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diy solar

Hybrid Grid-Tie/ Storage Home & RV Solar System

DIY-SolarMan

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Joined
Mar 25, 2022
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Hey There! I'm looking to DIY a Hybrid system for my Home and have our RV / Veterinary Ambulance set up with a few additional solar panels AND for it to house the storage batteries for the van power but also could back up the house incase of a grid down situation. I would love any advice on how to make this happen. Hopefully building this system will eventually be saving some real cash for my Electric bill, and doing my part for the Green Economy.

It seems the Solar companies (Installation types & Suppliers) want nothing to do with helping me set up a system like this for liability reasons maybe. To me as an electrician i believe anything can be done safely. With the correct connection devices and proper monitoring electronics, i do believe there is way to safely make this Converted Van to an Off grid power station for my home.

If anyone knows of any threads here relating to something like this please let me know. Thanks Guys.
 
This can be cost-effective with DIY labor, IF you want to devote your own labor to the project and count that as free labor. Fabricating some of your own parts can also increase cost-effectiveness; especially building up your own Lithium batteries out of raw prismatic cells. There are MANY threads here devoted to that.

Technically, there is no reason why what you describe isn't possible. However, It can probably never be cost-effective to have a commercial company install something like this.

As far as pointing to some specific threads to accomplish exactly this, I doubt you will find any. But you will find MANY different threads that will contain all manner of relevant information. There are many threads on RV solar around here. Just do a search and start reading.

Your general plan isn’t very clear to me, and perhaps this unclarity has limited responses to your question. Are you wanting to house ALL of your storage batteries in the RV, or only part? Are you planing to install solar panels on the RV, AND fixed panels at home? And there are lots of questions to be asked/answered about your electrical load In different scenarios.

BTW, your post title mentions “grid tie”. It is mostly NOT possible to grid-tie a DIY system. Most electrical utilities will not allow that, for the safety of their personnel. Grid-tie usually means selling excess power to your electric company. If what you really mean is just powering your home distribution system in the event of grid power outage, that is often done by readers here. An RV-only system probably isn’t going to provide much power for home needs in event of power system failure; Enough to run some LED lamps, charge your phone and Tablet, and power a radio, but not much real load.

Ask some specific questions, if you care to, and lots of experienced readers will step up with answers.
 
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Hey There! I'm looking to DIY a Hybrid system for my Home and have our RV / Veterinary Ambulance set up with a few additional solar panels AND for it to house the storage batteries for the van power but also could back up the house incase of a grid down situation. I would love any advice on how to make this happen. Hopefully building this system will eventually be saving some real cash for my Electric bill, and doing my part for the Green Economy.

It seems the Solar companies (Installation types & Suppliers) want nothing to do with helping me set up a system like this for liability reasons maybe. To me as an electrician i believe anything can be done safely. With the correct connection devices and proper monitoring electronics, i do believe there is way to safely make this Converted Van to an Off grid power station for my home.

If anyone knows of any threads here relating to something like this please let me know. Thanks Guys.
This is kind of a special concept situation.
But, entirely doable. I have the same idea for my service truck. Truck and home will be stand alone systems. But either, can backup the other.
Home will have solar, battery, and grid available. Truck will have solar, battery, and generator available.
 
This can be cost-effective with DIY labor, IF you want to devote your own labor to the project and count that as free labor. Fabricating some of your own parts can also increase cost-effectiveness; especially building up your own Lithium batteries out of raw prismatic cells. There are MANY threads here devoted to that.

Technically, there is no reason why what you describe isn't possible. However, It can probably never be cost-effective to have a commercial company install something like this.

As far as pointing to some specific threads to accomplish exactly this, I doubt you will find any. But you will find MANY different threads that will contain all manner of relevant information. There are many threads on RV solar around here. Just do a search and start reading.

Your general plan isn’t very clear to me, and perhaps this unclarity has limited responses to your question. Are you wanting to house ALL of your storage batteries in the RV, or only part? Are you planning to install solar panels on the RV, AND fixed panels at home? And there are lots of questions to be asked/answered about your electrical load In different scenarios.

