Newb starting on 5th wheel project

[BretS]

Getting started on solar for my 5th wheel to enable boondocking at times. I am doing this in two phases, with the battery bank, inverter/charger/DC-DC charger first, and then after that is all working good (and I save a bit more money), the panels and solar charger second. Wanted to run my basic plans by you all for input. Thanks in advance!!

- My 5th wheel currently has a factory 1200W inverter tied to only the residential fridge.
- I have a soft start to install on my 15K A/C.
- I have a 3400W dual fuel inverter generator.
- I have ordered twelve 3.2V 310aH cells to make a 930aH, 12V battery bank.



- Here is my basic idea for the system (except the bank above in place of the BBs, and Victron's new inverter in place of the Magnum)



- Here are the Victron components I am looking at so far:



- I need to figure out what to do for a BMS for that battery bank next. Also need to know what I need in order to balance and build the batteries... learning about all of that.

- Another question I had: Would it be a good idea to leave the 1200W inverter and residential fridge circuit in place and separate, and just connect the inverter to the new battery bank? I was thinking that would leave capacity on the new 3000W inverter for the A/C and other loads - and the wiring to the receptacle for the fridge is already separate. Let me know your thoughts on this.

Thanks again for any help!

 

[chrisski]

I think just once inverter would be fine, if you kleep two, that may cost you maybe 20 amp hours a day for idle consumption.

Need a realistic Power Audit, which worst case would be both Aor COndtioners running for the hottest day of the year you plan to be at.

A 50 amp RV plug is actually two 50 amp inntputs, basically one 50 amp In-N-Out to run each air conditioner. That’s a lot of power. There’s a bit of calculations that need to be done to Cool down with AC. 960 AH battery bank is huge, but I doubt would run two ACS in an RV for very long. In AZ we need AC at night. If AC is run off the 3400 W generator, that will help tremendously.

Also need to figure the panels. I have 1350 watts of panels in an ideal area, and I don’t think they;d charge 960 ah in a day. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, you may need twice that or more to get the same amount of power. If AC was running, I have maxed out at 79 Amps production, but that will not even keep up the amount a single AC unit would be taking. My microwave pulls 155 amps (about 2000 watts) from my batteries when I run it, and I think a running AC unit would pull about that much.

 

[BretS]

I think just once inverter would be fine, if you kleep two, that may cost you maybe 20 amp hours a day for idle consumption.

Need a realistic Power Audit, which worst case would be both Aor COndtioners running for the hottest day of the year you plan to be at.

A 50 amp RV plug is actually two 50 amp inntputs, basically one 50 amp In-N-Out to run each air conditioner. That’s a lot of power. There’s a bit of calculations that need to be done to Cool down with AC. 960 AH battery bank is huge, but I doubt would run two ACS in an RV for very long. In AZ we need AC at night. If AC is run off the 3400 W generator, that will help tremendously.

Also need to figure the panels. I have 1350 watts of panels in an ideal area, and I don’t think they;d charge 960 ah in a day. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, you may need twice that or more to get the same amount of power. If AC was running, I have maxed out at 79 Amps production, but that will not even keep up the amount a single AC unit would be taking. My microwave pulls 155 amps (about 2000 watts) from my batteries when I run it, and I think a running AC unit would pull about that much.

I didn't think about idle consumption for the factory inverter. Thanks!
I realize this won't run everything all of the time, and I will have the generator for augmenting. We don't usually use our second A/C, but if I find we use it more, I will install a second soft start.
The nice thing about the new Victron hybrid inverter/charger is how it ties into the 50A system and automatically balances between battery and shore/generator. It is much like the Magnum hybrid that is on the plan, but it will work better with all of the other Victron components I have planned.