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Marvin Braun, owner of Precision RV, is an RVIA/RVDA Master Licensed Recreational Vehicle Technician and a full-time RVer. He and his other half live with and utilize solar power daily. Marvin maintains up with the newest innovation, consisting of crossbreed inverters and lithium battery systems. He installs systems on all classes of Recreational vehicles consisting of recreational vehicle, fifth wheels, traveling trailers, Airstreams and more.
Do the best workmanship feasible. Offer client education and learning on treatment and maintenance of their brand-new solar setup. Offer the best quality parts in the sector.
Prior to April of 2018, our only boondocking experience in the first 20 months of taking a trip the country in our recreational vehicle, was 3 nights at a state park in Rhode Island, and one evening at a vehicle stop auto parking lot in Laramie Wyoming. The weekend break spent in George Washington State Park near Divine Superintendence Rhode Island was invested outside, playing in a lake, delighting in the cozy summertime weather, and our only electrical needs were for the lights.
The furnace draws a whole lot of energy, and running all evening would certainly eliminate any kind of single 12v battery in an issue of hours. That had not been the minute we made a decision to obtain even more batteries or anything like that, it was just our only experience with outdoor camping off grid for any type of amount of time with our Cyclone.
Windy Nation appeared to have the market cornered on Amazon recreational vehicle Solar, so I went with them. To obtain the power out of the batteries, I added 2 standalone outlets straight to the inverter, one in the kitchen area for our Immediate Pot, and the various other in a very easy area to accessibility for billing and whatever else we required it for.
Although the sun never ever embeds in Alaska, we definitely dealt with the 3 panels on the roofing given that it was overcast and over cast most of the time. Luckily we can charge the batteries a few various methods: Photovoltaic panel, when the sun happen to be out Alternator, when the motorhome's engine was running With the aboard generator We took a trip in the Summer season House from April 15th to August 25th and in those 4 months I most definitely found out a whole lot concerning powering a recreational vehicle solar off the grid.
Perhaps an extra battery (and much better batteries), an additional panel or 2, and be extra conscious of the size and length of circuitry I used for the different connections throughout the system. Overall it was a great inexpensive option that worked. The main takeaway from that experience was we did NOT wish to hinge on 2 separated outlets; we desired our motor home to work the very same whether it was connected in or otherwise.
I was looking into panels, inverters, inverter/chargers, cost controllers, batteries, wiring, breakers, battery screens, etc. There is a wealth of information out there, yet it was all in some international language that talked in terms of watts, ohms, volts, amps, scale circuitry, hybrid, assist, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and the checklist goes on and on!
Yet we have the ability very swiftly to use a great deal of electrical power. When analyzing the process, and what we intended to accomplish with the system, I kept assuming back to our solar mission statement from the Summertime House, we desired our recreational vehicle to operate the exact same whether it was connected in or not! My disclaimer: I am wonderful with DC electrical systems, yet know only enough regarding air conditioning systems to be harmful.
This blog site is NOT suggested to be an absolute source for powering your motor home, however more to record our build and trip to being energy independent. I pointed out above, our 40' toy hauler 5th wheel came from the factory with a single 12 volt battery. We had actually replaced it in the previous year, and truthfully hadn't really used it for much since we were always connected in.
Keeping that being stated, our 50 amp recreational vehicle has 2 x 120-volt hotlines entering into the recreational vehicle's primary air conditioner distribution panel. They are separated right into 2 "lines", Line 1 and Line 2. Line 1 is the primary section of the panel. It feeds 120 volts of a/c to the vital circuits of the motor home.
Victron Multiplus Inverter/Charger Many of the installs that I was complying with, all appeared to circle back to a number of different manufacturers, Magnum and Victron appeared to be leading the method. Several of my pals were making use of Victron components with a great deal of success and full marks, so I picked their equipment for the core of the system.
But we will certainly reach that later! Fortunate for me, a buddy of ours is a Victron Supplier, and I was able to get a bargain on the meat and potatoes of the system. 2 x Victron 12/3000/120 -50 Multiplus Inverter/Chargers These are true sine wave inverter/chargers, and fill in the existing converter battery charger already in the recreational vehicle.
Space was a premium up there, and the inverters had details air space demands. The Generator has a sheet steel shadow dividing it from the remainder of the compartment, so I chose to reduce that shroud down 6" to get the extra area I required. I reduced around the shroud, dropped it down, and placed pop rivets to hold it in location.