BTW, your post title mentions “grid tie”. It is mostly NOT possible to grid-tie a DIY system. Most electrical utilities will not allow that, for the safety of their personnel. Grid-tie usually means selling excess power to your electric company. If what you really mean is just powering your home distribution system in the event of grid power outage, that is often done by readers here. An RV-only system probably isn’t going to provide much power for home needs in event of power system failure; Enough to run some LED lamps, charge your phone and Tablet, and power a radio, but not much real load.

Ask some specific questions, if you care to, and lots of experienced readers will step up with answers.
Hey Thanks for responding Yeah I think maybe grid tie really would not be required if we have a battery back up system. I don't think there would be a point i would be producing enough power to "Sell Back" to the grid anyway.

I do want a separate system for the Van and the home. Maybe with some batteries in the van and some in the home... But i think most home systems are 48 Volt which i would have to have a DC converter on the van to go to 12V for any RV type appliances if i were to interconnect these two systems... I am surprised that most RVers are not doing this or simply just have separate systems i guess.
 
This is kind of a special concept situation.
But, entirely doable. I have the same idea for my service truck. Truck and home will be stand alone systems. But either, can backup the other.
Home will have solar, battery, and grid available. Truck will have solar, battery, and generator available.
Exactly. And would take advantage of the Fed & State Credit for the equipment. If you have any build ideas and Sources, please share them here this would be a good starter thread for others who may want to try this. Especially people with EV cars which could be a great source for back up power with bi-directional type charging system could in fact power their homes in an outage
 
Exactly. And would take advantage of the Fed & State Credit for the equipment. If you have any build ideas and Sources, please share them here this would be a good starter thread for others who may want to try this. Especially people with EV cars which could be a great source for back up power with bi-directional type charging system could in fact power their homes in an outage
Still just in the planning stages.
Deye inverters for both systems, with a single cord (AC coupled) between the two.
3kw solar, battery bank and engine powered generator, on the truck.
25kw solar, battery bank and grid backup, on the house.
 
Still just in the planning stages.
Deye inverters for both systems, with a single cord (AC coupled) between the two.
3kw solar, battery bank and engine powered generator, on the truck.
25kw solar, battery bank and grid backup, on the house.
Geeze 25KW on the house that is a pretty Big System. I am looking to make at least 15KW on the house with Grid tie and generator backup But as i mentioned to have battery back up in the van which i'm just not sure how to tie the two together to make it one system if needed
 
It could be done, cheaper.
With two off grid inverters, if you only need to send power from the van to the house.
Of you could go both ways, with a couple of transfer switches.
 
A transfer switch, allows you to choose where your power comes from.
At the house, it would choose grid or van.
And actually, you wouldn't need it at the van.
You can just set up input and output connections on both. Then just flip the cord around, depending on which way you want to send power.
 
I've been thinking about this too. My RV (parked in my driveway) generates solar power that is unused when at home. I already have a 30 amp manual transfer switch installed for my house -- I can select which circuits get power from a 3500w (30 amp) portable generator during power outages. My RV soon will have a 2200W (18 amp) inverter powered by two SOK 206ah batteries (in parallel). Is there any reason I can't use a short 5-15P to L5-30R adapter, along with my 30 amp shore power extension cord, to connect one of my RV's 15 amp circuits to the house's manual transfer switch power inlet box? Then I could run one 15 amp house circuit from my RV's solar power (instead of from the grid). I could pick a house circuit that matches my RV's solar power production so I don't overtax the batteries. I also like the idea of having a second backup power option beyond my generator (in case gas isn't available).
 
