chriscappuccio
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2022
- Messages
- 78
I have a solar system that is situated in an RV. I took over the components from someone else.
The old system had three 325W 24v panels in parallel, plus a Solar Boost 50 amp MPPT Charger and a Magnum 2812 Inverter/Charger. It came with no power cable for the DC, so I bought some 4/0 and lugs (the 2812 can approach 250 amps)
First, the batteries. They are Sunxtender AGMs. These things were already basically dead and not holding much of any charge. They were completely junk within a month of usage. I configured 6 x 6v batteries in 12v series, 2s3p. I had them in an outside tote since I wasn't sure about lead acid outgassing inside of an RV. I've since learned that AGM shouldn't really have a problem since they only gas out under extreme conditions, but whatever, I had both the batteries and the chargers in Home Depot totes outside the RV. This configuration is roughly 600AH at 12v, but only if you are willing to cycle the lead acid batteries to 0% storage.
Now they are 4 X Amperetime 12v 200a with 200a BMS. I moved the setup to be completely inside the RV. I drilled two holes on the RV and put in PVC pipes in these holes to carry wires. I'm using 10AWG 10/3 SJO cable for the Inverter/Charger hookup to the RV itself, and same cable for a generator hookup. The solar panels use 3 X 8 AWG THHN wire for positive and another 3 X THHN for negative. I made the cables all equal length and paralleled them using these shitty aluminum ground bars from Home Depot. Works fabulously.
Since the 2812 is such a nice unit, I kept it. Very low idle draw and decent efficiency... But this caps my system at 12v, which is kind of a pain, but fine for now.
1000 watts of power at 12 volts is around 80 amps, so the Solar Boost 50 is a limitation. I replaced it with a Renogy 100amp MPPT since that can also easily go to 24v or 48v battery as needed. I'm already seeing charging up to almost 60 amps and the panels still need to be cleaned off!! They have a good layer of dirt on them.
To make the batteries work in parallel, I put cut equal length 4AWG welding wire for all of them and connected them along with the inverter and the mppt charger to these ground bars, which are now bus bars: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WQWJJ9T?psc=1
I also built a storage rack with 2x4 and plywood and hardy board for the chargers. It's big enough to hold two Amperetime batteries on each level and I can still add two more batteries and connect them to the bus bars in parallel at the same wire length that I already used. It's pretty nice.
The system runs really well in this summertime. With the panels a bit dirty from being in the desert with blowing dirt, and 50-60ft of my 3 wire parallel per polarity, they were hitting 773 watts last I checked at the Renogy charger. Kinda nice to see the panels working well.
The old system had three 325W 24v panels in parallel, plus a Solar Boost 50 amp MPPT Charger and a Magnum 2812 Inverter/Charger. It came with no power cable for the DC, so I bought some 4/0 and lugs (the 2812 can approach 250 amps)
First, the batteries. They are Sunxtender AGMs. These things were already basically dead and not holding much of any charge. They were completely junk within a month of usage. I configured 6 x 6v batteries in 12v series, 2s3p. I had them in an outside tote since I wasn't sure about lead acid outgassing inside of an RV. I've since learned that AGM shouldn't really have a problem since they only gas out under extreme conditions, but whatever, I had both the batteries and the chargers in Home Depot totes outside the RV. This configuration is roughly 600AH at 12v, but only if you are willing to cycle the lead acid batteries to 0% storage.
Now they are 4 X Amperetime 12v 200a with 200a BMS. I moved the setup to be completely inside the RV. I drilled two holes on the RV and put in PVC pipes in these holes to carry wires. I'm using 10AWG 10/3 SJO cable for the Inverter/Charger hookup to the RV itself, and same cable for a generator hookup. The solar panels use 3 X 8 AWG THHN wire for positive and another 3 X THHN for negative. I made the cables all equal length and paralleled them using these shitty aluminum ground bars from Home Depot. Works fabulously.
Since the 2812 is such a nice unit, I kept it. Very low idle draw and decent efficiency... But this caps my system at 12v, which is kind of a pain, but fine for now.
1000 watts of power at 12 volts is around 80 amps, so the Solar Boost 50 is a limitation. I replaced it with a Renogy 100amp MPPT since that can also easily go to 24v or 48v battery as needed. I'm already seeing charging up to almost 60 amps and the panels still need to be cleaned off!! They have a good layer of dirt on them.
To make the batteries work in parallel, I put cut equal length 4AWG welding wire for all of them and connected them along with the inverter and the mppt charger to these ground bars, which are now bus bars: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WQWJJ9T?psc=1
I also built a storage rack with 2x4 and plywood and hardy board for the chargers. It's big enough to hold two Amperetime batteries on each level and I can still add two more batteries and connect them to the bus bars in parallel at the same wire length that I already used. It's pretty nice.
The system runs really well in this summertime. With the panels a bit dirty from being in the desert with blowing dirt, and 50-60ft of my 3 wire parallel per polarity, they were hitting 773 watts last I checked at the Renogy charger. Kinda nice to see the panels working well.
