How is my 48v setup?

[CargoCamping]

Hello! I am adding solar and air conditioner to a cargo trailer and would like feedback on my build before I buy and start building everything. Does anyone see any issues with this setup or my expectation to run an air conditioner for 4 hours or more a day? Thank you in advance and thank you for all of the information I have already found on this forum!

Components:

• Solar Panels: 10x 100 watt Rich Solar Panels in series
• All in one: EG4 - 3000EHV-48
• Battery: EG4-LL Lithium Battery (V2) | 48V 100AH

Load:

• Air Conditioner (AC): 725 - 680w
• Cooler: 55w

Solar charging:

EG4 requirements​

• Max MPPT Operating Voltage: 500 VDC
• Max PV Input: 5000W
• Max charging current: 80A

My calculated solar specs​

• Max Operating Voltage Output: 230.6V
• Max PV Output: 1000W
• Mac charging current: ??

Solar performance:

• ~5.9 hours of peak sun for full battery charge
• ~6.6 peak hours of sun per day

Best case performance:

• Battery: 5,120 kWh * 93% inverter efficiency = 4,761 kWh
• Air conditioner runtime: = 4,761 kWh / 725w = 6.5 hours
• Fridge + Air conditioner runtime = (4,761 kWh - (cooler 55w * 24hours)) / 725w = 4.7 hours

 

[HarryN]

I will just throw out some ideas to kick around.

__________________

For van solar systems in CA (panels facing up ) , an (overly ) simplistic estimate that I use is:

( solar array watts rating ) x (50% ) x ( 6 hrs / day) is ~ approximately .

( 1 000 watts ) x ( 50% ) x ( 6 hrs / day ) ~ 3 kW-hrs This is a bit conservative

Of course this will vary from location - so near the coast there is less sunlight but it is also cooler so you need less cooling power.

A very common van power system that I build is:
- 400 watts of solar
- same battery storage capacity as you mention ( 4 x 100 amp-hrs / 48 volt )
- Fridge running constantly
- Inverter running often. In some locations constantly
- Normal van vacation type loads for cooking, etc.

That works very well.

Will 600 extra watts of solar keep up with 4 hrs of air conditioning every day? Perhaps some days but not every day, so make sure that you have an additional way to charge.

___________

Keep in mind that the peak temperature of the day is 2 - 6 pm and your solar power generation on top of a van / trailer tends to be 10 - 3 pm. So your ability to make up for that air conditioning load using solar - that same day - are limited. In essence you are using power that was collected just hours before it is needed.

You can reduce the risk of running out of power by doubling the battery pack storage capacity to average things out.

___________

During fire season / August - Sept - it is still very hot but the ability to collect solar drops dramatically. Newsom and his go green team found this out the hard way a few years ago when when the grid was nearly crashed from all of the smoke.

Anyway, during that season, solar power generation will drop 75% or more, so just plan on it.

________________

This is a personal thing - I am not completely comfortable with the idea of brand new DIYers messing around with 200 volt solar arrays. Obviously people are doing it successfully.

 

[JJJJ]

I purchased the Rich Solar panels for a small project in the past. I was a bit disappointed in their output. Perhaps someone else has had a better experience.

 

[helloterran]

I will just throw out some ideas to kick around.

__________________

For van solar systems in CA (panels facing up ) , an (overly ) simplistic estimate that I use is:

( solar array watts rating ) x (50% ) x ( 6 hrs / day) is ~ approximately .

( 1 000 watts ) x ( 50% ) x ( 6 hrs / day ) ~ 3 kW-hrs This is a bit conservative

Of course this will vary from location - so near the coast there is less sunlight but it is also cooler so you need less cooling power.

A very common van power system that I build is:
- 400 watts of solar
- same battery storage capacity as you mention ( 4 x 100 amp-hrs / 48 volt )
- Fridge running constantly
- Inverter running often. In some locations constantly
- Normal van vacation type loads for cooking, etc.

That works very well.

Will 600 extra watts of solar keep up with 4 hrs of air conditioning every day? Perhaps some days but not every day, so make sure that you have an additional way to charge.

___________

Keep in mind that the peak temperature of the day is 2 - 6 pm and your solar power generation on top of a van / trailer tends to be 10 - 3 pm. So your ability to make up for that air conditioning load using solar - that same day - are limited. In essence you are using power that was collected just hours before it is needed.

You can reduce the risk of running out of power by doubling the battery pack storage capacity to average things out.

___________

During fire season / August - Sept - it is still very hot but the ability to collect solar drops dramatically. Newsom and his go green team found this out the hard way a few years ago when when the grid was nearly crashed from all of the smoke.

Anyway, during that season, solar power generation will drop 75% or more, so just plan on it.

________________

This is a personal thing - I am not completely comfortable with the idea of brand new DIYers messing around with 200 volt solar arrays. Obviously people are doing it successfully.

I'll throw 2 dps here: for my 600w Newpowa panels I get ~380w in May Sacramento and ~490w(limited by my EB240) July Yellowstone.

I'd expect places like Yosemite or Tahoe to have just slightly lower solar energy per sqft as Yellowstone, and much higher than Sac.

 

[HarryN]

I'll throw 2 dps here: for my 600w Newpowa panels I get ~380w in May Sacramento and ~490w(limited by my EB240) July Yellowstone.

I'd expect places like Yosemite or Tahoe to have just slightly lower solar energy per sqft as Yellowstone, and much higher than Sac.

Thanks - roughly how many kW-hrs per day are you able to collect?

 

[CargoCamping]

I purchased the Rich Solar panels for a small project in the past. I was a bit disappointed in their output. Perhaps someone else has had a better experience.

For my roof these panels are the best fit I have found so far, other panel brands and sizes only allow for 600-900 watts. I will look so more to see if there are any others that might fit as well. Thank you for sharing your experience with these panels, it is helpful.

 

[borednerds]

What is the Voc and Vmp of the panels? I had the EG4 AIO for my camper, but let it go because you need a minimum of 150v from the panels. Also, note that the EG4 AIO has an idle draw around 60w, so 1.44kw/day, unless you put it in "sen" (sensor) mode. This will save you some watts, but it makes everything attached to it blip when it sends out a little sensing power.

 

[borednerds]

What is the Voc and Vmp of the panels? I had the EG4 AIO for my camper, but let it go because you need a minimum of 150v from the panels. Also, note that the EG4 AIO has an idle draw around 60w, so 1.44kw/day, unless you put it in "sen" (sensor) mode. This will save you some watts, but it makes everything attached to it blip when it sends out a little sensing power.

 

[CargoCamping]

What is the Voc and Vmp of the panels? I had the EG4 AIO for my camper, but let it go because you need a minimum of 150v from the panels. Also, note that the EG4 AIO has an idle draw around 60w, so 1.44kw/day, unless you put it in "sen" (sensor) mode. This will save you some watts, but it makes everything attached to it blip when it sends out a little sensing power.

Voc: 22.8V
Vmp:18.6V