi meter (DMM). That is my first recommendation. Running a single panel to the controller while you have...

Some math: Your 2.5w fan will use 60Wh (.06kWh, as you mentioned) over 24hrs. A 12V battery will need to be rated at 5Ah to deliver that power daily. However, most lawnmower batteries I know of are lead acid. These types shouldn't be drained to full depth. The general recommendation is to drain...

Before you go changing your wiring, make sure your CC can handle it. Going from all parallel to all series could set you up for overvoltage. Going from all series to all parallel could result in overcurrent. You didn't specify the parameters, so just be sure you  can make those changes before...

Item - specs - location - price/qty Examples: LifePO4 - 280ah - NC, USA - $1k/ea. Sunpower 305W Raleigh NC $10k/10 Mppt 30a 12/24V - ships USA - $1k obo Most people aren't salespeople. They don't know to do things like that. I feel your frustration, though. Hopefully this will help the...

You didn't mention how big the battery is. What is the capacity of the battery (Amp hours)? What is the voltage of the solar panel?

How many cells do you have? For series, as you know, connect the positive to the negative of each string of batteries. To put each string in parallel, attach the positive outputs of each string to a busbar, and attach all the negative outputs of each string to a busbar. Your two busbars are now...

Also, 560Ah of LifePO4 at 12V nominal will have a hard time fully recharging when supplied by only 800W of panels. In fact, you've got enough battery power to sustain your 4-5kWh daily expenditure. Combine your original solar panels with your extension panels and you'll have something good for...

I think the guy was simply asking if moving was an option. There are over 300M Americans living in the USA at the moment. I'm quite sure the functioning part of this society is fairly well aware of the continents and subsequent countries that make up our world. You are looking for a solution...

Your charge controller can only accept 1040W. With ten 200W panels, you have double the rated power input that your charge controller can handle. You have too many panels. You are able to put 3 in series and still be under the 150V. Your panels are 24V nominal, but have a VOC of somewhere near...

5 in parallel

We can't be certain that the same configuration was used for both sets of pictures OP provided. He mentioned changes were made by the installer at some point.

Cool. Glad to help then.

The word "safely" was used for this very reason.

If OP uses 5 in parallel, there will be 1kW of power and still be within the voltage and current specs of the charge controller.

It sounds like your batteries are dead/damaged. If you're reading 30v for four 12v batteries in series, you have too low a voltage on at least one of them. Are these new? Are you sure they are all connected in series?

Just so you know, most all facilitating websites like this will have fraudulent sellers. I have even encountered scams on Amazon. It's important that you trust the platform to resolve the problem in your favor rather than abstain from the platform due to worrying about some shady sellers. Of...

Two of those panels you listed in series, A 24V MPPT solar charge controller capable of handling an input voltage >48V and at least 10A (the one you listed is rated at 24V, but doesnt seem to be a true MPPT, read the reviews, especially the 1 stars, for more information), A 24V pure sine wave...

Well, if you're set on the increase in panels, the best way to not worry about mismatched voltages is to use two of your old panels and one of the new panels in series. Make your three parallel strings of this configuration. This is assuming your three new panels are the same as each other. I...

In addition to the specs requested by Bud Martin above, what device are you enabling the battery cut off? What is the cut off voltage set to?

Your panels are rated for 400W. Three would produce around 1.2kW into the SCC. That particular model (4215BN) can only handle about 1kw input at 24V. SCC may be able to handle 20% tolerance, but don't count on it. Bottom line, it's not in spec.

What are the specifications of your battery bank?

Not sure about OP's situation, but consider heating the van. A 1500W electric heater will draw 125A at 12V from the battery (more really due to the inverter [in]efficiency). A 24V system would draw half that. The BMS on a 12V system would need to handle that 125A draw, too (and the C rating on...

It's best to oversize your wires a little. Riding the rails with that much current is not a good idea. The proper sheathing and air flow becomes critical at that point. Also, any increase to the system (adding panels) will overload the rating and you'll have to spend even more money on upgrading...

You'll need to know the buckling rating of the vertical support. That's determined by material type, shape, and attachment geometry. I'm not that kind of engineer so my experience is subpar to a professional, which I would want to consult before doing this project. But that's just me. I hope...

