Solar Install Update 2016 International Serenity 25' FB

[wponder]

I wanted to try and consolidate the info from a few threads I started up. I also wanted to just say thanks for the incredible amount of useful information and helpful people here. There are two many people to thank. Lot's of DIYer's here who spend their time and effort just to help people. Also people like Lew who do this for a living but still go out of their way to help people, mostly for free. Thanks to all of you. We have got to meet some great people though this. Even a neighbor a block away on the same journey who has offered tons of info.

I hope this info helps someone else. I could just take what has been given to me but I feel I should share and pass on what has been shared with me. No guarantee this info is without error and I am sure there are better ways to do what I am doing.

In general, after months and months going over knowing we need to go solar we finally settled on a direction and are rapidly moving to get it going. I don't plan to dive into pro's and con's of components or why we picked what we picked. In many cases it came down to what we could get and when.

General Overview:

600ah Lithium from LifeBlue - It has built-in BMS and monitoring and is mostly a drop in solution. They will be wired parallel using 2/0

400 watts from 2 solar panels - I already have extra stuff so I am likely going to go ahead and buy a 3rd panel and go ahead and add it

250 watts of flexible portable panels - This is in the back of my mind still not 100% committed

100/85 Victron Controller - AMSolar helped a lot here. Is what it is. It's a beast

Inverter will stay the 1000 watt factory for now. It serves our needs.

Power Center will stay the same for now but we will leave the charger disconnected and not used. If we ever upgrade the inverter / charger we will go with Magnum MS2012 unless something changes

Wiring - Batteries will be 2/0 parallel. Roof run is 4 gauge duplex. Interconnecting wire will all be 4 gauge

We will post updates of each step as we go. Thanks again for everyones help and shared knowledge.

[wponder]

Yesterday I laid out the roof plan and got good feedback on deciding to punch a hole in the roof for the wiring. http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...ox-178426.html

I considered going out the Siphon 360 via access from the bathroom but ruled that out. As scary as it is cutting a hole in the roof. For a situation where the battery and brains are under the bed of a 25' front bed. Cutting a hole and going through the closet has always seemed the best path.

The 4/2 will run from the combiner box into the closet. Down the back of the closet behind the drawers over to the host water heater toward the storage access door. We will flush mount a on/off disconnect on the divider panel just inside the storage. From there, we will run though the existing wire management at the base of the storage door over to the divider panel on the opposite side of the storage where the charge controller will be.

We are using:

AMsolar Combiner Box
AMsolar 4/2 gauge duplex wire
Will cut with a 1" or 1 1/2" hole saw. Inside first
BlueSea on/off

[wponder]

Today I am mostly laying out where to put the charge controller, breaker, disconnect, batteries and how it will connect. Our batteries are not coming until Monday so we are kind-of in a holding pattern.

We are using:
2 - 300Ah Lifeblue Batteries
1 - Victron 150/85
1 - Blue Sea On/Off
1 - Blue Sea 100amp DC breaker
4 gauge wiring

[wponder]

I got my batteries today. I was able to get the minor modifications done needed to fit them under the bed. I also disconnected the original batteries, mounted everything, wired everything with new upgrade wire and was able to do a dry run and make sure everything worked. Everything did work as expected. I am still using the factory relay and disconnect switch. It works as expected when shore power is connected and when shore power is disconnected. Batteries either go into standby mode or drain as expected.

I think I need to make one change. I wired from the positive bus bar directly to the batteries. I installed a blue sea on/off for another easy way to disconnect the batteries and isolate them from the inverter. I think I need to move the positive bus bar wire to the input side of the blue sea.

Tomorrow I will set the panels, cut the hole and wire them for charging. Then tie up all the wiring.

Thanks

[J-Dog]

Are you going to wire your solar panels in series or parallel?

[wponder]

I am wiring them parallel

[wponder]

Today I cut a hole in the closet and through the roof and ran my 4/2 cable from my disconnect out to the roof and my combiner box. I set the panels and wired them up. These are the 200 watt panels from Brian. I will put 2 more in the rear once the B+ are available.

For the hole I opted for grommets to protect the cable from the sharp aluminum of the Airstream. The one on the roof I trimmed down so I got a more flush setting with my combiner box. Some people struggle with them popping out as you pull the wire. A little bit of dish soap on the grommet and wire then steady as you go worked just fine. I did not help which would make them not popping out also easier.

[J-Dog]

The installation is coming right along, looks neat and clean. What brand panels did you install? By your picture I can see they have 36cells each, are they 24volt or 12volt?

[wponder]

Thanks J-Dog. Just need to program the Victron tomorrow and tidy up and its done. They are 12v panels I am probably going to add 2 more to the back.

https://www.continuousresources.com/...5-busbar?aff=5

[wponder]

Everything is running right along. Setup the old 4 gauge wiring in the battery box for future portable panels and wired the jack to it. I did some quick tests to see how things were working.

I had to leave at 1:30pm. Sun conditions were as shown in the picture. I let the panels charge until I returned at 4:30pm. Around 3:00 we had full cloud cover set in. Batteries charged from 53% to 63%. Pretty good I think?

[J-Dog]

Looks like the plan came together nicely. Good job.

In 2016 I installed one 100 watt panel, and I thought that was good.
In 2017 I installed two more 100watt panels, and I thought that was good.

Something tells me by the time the end of 2018 rolls around, I may have more solar power.

The People need to be warned; solar panels are addictive.

[wponder]

Anyone know how to unwire the stock charger sitting in the bottom of the Parallax? I have not had a chance to look at it and sort out which wire is which.

Thanks