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Help me finish my RV system

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jdpenn

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Dec 2, 2019
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I have 4 - 135ah 12 volt Valence lithium batteries and 6 Rich Solar 12 volt 190 watt mono panels. What are my options for connecting them in my Rockwood 2604ws travel trailer? Should I go All in One, separate components?, etc?

I'm trying to purchase everything before end of year to get the fed tax credit.

Thanks!
JD
 
jdpenn said:
I have 4 - 135ah 12 volt Valence lithium batteries and 6 Rich Solar 12 volt 190 watt mono panels. What are my options for connecting them in my Rockwood 2604ws travel trailer? Should I go All in One, separate components?, etc?

I'm trying to purchase everything before end of year to get the fed tax credit.

Thanks!
JD
Click to expand...
I also have the Victron smart battery monitor
 
Mini lite? I have a 2504.
An all in one is the easy way, but....If one thing fails or upgrading would be spendy. Are you part-timing? If you are go the all in one
 
190W x 6 = 1140W total / 12V battery bank = 95A out of the charge controller. Since you already have a Victron monitor, I suggest getting a Victron Smart MPPT 150/100 charge controller. For simplicity, you could wire all of the solar panels in series, the 150V charge controller can handle it. But if you might be parked in partial shading, you may be better off wiring in 2 parallel strings of 3, so if some panels get shaded, they don't affect all of them.

You didn't say what your loads are, so I can't recommend an inverter model.
 
SolarQueen said:
190W x 6 = 1140W total / 12V battery bank = 95A out of the charge controller. Since you already have a Victron monitor, I suggest getting a Victron Smart MPPT 150/100 charge controller. For simplicity, you could wire all of the solar panels in series, the 150V charge controller can handle it. But if you might be parked in partial shading, you may be better off wiring in 2 parallel strings of 3, so if some panels get shaded, they don't affect all of them.

You didn't say what your loads are, so I can't recommend an inverter model.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your recommendations. The Victron is a little pricey, but is a quality controller. I was considering getting 2 EPEver BN Mppt 40 amp controllers and using 2 strings of panels in parallel, 570 watts for each controller. Thoughts on using 2 controllers instead of one. This would save me $300-400.
 
jdpenn said:
Thanks for your recommendations. The Victron is a little pricey, but is a quality controller. I was considering getting 2 EPEver BN Mppt 40 amp controllers and using 2 strings of panels in parallel, 570 watts for each controller. Thoughts on using 2 controllers instead of one. This would save me $300-400.
Click to expand...
I would do two strings of three modules for sure. And you might consider one 40A charge controller instead of two. If it were my RV, I think I would select a Victron 100/30 30A charge controller.

Voc for the string: 24.3V x 3 modules in series = 72.9 V; 72.9 x 125% = 91.1 V minimum equipment Voltage rating.
Isc = 9.86A x 2 strings = 19.7 Amps; 19.7 x 125% = 24.6 Amps minimum Amp rating.

And your battery seems to be small compared to the total wattage of the system.

Mars
 
Thanks for everyone's recommendations! There are so many options. I'm now trying to determine a few next steps. Inverter with or without transfer switch and charger, replacing existing WFCO charger with a lithium version, whether to charge from alternator while towing with a DC to DC charger, etc. I'm leaning toward stand alone auto transfer switch, stand alone 2000-3000 inverter, separate lithium charger while on shore power, and initially not charging while towing.

Once again, I appreciate all of your input!
 
Two charge controllers give you the benefits of redundancy and independent control of half of the strings. It can have the difficulty of the controllers getting confused when the battery bank is getting full, where it sees the charging voltage of one and thinks it's the battery voltage. That can be mitigated by making sure both controllers are the same and have the same settings. The best option is to get charge controllers that connect to each other and coordinate, but they tend to be a bit more expensive. So, good and bad with both options.
 
I've decided to go with 2 EPEver BN 40 amp controllers. Will run 2 strings of panels. Now on to the inverter and transfer switch.
 
Inverter is purchased. Next is auto transfer box and PD lithium charger.
Question: when running on the inverter and not shore power, how do I disable or bypass the charger? Do I somehow wire the charger to shore power in front of the transfer box?
 
jdpenn said:
Inverter is purchased. Next is auto transfer box and PD lithium charger.
Question: when running on the inverter and not shore power, how do I disable or bypass the charger? Do I somehow wire the charger to shore power in front of the transfer box?
Click to expand...
Yes & yes.
 
SCClockDr said:
If you have shorepower only loads install a sub-panel & place the xfer switch between them.
Click to expand...
Hmm, probably need a wiring diagram. So with this solution, I would manually disconnect the charger via sub-panel breaker? Can I separate the PD charger from the converter?
 
Shore power into the primary panel with its loads including the converter.
An additional breaker feeding the xfer switch. Xfer switch feeds the sub-panel. This gets both inverter & shore power.
 
Now trying to decide on 3 panel wiring for each charge controller. Two strings of 3 panels in series or 3 panels in parallel, one 3 panel string going to each Mppt controller. I guess wire runs won't be too long on top the RV. I have 10, 8, and 6 guage wire.
 
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