You can look up the efficiency of that model. Usually MPPT charge controllers are pretty efficient in converting voltage to current.

That's cool. Life long learning is the mark of a productive individual. Do it long enough and you'll forget more information about a subject than most people will ever learn about it. When I try to learn something, I often find it helpful to imagine the extreme version of something. For...

I'm a bit late here, but for posterity: There is a white paint that allows a region of IR radiation to pass through while also reflecting visible light. There is a small, but significant, heat loss from enclosed areas at ambient temperatures. This is effectively passive cooling, if only by a few...

I would try disconnecting it for 30+ minutes again. If there's a reset switch or on/off switch, I'd try that too.

I could be wrong, but I think most extension cords that are rated to handle more than 1800W will have a different plug. There's something called a Nema standard. I would imagine a 12 gauge cord would have a different Nema plug than the standard 14 gauge cord. That means you might not be able to...

I'll chime in and say OP should definitely not attempt this. A thorough understanding of system components is 100% necessary. The electrical hazards associated with solar are very high. Not knowing what you're doing will, at best, waste money, and probably more so, get you hurt or killed. I...

That's unfortunate. Did you not get a phone number from him in your previous transactions? Surely there is an address he sends this stuff from. It would be a return address on the boxes he shipped in. Do you still have that? You could write a letter to him. You could call the bank and see about...

If OP has the funds to purchase a stove and increase the battery bank for a summer house, there's probably enough to get a bigger inverter. Also, increasing to 48V means a 100A draw instead of a 200A draw. That's less than .5C which should alleviate the original concern for battery life.

The Voc of each panel is actually about 40V Voc according to the spec sheet for your panels, not 34V. You are still within spec of the 500V Voc for your EG4 according to the spec sheet of the EG4. Be advised, it looks like the EG4 cannot handle too much current. Putting these panels in any...

Hello, I'm trying to decide if I should put a $300 soft start on my air conditioner even though it runs fine on my inverter. I just don't want to take off years of life from the inverter if there's a better way. Ironically, the AC costs much less than the soft start. The inverter was used on...

The end product looks neat and tidy. You could use some edge banding if you want to hide the wood joints. But for a DIY garage battery heater, I wouldn't worry about it. Good job.

I don't think anyone is offended. Certainly not I. After reading your post, I really thought you were asking the forum for information about an email you sent an unrelated company. I was just clarifying the disconnection (unnecessarily, in retrospect). I tried looking for the device in the...

It sounds like the inverter shut down due to low voltage. You're set up is under paneled. Is it possible you were at 65% SOC yesterday and, perhaps, used a lot of power today?

I've seen a lot of people asking about connecting panels in series, which results in 100's of Volts, and much current. I recall getting briefed that something like 60V is the threshold for safety, with a bunch of qualifiers of course. What are your thoughts on working with more than 60V DC? Is...

The unit can take up to 80A of current. You would wire your panels such that the Voc in series is less than 145V and the Isc in parallel is less than 80A. Also note that the total input power is 4.5kW so the combination of panels should be within that range. The panels you mentioned can be...

You could visit their website and start a chat. https://easunpower.com/

It's generally a good idea to run 24V over 12v. You can have less current draw from your batteries and your system components won't have to be rated for higher currents either. Less current means less heat, thus less wasted power. Go for 48V if you can afford it ? Also, why use 100w panels when...

How did you measure the voltage drop across your components? Not a single device had a voltage across it?

But if you're really worried, check it with a DMM.

Sounds like your fridge is the culprit. What model is the fridge?

Thanks. I suspected the same. Wear and tear is expected from any use, and especially from high current draw. I was hoping someone could point out a general relationship of life expectancy and inductive load usage on an inverter. That would answer when the 'next time' will be ? Speculations...

That is pretty cheap, but don't count out the space required if they don't produce but 100W. It wouldn't be worth the real-estate.

The problem with solar panels is the output power is unregulated. So unless you're going to run a heater or incandescent lightbulb, you will need something to regulate your power like a charge controller or just a voltage regulator (keep in mind it has to be able to handle at least 1kW). For a...

A fully operating PV panel will behave like a battery. Touching an array of 60V and any meaningful current will be like touching a 60V battery. @OzSolar I'm glad you are safe with your connections and perform checks. But do you think a beginner will do that? Or even know to do that? I've seen...