I have a fifth-wheel RV trailer my family is using as a semi-permanent home. We will not be traveling in it nor do we plan to move it any time soon. Stock, it has two 12v lead acid marine batteries and a gasoline generator. Next to the RV we have a 20' shipping container we are using for storage. My plan is to fill the top of the shipping container with solar panels and have the inverter, charge controller, battery, etc. inside the container. I've sized the solar system on the larger side with up to 5kw of pv (won't all fit on the container), up to 6kw inverters (3kw growatt x2), and a 10kwh 48v lifepo4 battery bank.
Finally, my question is, should I integrate the solar into the existing RV systems or keep things more modular and wire the solar to the RV "pretending" it is shore power. The RV expects a 4-wire, 50amp plug (split phase). I can't give it 12kw but I could still give it 6kw which is more than enough for our needs.
I like how clean the modular approach would be since the RV is not modified but it might be a waste of the generator since it wouldn't charge the solar batteries without additional wiring. Also, the RV 12v systems would be powered via AC instead of the more efficient 48v to 12v DC/DC conversion (maybe that doesn't really matter).
My last thought is that in a few years, we may build a small home or tiny home and would use this solar system for that instead of (or in addition to) the RV.
Finally, my question is, should I integrate the solar into the existing RV systems or keep things more modular and wire the solar to the RV "pretending" it is shore power. The RV expects a 4-wire, 50amp plug (split phase). I can't give it 12kw but I could still give it 6kw which is more than enough for our needs.
I like how clean the modular approach would be since the RV is not modified but it might be a waste of the generator since it wouldn't charge the solar batteries without additional wiring. Also, the RV 12v systems would be powered via AC instead of the more efficient 48v to 12v DC/DC conversion (maybe that doesn't really matter).
My last thought is that in a few years, we may build a small home or tiny home and would use this solar system for that instead of (or in addition to) the RV.