diy solar

diy solar

I want to power my 5th wheel with solar

Firetodd

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Arvada, CO
So after watching a million of Will’s video, and sick of using generators non stop for camping, I’m going to go all in on a solar solution. My family has a place at a lake and we live most of every summer at the lake. So we use a generator for about an hour or three every day....

I want to be able to use solar primarily but have the ability to have a transfer switch to generator if needed and to power all my outlets.

I’m thinking of getting a 3kw 24 volt Growatt all in one with 1000 watts of panels and 400 ah of battleborn batteries. Is it as easy as routing the shore power cord from the camper to the input of the growatt, and then outputting the inverter output to the panel feed?
 
So after watching a million of Will’s video, and sick of using generators non stop for camping, I’m going to go all in on a solar solution. My family has a place at a lake and we live most of every summer at the lake. So we use a generator for about an hour or three every day....

I want to be able to use solar primarily but have the ability to have a transfer switch to generator if needed and to power all my outlets.

I’m thinking of getting a 3kw 24 volt Growatt all in one with 1000 watts of panels and 400 ah of battleborn batteries. Is it as easy as routing the shore power cord from the camper to the input of the growatt, and then outputting the inverter output to the panel feed?
This Solar system and batteries would be separate from the 12 volt system in the 5th wheel and in a compartment.
 
Growatt is a light duty unit. It has very little surge capacity and may be disappointing. I'm assuming you don't want to run the A/C as it's unlikely to be able to run a standard rooftop unit.

1000W of panels should produce 4-5kWh of juice per day assuming 4-5 hours of irradiance AND optimal positioning, i.e., facing south with a proper tilt angle and no shading. Shading can destroy panel output. Link #5 in my signature will tell you how many hours of full-power charging you can get per day.

400Ah @ 24V? 9.6kWh is pretty respectable.

That's about the same as running a 4-5kW generator for 1 hour AT full load.

You could have the OUTPUT of the Growatt wired to a 30A receptacle and plug your 50A plug into it with a 30A adapter, thus plugging into your inverter would be like plugging into shore power.

I power 2X RVs via a 4kW Victron and 3kW of panels. Our unit can power two A/C units during peak charging, or it can run 1 several hours per day.
 
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Thank you for replying! My system would have to be mobile, so that why I thought I could just route the existing power cord wire away from the panel and to the input of the Growatt.

if the Growatt isnt robust enough, would a Victron multiplus be a better option?
 
I'm a huge fan of Victron, but they are spendy. I have the Quattro. Multiplus is limited to 3kW in the 120V/60Hz range. Originally, I had my charge controller/inverter in the same bay as my transfer switch/converter and just strung the panel wires in from their ground mounted location as needed.

I don't follow you on the routing.
 
Sorry I’m not clear in my description. I’m thinking of taking the power cord wire inside of the RV that connects the shore power to the RV panel and instead hooking it up to the input of the all in one unit. The all in one unit will also be hooked to the batteries and panels. Then taking the inverter output of the all in one panel and hooking it up to the RV panel ac input.

im thinking this will be an easy swap to power all my outlets while also working as a transfer switch should I hook up a generator.
 
Okay. You have to plug your umbilical into your generator, so:

Genny ---------- Inverter ----------- AC panel.

Yes, that would work, but that seems to make the system very non-mobile. It becomes permanently wired in, but it's a very viable solution. I was nearly there on my recommendation with Victron. Multiplus can supplement incoming AC power, with inverter power (battery/solar).

 
I’m sorry when I said mobile, I meant that the 5th wheel is mobile and not plugged into a fixed location (like a power shed). I’ll check out the Victron. But is the concept correct? Either the Victron or the Growatt will work in that fashion?
 
Yes. The Growatt will have you limited to its power specs in all cases meaning even when running the genny, you likely wouldn't be able to start the A/C unit without a soft starter installed.

My initial solution is still mobile. You'd have your power system installed in the trailer, and you would simply plug your umbilical into it or the generator as you needed. Very simple, and it removes any restrictions of trying to run either true shore power or the generator through the inverter.

Your transfer switch would be your manual plug. :)
 
I would think that the easiest thing to do would be to run the output from the automatic transfer switch into whatever all-in-one unit is purchased. Last time I checked, the output from my ATS is simply a 12-3 wire going into the trailer's circuit breaker box.
 
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