Solar Installer in Ontario?

[bbandeddie]

Hi all,
We have just brought our new-to-us ‘14 EB 27FB home and are preparing for our first winter escape from Ontario to the US SW. Destinations TBD.
We want to get solar, inverter and upgraded battery charging installed to facilitate boon docking and my wife's quilting obsession.
I've searched and searched and searched but have not been able to find any reference of RV solar installers in Ontario, let alone competent/knowledgeable installers of the nature of Lewster or Handy Bob.
I pretty much have my system designed in my head, and figure that I 'can' do the work myself IF it was all in a shed, but installing into the RV is doing my head in (that and my wife isn't confident I won't ruin her beauty)
Any recommendations?

[Adventure.AS]

Can-Am (the Airstream dealer in London) does solar.

[bbandeddie]

Originally Posted by Adventure.AS

Can-Am (the Airstream dealer in London) does solar.

Yes they do, however all their items for sale are gopower brand. Does anyone have experience with their installs to know if they are completed to the exacting standards of Lewster or Handy Bob?

[Roadroamin]

Had Marvin at Precision RV in Arizona install our system last winter, very professional and we have not hooked up to shore power since last Feb..
Took about 3 days and a couple of days of instructions and we were on our way. Personally I would not let the dealer install it.

[bbandeddie]

Thanks Roadroamin. I just read your post with your solar package. Sounds excellent. Would you do anything differently now that you've run it for most of the year or is it pretty much your ideal setup?

[Roadroamin]

I don't think we would do anything different, since we go north when the weather turns really warm we don't use our AC. Our fridge didn't work on propane for 2 days and we came very close to the 50% mark on the batteries. It would be nice to have more battery capacity for that reason (we have 440ah 220ah usable). We are going to store The Stream in Ontario this winter which we knew was coming when we installed the system so lithium was out of the question. We also have a hookup for one additional panel that will sit outside our storage unit and keep the batteries topped up over the winter. It is such a good feeling of being totally independent of hookups, if we just could carry double amount of freshwater..... but that is for another thread, lol

[Rust]

I just seen this and thought I would reply since I was just installing solar on my trailer.
What caught my attention besides solar,is that I grow up in Coldwater.
Maybe we could talk out some Ideas since I live close to Coldwater.

[bbandeddie]

Originally Posted by Rust

I just seen this and thought I would reply since I was just installing solar on my trailer.
What caught my attention besides solar,is that I grow up in Coldwater.
Maybe we could talk out some Ideas since I live close to Coldwater.

Hey that would be great. I'm by Horseshoe Valley.

[Roadroamin]

Keep us informed about your progress, interested in what solution you go with.

[bbandeddie]

For sure. My first steps are:
Replace charger/converter with 4655.
Install Trimetric
Install Bogart Solar Controller
Install 300W Morningstar Inverter
Replace batteries and move under the front bed.

With the inverter I'll replace the battery cabling to the negative bus and disconnect.

I'm going to repurpose the existing battery leads that go to the battery box as quick connect pigtails for portable solar (near future purchase)

I'm planning to DIY the portable solar: Two 100w panels, a piano hinge, some wire and quick connect fitting. These should then play nice with whatever ends up being installed on the roof.

So far as I can figure, the only thing I need 120v for is my wife's sewing machine and her iron. She has a little 300w iron so this should do the trick.

At first it's going to be temporary installation. The trimetric, I'll mount in a duplex box and Velcro it to the side of the bed. The output of the inverter will be to a receptacle under the bed and then run an extension cord to the dinette when needed. (I'm uncertain about the wire runs and locations needed to do a permanent install so I'll wait until I've seen a few completed projects and chatted with folks about how they did it.)

Batteries will likely be Crown1 AGM, size tbd.

[bbandeddie]

I installed the PD 4655 last week and that went pretty smooth.
I have all the major parts for the trimetric, scc and inverter. Unfortunately I came up short in the connecting lugs department and they have proven difficult for me to locate locally. Waiting on amazon now.
In the meantime, I have drawn up this connection diagram. Hopefully I'm not missing anything. The only question mark is where to connect the inverter ground seeing as there really isn't a ground on a trailer so I'll run a wire over to the negative bus???