I put a 48 v AIO Inverter in my travel trailer and 5k of lithium batteries it functions as a solar generator for my camper. Nothing essential in my hous runs on 220 so if I need to I can run anything we want one at a time with a cord. Because the AIO is functioning as a solar generator the camper’s electrical system is in a stock configuration except for an upgraded converter/charger that so I can charge an accompanying also upgraded lithium house battery. Shore power comes in directly to the AIO then from the AIO to the shore power input of the camper. The downside to this is that I loose efficiency by inverting dc to ac and then converting ac to dc for the camper’s 12v house system. When we had a fla battery for the house system the inefficiency of the double conversion was obvious now that the house battery is lithium I really would have to crunch numbers to notice the losses. I also charge the house battery directly from solar so much of the time when we are camping I don’t even have the converter/charger switched on. Using a camper as a solar generator seems feasible to me. In many situations it would be adequate to meet your needs how many of your wants it could handle depends on how much convenience tax you are willing and able to pay. We like to camp so if we have an extended power outage in spring through fall we probably will just use it as an excuse to go camping. Even if it’s just in the driveway.
 
I put a 48 v AIO Inverter in my travel trailer and 5k of lithium batteries it functions as a solar generator for my camper. Nothing essential in my hous runs on 220 so if I need to I can run anything we want one at a time with a cord. Because the AIO is functioning as a solar generator the camper’s electrical system is in a stock configuration except for an upgraded converter/charger that so I can charge an accompanying also upgraded lithium house battery. Shore power comes in directly to the AIO then from the AIO to the shore power input of the camper. The downside to this is that I loose efficiency by inverting dc to ac and then converting ac to dc for the camper’s 12v house system. When we had a fla battery for the house system the inefficiency of the double conversion was obvious now that the house battery is lithium I really would have to crunch numbers to notice the losses. I also charge the house battery directly from solar so much of the time when we are camping I don’t even have the converter/charger switched on. Using a camper as a solar generator seems feasible to me. In many situations it would be adequate to meet your needs how many of your wants it could handle depends on how much convenience tax you are willing and able to pay. We like to camp so if we have an extended power outage in spring through fall we probably will just use it as an excuse to go camping. Even if it’s just in the driveway.
Hey Bud so what is an AIO Inverter? a Brand?
 
Trying to figure how I can do this... I was going to use a Sol-Ark 15KW for the house and 5KW for the house but they have to be grounded to the electrical system which that wont work for the Van.. I need it to stand alone in the van while able to link back up to the 15KW for extra power.
The guys at Unbound solar has Outback and Victron for Mobile installs which i am familiar with the brands. Just not sure how to possible link them if i can. I gotta get back on the phone with them... :unsure:
 
Hey Bud so what is an AIO Inverter? a Brand?
AIO stands for all in one the inverter has a uninterruptible power supply style automatic transfer switch coupled with a ac to dc charger a solar charge controller and inverter all together in one unit. You connect ac in and ac out from the inverter your batteries and solar panels and you are in business. These units are designed for situations where the grid is unstable so the transfer from pass through grid power to battery/inverter power is instantaneous. Their are many companies that make AIO units mpp, growatt, Powmr just to name a few. Different brands and models offer different attributes so it takes a bit of research to get the best fit for you. If a AIO fits your needs properly it will be a fraction of the cost of buying the parts separately.
 
AIO stands for all in one the inverter has a uninterruptible power supply style automatic transfer switch coupled with a ac to dc charger a solar charge controller and inverter all together in one unit. You connect ac in and ac out from the inverter your batteries and solar panels and you are in business. These units are designed for situations where the grid is unstable so the transfer from pass through grid power to battery/inverter power is instantaneous. Their are many companies that make AIO units mpp, growatt, Powmr just to name a few. Different brands and models offer different attributes so it takes a bit of research to get the best fit for you. If a AIO fits your needs properly it will be a fraction of the cost of buying the parts separately.
Got it! SMDH... Ok :) So the Sol-Ark 15kw AIO have been looking at for the house & their smallest 8 K for the Van. BUT their is not adaptable to mobile units. These units require Bonding and Grounding to the Grid System. I need to relook at this maybe with say a 5-6KW Victron if somehow I can parallel the two inverters to add to the house production if required. I just want all in one ease of wiring and as compact as possible. Look like Eco Flow makes a nice AIO here https://www.ecoflow.com/us/ecoflow-power-kits Not out till July I think. I want to see what these will go for $ and if can take the input of a 15KW Solar system... and dish it out. Looks neat and sleek.
 
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