Is this a good setup from Renogy?

[pterrydactyl]

The link below is to a “kit” that they are selling. I’m a complete novice and want to add this “kit” to my travel trailer. My watt useage audit indicates this is more than adequate for my drycamping use for 3-4 days. I would add either two 12 volt 100 amp batteries or one 200 amp Lifepo battery. What say you? (I am not affiliated with anyone or advertising for them.)

New 400 Watt 12 Volt Solar Premium Kit W/MPPT or REGO Solar Charge Controller

4* 100W Eclipse Monocrystalline Solar Panels totaling 400 Watt, 1* 40 Amp MPPT Charge Controller, 2* 20' Solar Extension Cables, 1* Solar Adapter Kit 9'' in length, and 4 Sets of Z brackets for Mounting

www.renogy.com

 

[azb]

The link below is to a “kit” that they are selling. I’m a complete novice and want to add this “kit” to my travel trailer. My watt useage audit indicates this is more than adequate for my drycamping use for 3-4 days. I would add either two 12 volt 100 amp batteries or one 200 amp Lifepo battery. What say you? (I am not affiliated with anyone or advertising for them.)

New 400 Watt 12 Volt Solar Premium Kit W/MPPT or REGO Solar Charge Controller

4* 100W Eclipse Monocrystalline Solar Panels totaling 400 Watt, 1* 40 Amp MPPT Charge Controller, 2* 20' Solar Extension Cables, 1* Solar Adapter Kit 9'' in length, and 4 Sets of Z brackets for Mounting

www.renogy.com

Looks like a solid starter kit for a small rv and 200ah of batteries. Price is not groundbreaking, but it is good.

 

[MichaelK]

I'd say no. Yes, Renogy components will work, but you will pay more than if you purchased other components elsewhere. I built my cabin system from a Renogy "kit". Now that I know better, I could have created a better system for significantly less money.

Shop on Craigslist for panels. Go to Costco and pick up some of their golf-cart batteries. Get an Epever 50A charge controller.
2 250W panels, 110$
2 GC batteries, 200$
50A Epever, 250$
wiring, fuses, ect, 40$
600$ total

 

[chrisski]

Before jumping on this, just realize what the kit won't include, like panel mounts, wiring., etc...

THese prices add up. I spent $50 on nuts, bolts and washers just for the panels. Also have to figure panel placement and whether 4 in series, 4 in parallel, or 2S2P.

Also really need an energy audit to see how big a system you need. There's a rule of thumb I heard where 2 golf cart batteries is good for boondocking and 400 watts of panels is plenty. That works for me until I need to turn the propane heater on during a cold night and the DC blower fan is on most of the night, and I know its a cloudy day the next day and my batteries won't be charged. Basically in that case after calculations I ended up with 1000 watts of panels and 4 golf cart batteries.

Really have to plan for cloudy days and comfort.

 

[HRTKD]

Look at the plans in the Blueprints link below. I started with one of those plans and built up my system from there.

Mobile Solar Power: Made Easy! DIY Off-grid Solar Power!

Building a vehicle mounted solar power system? Let me help.

www.mobile-solarpower.com

As chrisski said above, it's the minor supplies that are challenging. All the little things added up and took time. I tried to get everything together before I started but it was two steps forward, one step backward. Quite a few things I didn't realize I needed, some things were on backorder, some were just plain slow to ship. Get yourself plenty of lugs (aka ring terminals) if you are going to make your own cables. I chose to make my own and I'm glad that I did. My plans weren't as close to actual as I would have liked. For example an estimate of 32' of PV wire turned out to be 42' when I got to running the wire. Premade cables would have been a disaster. Lugs need to be correct for both the wire size (10, 6, 2/0 awg, etc) and for the stud that they are going on (3/8", 5/16", 1/4", etc).

My trailer started out with two 6v GC batteries with 225 Ah of lead acid capacity (~112Ah usable). I now have 560Ah of LiFePO4, almost 100% usable but I'll keep to no more than about 60%. No more voltage anxiety for me!

 

[pterrydactyl]

Before jumping on this, just realize what the kit won't include, like panel mounts, wiring., etc...

THese prices add up. I spent $50 on nuts, bolts and washers just for the panels. Also have to figure panel placement and whether 4 in series, 4 in parallel, or 2S2P.

Also really need an energy audit to see how big a system you need. There's a rule of thumb I heard where 2 golf cart batteries is good for boondocking and 400 watts of panels is plenty. That works for me until I need to turn the propane heater on during a cold night and the DC blower fan is on most of the night, and I know its a cloudy day the next day and my batteries won't be charged. Basically in that case after calculations I ended up with 1000 watts of panels and 4 golf cart batteries.

Really have to plan for cloudy days and comfort.

Thank you for your input. Energy audit is done and am sticking to 400 watts. No ALF batteries as I will use LiFePo batteries as I described above.

 

[pterrydactyl]

Before jumping on this, just realize what the kit won't include, like panel mounts, wiring., etc...

THese prices add up. I spent $50 on nuts, bolts and washers just for the panels. Also have to figure panel placement and whether 4 in series, 4 in parallel, or 2S2P.

