Wirering costs

Since William was unable to answer, can anyone give me a rough estimate on costs of materials to wire the system below. Thanks.

Hi,
This question is for William, you did say to contact you within the forum. I finally figured out my system and picked up your book on Amz. I would like to get an estimate on what the wires, terminals, breakers, bus bars and tools will cost. I will have 10 100w solar panels needing mc4 connections and wires coming in the front and 3K inverter, 70a CC and 3 12v Battle Born all connected near each other in the front under table seat, then having to run 110v and 12v from the front to the back 12' to breaker and fuse box and wiring a/c to only run on shore power. Just rough estimate, trying to figure out the whole cost of the system. Thanks

Semi impossible question to answer. Wire costs by the foot. Breakers, fuses and other BOS parts prices change drastically depending on quality of product and source. 10x 100W panels probably cost you more than 4 250-300W panels (easily gotten for < $1000 USD new / retail) or if bought from a clearance depot even less. see: https://www.santansolar.com/product/#new-solar-panels NOTE, I have contacted them for a quote after someone else here suggested it, they haven't bothered to respond BUT I am in Canada so that's a wrench in the works for me....

Hi, thanks for the response. I can get 10 100w good quality mono panels for $780. As far as the wiring, it is a existing RV, not camper van, so the breaker panel is there and of course all the other wiring. I was just trying to get a rough idea on cost for wiring from someone that went thru it for the solar panels, the CC, batteries, bus bars, fuses, inverter/charger all in proximity to each other, then running power back 12' - 15' feet to the panel. Thanks.

As a rough estimate:

• Solar panels are about 1$ per watt, so $1,000 for a 1kW array
• 3kW inverter, $600 for a mid-range unit
• 1kW solar charge controller, $300 for a mid-range unit
• ... OR buy an 'all-in-one' for circa $600 (e.g. MPP range, will has videos on these)
• BattleBorn batteries are pretty much the most expensive you can buy so 3 x $1,000 = $3,000
• Automatic transfer switch, $100
• Ancillary equipment, 15% total cost

Rough TOTAL = $5,750.

If you wanted to go cheap, you could probably get down to $2,500. With higher specs, well, the sky is the limit!

Hi, sorry the confusion, I probably didn't word it correctly. I have the equipment picked out and priced, I just included the equipment to you had idea on wire gauge size. I was just trying to get an idea on the wires for solar panels, CC, batts, inv/charger, bus bars, fuses, connectors, etc. I can price all this out, but if someone just did a similar install, they would know the answer quickly. It's a TT, not camber van, so all non solar system wirering and breakers are there. Thanks.

joegambler0 said:

Hi, thanks for the response. I can get 10 100w good quality mono panels for $780. As far as the wiring, it is a existing RV, not camper van, so the breaker panel is there and of course all the other wiring. I was just trying to get a rough idea on cost for wiring from someone that went thru it for the solar panels, the CC, batteries, bus bars, fuses, inverter/charger all in proximity to each other, then running power back 12' - 15' feet to the panel. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I didn't realize it was an RV, that changes things a wee bit ;-).

OK, then, erm, 15% total equipment cost as a rough estimate.

Forgive me but I don't fully understand the need for the question. You're going to have to identify these parts in order to buy them and you have already picked your main components so it's not like you have a choice as to whether to buy these ancillary parts or not. They're going to cost what they cost. And like any commercially available products, a cheap x, will be cheap, a better specified x, will be more. Buy from China, you'll often get similar spec products 1/3 price of USA prices, but maybe you don't get a warranty.

What I mean is if you've already chosen say a 5kW/24V inverter, then you have already chosen to use 2/0AWG cable, which is very expensive. It's not like you can use 2AWG cable because it's cheaper or better fits the budget.

I'm probably just being a bit thick, sorry for misunderstanding.

Hi tictag, Sorry you don't understand the need for the question. After a lot of research to determine the size system I need/want, deciding to go with lithium instead of AGM for weight and longevity, deciding to go with Battle Born and Victron for length of warranty, reputation, reviews, etc and where to purchase everything from. I am around $5200. I have to wait to purchase everything, it's a good deal of money for me. I just simply wanted to know how much more the rest of the items were going to cost, a couple of hundred, a few hundred, a thousand dollars. I understand whatever it costs, it costs, I need it and I won't cheap out on quality if I want to correctly connect the expensive quality system I am getting. Again, just wanted to know how much more money it would costs to finish the system once I had it, that's all. Thanks.

Ah, OK. I think my misunderstanding stems from the method of design. When I design a system I tend to produce three 'cost options', usually cheap'n'cheerful, room-to-grow and money-is-no-object. I then pen the system design, identify and cost the BOM (Bill Of Materials), write-up the pros and cons, then score each 'cost option' against my requirements. The highest score generally wins and I buy the system. In this method you are not estimating the cost of any element, simply choosing the design that best suits your situation.

I am not suggesting that you also do this, just explaining why I was misunderstanding your question.

I would not be able to offer anything more than a guess (i.e. 15% total) because I've never really considered the cost of ancillary items separately, but others on this forum will undoubtedly be able to help.

Hi, 15% for axcillaries is a good enough guess for me to go by. Since the axcillary items I need will not change from system to system, nor the quality or the gauge size. So since my system is a bit pricey, I can guess now myself with your 15% being Max, maybe it will be about 10%. So a few hundred dollars to finish out the system. My wife, me and 2 Chihuahuas will be living in a 20' TT, our fridge, water heater are electric/propane, our heat and stove are propane, but we have hungry kitchen gadgets and power tools. We will live full time off grid in Costa Rica for about a year while we build and then traveling off grid minus power tools for months at a time exploring Central and South America. We need the biggest system we can afford and something that will last and be trouble free. So it wasn't option 3, money-is-no-object system, it was a peace-of-mind-system. Just kidding with you, not being a wise ass, I appreciate the help. Thanks.

As you'll be very much relying on this system, you might consider throwing your system design by the experts on this forum - I think there is a forum topic for system design reviews.

Good idea, I am still few months away.