Hello everyone,
I'm new to doing this type of thing, but have run a simple 50 watt panel through a Harbor Freight controller, not that it matters in this design.
I have 2 projects coming up I'm trying to plan for, and I'd like to discuss the first and see if there's anything I'm not thinking of as I have a few months ahead to buy the parts and pieces needed for this build.
This project is personal and is for an off grid location that my dad's family has in a trust and I've camped at for years. I currently have a 91 Wilderness trailer (planning to upgrade next year), and it stays up there for months during the spring, summer and early fall. This year has been the first that my dad hasn't been up, and he has no plans to come back up. I've taken over his RV pad, and he's asked me to pour a pad for a propane tank he bought, so I plan to include a tower for solar. My plan is to eliminate the need for my 3650 watt gas generator, as well as reduce the propane use for the refrigerator. The trailer uses a 120 v 30 amp feed, so my calculations are based on that. I tried to be pretty conservative in my estimates, and ensure a good overhead to prevent ever firing up a generator (might be a bit wishful, but I plan to downsize the generator to a Honda 2000w inverter to charge batteries in dark times). Eventually I want to also add an irrigation pump to run a few heads around the property to help with fire prevention. I'm not going into brands at this time, just keeping it generic as I plan this out. As I start to buy I will come here for reviews and recommendations on specific brands of things. The listed specs are an idea of what I plan, not final part plans.
Currently I have planned:
4 240 watt mono panels
5 12v 200 aH batteries
8000 watt inverter
60 amp charge controller
6/3 wire
12/2 romex
Main battery disconnect switch
6 spot IP 65 breaker box
32 amp ground fault breaker
20 amp ground fault breaker x 2
Outdoor 30 amp RV box
1.5" PVC conduit
2 outdoor 120 v outlet boxes with outlets
So, plan is to have an enclosure at the bottom of the tower to house the batteries, controller, inverter, breaker box, a 120 v charger for the generator, and have one 120 v 20a duplex outlet. Charge coming from solar to batteries, batteries in turn running inverter, inverter hard wired directly to breaker box, 6/3 to the outdoor 30 amp plug box, and a second 120v 20a outdoor box on a pole mount with both outlets running 12/2.
Is there anything obvious I'm not thinking about that would be needed. I know the trailer peak draw (30a x 120v) is 3600 watts. When I did the math I figured at peak draw I would have about 20 hours total run time, which is obviously not going to be the case as even when I run the AC unit on the trailer it runs for 4-6 hours but isn't drawing peak power once it starts, and the fridge draws around 7 or amps when cooling, but only 1-2 once it reaches temp, so I calculate it at 300 watts average, so in practice it would be much longer. I assumed 6 hours of sunlight per day (typically see 8-10 but being conservative), and so replenishing the batteries daily would be around 840 watts for 6 hours. Might be very heavy for the majority of the time, and probably close to accurate when I'm actually up there while still leaving some cushion.
This being the first time I've tried to put a system like this together, is there anything that I'm doing wrong, things I'm not thinking of, or are my calculations way off? Am I under-sizing the system, or going way over needs? Any help or advice you can give is greatly appreciated. My hope is, not only not to run the generator, but to have the fridge running on 120v power instead of propane so I don't arrive to a dead fridge because of propane, even though it will be less likely once the 120 gallon tank is set up, not to mention the environmental benefit of it.
Currently I'm camping about every weekend from early May through mid-late September. I usually try to spend a week or two each summer where I don't leave and can do lots of clean up and such, and if I stay remote in a new position I may spend more time up there, but I still think this system is built enough to handle it, but I'd love second opinions and advice. In this location nearest utility power is a mile down the canyon, and unlikely to be moved up further in the foreseeable future.
I'm new to doing this type of thing, but have run a simple 50 watt panel through a Harbor Freight controller, not that it matters in this design.
I have 2 projects coming up I'm trying to plan for, and I'd like to discuss the first and see if there's anything I'm not thinking of as I have a few months ahead to buy the parts and pieces needed for this build.
This project is personal and is for an off grid location that my dad's family has in a trust and I've camped at for years. I currently have a 91 Wilderness trailer (planning to upgrade next year), and it stays up there for months during the spring, summer and early fall. This year has been the first that my dad hasn't been up, and he has no plans to come back up. I've taken over his RV pad, and he's asked me to pour a pad for a propane tank he bought, so I plan to include a tower for solar. My plan is to eliminate the need for my 3650 watt gas generator, as well as reduce the propane use for the refrigerator. The trailer uses a 120 v 30 amp feed, so my calculations are based on that. I tried to be pretty conservative in my estimates, and ensure a good overhead to prevent ever firing up a generator (might be a bit wishful, but I plan to downsize the generator to a Honda 2000w inverter to charge batteries in dark times). Eventually I want to also add an irrigation pump to run a few heads around the property to help with fire prevention. I'm not going into brands at this time, just keeping it generic as I plan this out. As I start to buy I will come here for reviews and recommendations on specific brands of things. The listed specs are an idea of what I plan, not final part plans.
Currently I have planned:
4 240 watt mono panels
5 12v 200 aH batteries
8000 watt inverter
60 amp charge controller
6/3 wire
12/2 romex
Main battery disconnect switch
6 spot IP 65 breaker box
32 amp ground fault breaker
20 amp ground fault breaker x 2
Outdoor 30 amp RV box
1.5" PVC conduit
2 outdoor 120 v outlet boxes with outlets
So, plan is to have an enclosure at the bottom of the tower to house the batteries, controller, inverter, breaker box, a 120 v charger for the generator, and have one 120 v 20a duplex outlet. Charge coming from solar to batteries, batteries in turn running inverter, inverter hard wired directly to breaker box, 6/3 to the outdoor 30 amp plug box, and a second 120v 20a outdoor box on a pole mount with both outlets running 12/2.
Is there anything obvious I'm not thinking about that would be needed. I know the trailer peak draw (30a x 120v) is 3600 watts. When I did the math I figured at peak draw I would have about 20 hours total run time, which is obviously not going to be the case as even when I run the AC unit on the trailer it runs for 4-6 hours but isn't drawing peak power once it starts, and the fridge draws around 7 or amps when cooling, but only 1-2 once it reaches temp, so I calculate it at 300 watts average, so in practice it would be much longer. I assumed 6 hours of sunlight per day (typically see 8-10 but being conservative), and so replenishing the batteries daily would be around 840 watts for 6 hours. Might be very heavy for the majority of the time, and probably close to accurate when I'm actually up there while still leaving some cushion.
This being the first time I've tried to put a system like this together, is there anything that I'm doing wrong, things I'm not thinking of, or are my calculations way off? Am I under-sizing the system, or going way over needs? Any help or advice you can give is greatly appreciated. My hope is, not only not to run the generator, but to have the fridge running on 120v power instead of propane so I don't arrive to a dead fridge because of propane, even though it will be less likely once the 120 gallon tank is set up, not to mention the environmental benefit of it.
Currently I'm camping about every weekend from early May through mid-late September. I usually try to spend a week or two each summer where I don't leave and can do lots of clean up and such, and if I stay remote in a new position I may spend more time up there, but I still think this system is built enough to handle it, but I'd love second opinions and advice. In this location nearest utility power is a mile down the canyon, and unlikely to be moved up further in the foreseeable future.