Dustin Henderson
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2022
- Messages
- 32
What's the name or type of hardware that can be used to switch incoming PV between a SCC and charging a stand alone Power Station, and potentially an off setting? It is amazing to me that there seems to be one cheaply made dial transfer switch available for this purpose. Is that the only option?
Change Over Switch
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I have a modest trailer that I have installed typical 4x100 watt panels in a 2S2P configuration (~40V x ~10A). They are flat mounted, and subject to shading from things like the A/Cs. They feed a 100/40 MPPT SCC charging a simple 100AH LFP battery. That is it, there is no inverter in the equation. This keeps my battery topped up and allows me to run all my OEM 12v systems for many days, which is all I intended. I do have some portable panels I can deploy if needed. Typically I do not. Max Wattage I have seen is probably in the 280 W range. Not bad for periodically shaded flat mounted panels! As I said, plenty of juice to power the 12V system almost indefinitely.
I use small portable power stations on occasion to charge things like laptops, power Starlink, or run a Television. (I can even inefficiently charge the power stations from 12V receptacles if needed).
Since the price of larger All in One Portable Power Stations continues to decrease, and because this trailer will be with me only another 2 or 3 years, I am considering adding a more robust Power Station for "whole house" power to the trailer. Something on the order of a Bluetti AC200 or an EcoFlow Delta2 or even DeltaPro. In this way, I can power essentially all of the 120v in the trailer (excepting AC for more than a few minutes) but also remove it when the time comes. I could run the occasional microwave, or use an electric kettle for a moment. No inverter required. No additional robust wiring. No Bus Bars. No additional fuses. Just plug shore power in to the power station. And it is removable for home or other emergency use.
But the question is about charging the Power Station. Even some input from my modest 400W of panels would help extend the capacity of the Power Station. I am not under the impression 400W would provide indefinite use, but it could certainly provide a few hours of extra use each day.
1) I would verify before purchase, but it seems these Power Stations include an integrated charge controller so long as the input parameters are in spec, which mine surely would be. Is my concept plausible? I seem to be finding they accept solar charges typically around 1200W Max., VOC between 12-150VDC, and 15A current limit. My panels are well within these in current configuration. So the idea is a direct charge from the panels, bypassing my existing SCC.
2) What type of switch do I need to install on the incoming PV cables to be able to divert the charge between my existing SCC and instead some (Anderson or MC4 or XT60 or whatever) wiring that the Power Station will require. Currently I have a robust Circuit Breaker Switch which is more than adequate given my low voltage and amperage. I assume I would place some switch down line of this to direct the charge to either my battery or the power station. But what is the type of switch I am looking for?
Hope the rambling made sense.
Change Over Switch
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have a modest trailer that I have installed typical 4x100 watt panels in a 2S2P configuration (~40V x ~10A). They are flat mounted, and subject to shading from things like the A/Cs. They feed a 100/40 MPPT SCC charging a simple 100AH LFP battery. That is it, there is no inverter in the equation. This keeps my battery topped up and allows me to run all my OEM 12v systems for many days, which is all I intended. I do have some portable panels I can deploy if needed. Typically I do not. Max Wattage I have seen is probably in the 280 W range. Not bad for periodically shaded flat mounted panels! As I said, plenty of juice to power the 12V system almost indefinitely.
I use small portable power stations on occasion to charge things like laptops, power Starlink, or run a Television. (I can even inefficiently charge the power stations from 12V receptacles if needed).
Since the price of larger All in One Portable Power Stations continues to decrease, and because this trailer will be with me only another 2 or 3 years, I am considering adding a more robust Power Station for "whole house" power to the trailer. Something on the order of a Bluetti AC200 or an EcoFlow Delta2 or even DeltaPro. In this way, I can power essentially all of the 120v in the trailer (excepting AC for more than a few minutes) but also remove it when the time comes. I could run the occasional microwave, or use an electric kettle for a moment. No inverter required. No additional robust wiring. No Bus Bars. No additional fuses. Just plug shore power in to the power station. And it is removable for home or other emergency use.
But the question is about charging the Power Station. Even some input from my modest 400W of panels would help extend the capacity of the Power Station. I am not under the impression 400W would provide indefinite use, but it could certainly provide a few hours of extra use each day.
1) I would verify before purchase, but it seems these Power Stations include an integrated charge controller so long as the input parameters are in spec, which mine surely would be. Is my concept plausible? I seem to be finding they accept solar charges typically around 1200W Max., VOC between 12-150VDC, and 15A current limit. My panels are well within these in current configuration. So the idea is a direct charge from the panels, bypassing my existing SCC.
2) What type of switch do I need to install on the incoming PV cables to be able to divert the charge between my existing SCC and instead some (Anderson or MC4 or XT60 or whatever) wiring that the Power Station will require. Currently I have a robust Circuit Breaker Switch which is more than adequate given my low voltage and amperage. I assume I would place some switch down line of this to direct the charge to either my battery or the power station. But what is the type of switch I am looking for?
Hope the rambling made sense.
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