Also really need an energy audit to see how big a system you need. There's a rule of thumb I heard where 2 golf cart batteries is good for boondocking and 400 watts of panels is plenty. That works for me until I need to turn the propane heater on during a cold night and the DC blower fan is on most of the night, and I know its a cloudy day the next day and my batteries won't be charged. Basically in that case after calculations I ended up with 1000 watts of panels and 4 golf cart batteries.

Really have to plan for cloudy days and comfort.

Thanks for your input.I’ll add the insidentials into my “Also Need” list. I’m planning 2S2P for wiring.

 

[pterrydactyl]

Look at the plans in the Blueprints link below. I started with one of those plans and built up my system from there.

Mobile Solar Power: Made Easy! DIY Off-grid Solar Power!

Building a vehicle mounted solar power system? Let me help.

www.mobile-solarpower.com

As chrisski said above, it's the minor supplies that are challenging. All the little things added up and took time. I tried to get everything together before I started but it was two steps forward, one step backward. Quite a few things I didn't realize I needed, some things were on backorder, some were just plain slow to ship. Get yourself plenty of lugs (aka ring terminals) if you are going to make your own cables. I chose to make my own and I'm glad that I did. My plans weren't as close to actual as I would have liked. For example an estimate of 32' of PV wire turned out to be 42' when I got to running the wire. Premade cables would have been a disaster. Lugs need to be correct for both the wire size (10, 6, 2/0 awg, etc) and for the stud that they are going on (3/8", 5/16", 1/4", etc).

My trailer started out with two 6v GC batteries with 225 Ah of lead acid capacity (~112Ah usable). I now have 560Ah of LiFePO4, almost 100% usable but I'll keep to no more than about 60%. No more voltage anxiety for me!

I’ll probably position most/all the components and then wire it up. Will use the right size wire and lugs as amperage and post size requires. Definitely going with LiFePO 200 A battery.

 

[JeepDaddy]

I'm not a big fan of the Renogy charge controllers. They have basically given up on supporting their bluetooth app. I do have a Renogy 160W flex panel that I like. I keep it portable so it doesn't get stuck in the shadows if the RV is in the shade.

Also consider the 280AH LFP cells if you are going to DIY your battery. It's more AH/$$ than 200AH cells.

 

[rickst29]

You can do WAY better than that, but first start with how much power you "need" to use when it's cloudy. Derive the size of your battery bank from that, and then size your Solar to match your batteries. 200Ah of LFP deserves, IMO, better stuff than Renogy sells. For multiple-cloudy days in a row: Will you have a generator, or must your charge from the TV only?

 

[pterrydactyl]

The solar system is for my 28’ TT and is 30 Amps. A small generator is under consideration as is a 20 or 40 Amp dc to dc charger. I also have a 39’ fiver to setup and the dc to dc charger will be useful for it. This is stuff I’m considering to do for the fiver later. Right now it’s only for the TT.

 

[pterrydactyl]

As I see about following Will diagrams from his book I’m attempting to build a system myself also. I find larger panels available (watts)and can get more wattage with only 2 or 3 panels. If I go this route I’ll have to reconfigure what controller and other items I’ll need. Being flexible.

 

[HRTKD]

Fewer panels means a quicker install on the roof and fewer connections. Odd numbers of panels means you can't put them in parallel and you'll have to go series.

 

[rickst29]

The solar system is for my 28’ TT and is 30 Amps. A small generator is under consideration as is a 20 or 40 Amp dc to dc charger. I also have a 39’ fiver to setup and the dc to dc charger will be useful for it. This is stuff I’m considering to do for the fiver later. Right now it’s only for the TT.

"terry", a 30A dc-to-dc charger would definitely over-run the current-handling ability of the Bargman Cable, you'd need a separate wire pair (8-AWG or bigger) for that. I agree with others that 400w Solar seems a bit small for your battery setup. My own "Charge from the TV" is complicated to install within the Tow Vehicle, but costs less than a normal DC->DC charger. And more important, by raising the Bargman Voltage up to 36.0V, it cuts the current on that cable by a factor of about 3x - allowing the regular cable to be used, without adding another. My roughly 440W maximum charging power configuration (from MMPT into the LFP batteries) only pulls 13A from the Bargman "Trailer Battery Charge", and the common Bargman "ground return" wire carries the same current. Full details with in the Thread over here (I should probably make a separate Thread about my implementation, under a suitable title of my own). 3 posts beginning with this one: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/1...epo4-via-7pin-trailer-cable.20623/post-241795

But you can ignore the extremely complicated diagram in post #2 (which involves breakaways, a refrigerator, a DC distribution panel). The photo shows my own 2-ralay installation, although a 3rd relay is required when you want Trailer Battery Charge 'TBC' to connect with the "12v" side when it's being towed by a normal TV, at "normal" Voltage. My own TT is never towed by anyone else -- and my TV "virtual solar panel" puts out more power, all the time, than my "500w" genuine Solar Array does (except very near solar noon, at high altitude, on a cloudless day).