[rich.dev]

I'm "regenerating" this threat, also looking for a solar installer in Ontario! And yes I have been in contact with CanAm. However, although they have great experience/knowledge in solar with AGMs, doubt they have done any solar with lithiums!
Any suggestions updates would be appreciated!
Thanks!
Richard

[bbandeddie]

Hi Richard,
You could try RayOutfitted.ca
They do a lot of custom solar, lithium and van upfitting in Ontario.
Mick

[KSA63]

Originally Posted by bbandeddie

Hi Richard,
You could try RayOutfitted.ca
They do a lot of custom solar, lithium and van upfitting in Ontario.
Mick

Well that’s cool. And it looks like they are somewhere very close to my location.
I will have to keep an eye open for their shop.
Kevin

[rich.dev]

Originally Posted by bbandeddie

Hi Richard,
You could try RayOutfitted.ca
They do a lot of custom solar, lithium and van upfitting in Ontario.
Mick

Great thanks Mick, did they do your solar install?

[bbandeddie]

Originally Posted by rich.dev

Great thanks Mick, did they do your solar install?

Hi Richard,
I met them last summer, they are friends of friends and I have been following their work on Instagram. Their Instagram feed leaves very little doubt that Ray is extremely competent and switched on with respect to mobile installs.
I asked them for a quote for 4x 100W solar panels installed on the roof and wiring back to the front electrical nest in our 27FB. The quote was a bit too eye-watering for my wallet so we opted to continue with our portable ground mount arrangement. I had wanted to simplify life with roof mounted panels instead hauling around and setting up the portables. But, for the money, I can do a little physical labour when we set and tear down.
Mick

[rich.dev]

Originally Posted by bbandeddie

Hi Richard,
I met them last summer, they are friends of friends and I have been following their work on Instagram. Their Instagram feed leaves very little doubt that Ray is extremely competent and switched on with respect to mobile installs.
I asked them for a quote for 4x 100W solar panels installed on the roof and wiring back to the front electrical nest in our 27FB. The quote was a bit too eye-watering for my wallet so we opted to continue with our portable ground mount arrangement. I had wanted to simplify life with roof mounted panels instead hauling around and setting up the portables. But, for the money, I can do a little physical labour when we set and tear down.
Mick

Yes he looks pretty legit, with earliest available consultation appointments only in March 2021!

[white laker]

For what its worth, we went to Canam and had the following system. All from Go Power.
3 100 watt flex panels
transfer switch
charge controller
remote invertor switch/readout
55 amp convertor
2,000 watt invertor
I have 2 Northline group 31 AGMs
They did a very professional, clean and organized installation of the system over a full two day process. All wire were solder coater prior to having ends crimped on. All components were well located in the rear compartment. (my batteries were already located in the rear compartment. Giver the location of the components, all wire runs were short and clean and tied up in place. We have has the system for two years now and have hot had any issues or concerns. Can Am are for more than towing expertise. They are a full service Airstream dealer and deserve our support. Thanks again to Andy and crew.

[rich.dev]

Originally Posted by white laker

For what its worth, we went to Canam and had the following system. All from Go Power.
3 100 watt flex panels
transfer switch
charge controller
remote invertor switch/readout
55 amp convertor
2,000 watt invertor
I have 2 Northline group 31 AGMs
They did a very professional, clean and organized installation of the system over a full two day process. All wire were solder coater prior to having ends crimped on. All components were well located in the rear compartment. (my batteries were already located in the rear compartment. Giver the location of the components, all wire runs were short and clean and tied up in place. We have has the system for two years now and have hot had any issues or concerns. Can Am are for more than towing expertise. They are a full service Airstream dealer and deserve our support. Thanks again to Andy and crew.

Thanks Peter, yes CanAm is really a class outfit! They did quote me on a solar with AGMs however I want Lithium batteries, so we are in the process now of putting together a lithium solution. Is the transfer switch in your system manual or automatic (ATS) and is it a CanAm design? That's one of the features/components that I'm still having difficulty with in exactly how to design it into my system. But yes I believe an ATS (or manual) is important to automatically control how much draw is coming from shore power, and letting the balance come from other sources like the generator and solar.

Also, did CanAm wire all the outlets in your trailer to be powered all the time, or just left it to the ones already wired by the factory?

Thanks
Richard

[Roadroamin]

Thats a nice little system, I have tried to get CanAm to do some work for me but they are always so busy that it couldnt be done in time.
Its a Canadian outfit that should be supported but seem to have some growing pains.