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Inverter/Charger - Obvious to someone just not obvious to me

PriusFan

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Joined
Aug 8, 2021
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I’ve got an inverter/shore charger combo and I’m trying to wrap my head around how to maximize solar usage from a separate mppt charger.

Obviously if my solar power is sufficient 24/7 I can simply leave the inverter/charger unplugged and rely only on solar to drive the inverter.

But when I plug the inverter/charger into shore power it immediately starts to charge the batteries at a minimum of 5 amps. That’s wasted energy if, for example, it’s close to sunrise.

On the flip side if the sun goes down, and the batteries are still near depleted, I may want the full 40 amps the charger can provide so I have backup for a power outage.

So how can I integrate these devices, preferably automatically, in order to maximize the use of solar rather than shore power?
 
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That's it, an on/ off switch. Even with my setup the few times that I'm on a power pole my charger is turned off and my solar is topping off the batteries and powering my misc 12v items and the 120v is passing through and powering the 5th wheel.
 
@PriusFan you could make drinking bird
drinking_bird.gif
with 1of these

and one of these

The smart battery protect turns the shore power on/off based on system voltage.
mains_power->iot_relay->inverter_charger
 
Or you could just sell the inverter/charger you have and get one with the "drinking bird" feature baked in.
It won't be calld "drinking bird" though.
Different brands call the feature by different names.
 
I do regret buying it. @smoothJoey could you point me in the direction of devices with drinking birds built in?

It appears the device in Will’s video would do it but it’s complete overkill for my needs.

It strikes me a strange that the revolution of being able to speak to, and automate, devices, through Alexa, IFTTT, google or whatever, seems to have left solar pretty untouched so far. I’ve got ac outlets that cost almost nothing that connect to wifi and will turn on or off depending on the local weather forecast. But finding an affordable DC monitor that even connects to wifi seems difficult despite the technology costing pennies for zillions of devices. @Ampster @butter_fry

IOT Relay looks cool! Sold out however.

 
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