According to the Victron Manual, the inverters can be placed flat or vertically, so I opted to place them flat on their sides on the wall. In doing this, I fulfilled every one of the required air voids. The initial wall was only" fragment board, so to support the 70lbs that each of the inverters evaluate, I added an item of" plywood across the back of the wall surface behind them.
Because we are speaking planetary system, certainly we needed photovoltaic panels. There are various options out there for solar panels; in the end I selected to choose Constant Resources for a few various factors. First and leading was the price. These panels are $185 each shipped for 200 Watt Panels, and that is about as good a cost you will certainly discover for that dimension panel, brand-new and shipped to your door (or in our case Walgreens)! Next was reputation.
Among my good friends has one that was split throughout setup, and it still worked well! Something I suched as concerning the specific panels I opted for is that I can get the same specs in a square or rectangle-shaped panel. In the long run, I chose all rectangles, however had I wished to (or when I intend to) include even more panels, I can get the various shapes and make better use my roof covering room.
We hadn't tilted as soon as, and 1 collection of the turning brackets set you back greater than the total collection of the Z braces. I went budget plan on the placing braces. A good friend of mine that helped me mount most of the system showed me a wonderful means to place the panels.
We pierced pilot holes, put dicor in the red, screwed them down and afterwards covered the base of the brace and bordering roofing system with dicor. The eternabond tape gave it an added layer of water seal, and shielded the rubber from being tore if the metal Z brace took place to shake or move in any way.
It is necessary to have a strategy in area for the circuitry. When you begin dealing with reducing and crimping lugs onto the wires, it gets very expensive, and you do NOT wish to have to crimp, cut, and kink once again. That will certainly cost you $5 or more for each time you overestimate wire length and waste a cable lug.
Given that I was installing 2 inverters and 2 cost controllers, it was essential to keep those 2 systems different. I used red and blue wire tags to identify electrical wiring so I wouldn't obtain them perplexed. I also used the exact same red and blue stickers on the parts themselves to help maintain things straight.
Obtain on your own a good collection of cutters and a stripper for heavy gauge wiring. Hydraulic kinking device. I was lucky enough to have a close friend aiding me through many of the installment that had this crimping tool, and when he left, I struggled to find a crimping device to end up the project that didn't entail simply defeating the lugs with a hammer.
Invest the $50 on Amazon for the crimper. MC4 port crimper/tool package was likewise excellent to have. I obtained it off Amazon for less than $30, and it made making my connections in between the panels a lot easier. Digital Multi Meter. It doesn't have to be incredibly fancy, yet the capability to measure resistance/continuity and both air conditioner and DC voltage is very important.
From Home Depot I obtained a water-proof electric box concerning 8"x8"x6". I pierced 5 holes right into the box: 4 x Tiny openings, one each for wiring coming from the panels with weather condition proof fits to maintain the elements out 1" opening in the lower leading the wires with the roofing right into the wall surfaces of the Recreational vehicle Inside the box the 10 AWG cables from the panels were entwined onto 6 AWG wires for its trip with the Motor home to the solar fee controllers Victron parts all work very well with each other and share details.
In enhancement to all of this circuitry, the Inverters and the Battery monitor came with voltage sense and temperature level feeling wires that had actually to be linked to the battery bank as necessary. Allow's start with the solar circuit. I am running 6 x 200 watt panels configured right into 2 x 3 panel legs wired in collection.
I found it extra inexpensive to run 2 different smaller controllers than 1 larger controller with the ability of managing the quantity of power coming from the panels. Furthermore, because the 2 strings are running independent of each various other, if there is shade or absence of angle to the sun on 1 of the 2 strings, it will not hinder the energy production of the other string.
Keep in mind; when the panels are in sunlight, they are creating electricity, so I used the breaker in this placement to offer me the ability to separate them totally from the remainder of the system. From there the circuitry encounters the solar fee controllers in the front compartment near the battery bank.
Again the factor is to not only protect, yet to provide me a location to separate the system if need be. The last leg of electrical wiring in the solar circuit goes from the breaker right into the favorable and adverse busbars that are straight linked into the battery financial institution. Let's maintain opting for the DC (12 volt) system.
A DC system is a lot more comparable to the kind of electric system discovered in a car. The RV's 12 volt system has its very own security and control in position, so I did not modify it any means; I just powered it from the favorable and adverse busbars from the battery bank.
This component of the circuit can run exceptionally high amounts of electrical power depending on what you are powering, so this requires significant defense. From the Battery Bank, I ran huge 4/o electrical wiring right into a 400 amp fuse. This devastating failing fuse is meant to secure the electrical wiring between the inverters and the battery financial institution.
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