Solar Help!!

I've been researching solar power ad nauseum and still cannot figure out what I would need...
I currently have one 12v battery and would like to have a solar system powerful enough to:
keep the battery charged, have enough solar power to power my LED lights for say 3 nights as well as having the ability to cycle my furnace occasionally throughout the night.
As far as components, my rig is "pre-wired for solar". Is a simple controller adequate or must use an MTTP controller? Is one 12v battery enough?
Thanks for your input.

Cant help with the charge controller questions but you will want 2 six volt Trojan batteries in series. Either that or buy a nice quiet generator (Honda) and run it during the day to charge your system. But also ad a second battery.

Gaffer said:

Cant help with the charge controller questions but you will want 2 six volt Trojan batteries in series. Either that or buy a nice quiet generator (Honda) and run it during the day to charge your system. But also ad a second battery.

Click to expand...

Thanks for you reply. My rig is equipped with an Onan 5500 genset, just trying to limit the use on it. Also, I've read that the charge rate is very slow when using the genset to charge the battery..

This is what I installed on my 5th. Comes as a kit with everything you need. I went on-line and got it for half price. Run two batteries. We can watch two hours of tv a night using the invertor and still have plenty of battery to run the furnace all night. Batteries read 11.5 in the morning.

https://www.renogy.com/renogy-400-watt-12-volt-eclipse-solar-rv-kit-back-order/

I run a 600 watt system with 4 6volt batteries. The kids have the tv's on all day and night watching satellite or play station. Wife likes the thermostat at 68 all night.We use a prosine 1800 watt inverter that draws very little power at idle. Only run the genny to brew coffee or microwave.

I did the "Go Power Elite system" and I love it.
They have one system bigger and one smaller then my system. Everything you need in the kit including the 2000W invertor defiantly loving the luxury of never worrying about power again. My Gen is getting kinda board though. The only time start it is to exercise it every few months.
I did do 4 12V RV batteries to give me more storage. You should at least do 2 batteries.

here's the link
http://gpelectric.com/products/solar-elite-charging-system

You'll need to get them to send the 50 transfer switch.

In your case, you might be better off with a portable solution. There are a few on the market, but I think Zamp (Bend, Oregon) does a great job with their solutions.

https://www.zampsolar.com/rv-solar-kits/portable-rv-solar

I have 4x136w panels, routed through a MPPT controller, charging 2x12v Trojan T1275 batteries. However, we dry camp almost exclusively, so I needed this setup. I typically have 100% power everyday from this configuration, but I have ~$2,000 invested into my setup.

If you go with a portable solution and decide later you want to invest more in a larger system on the roof, you can easily add this panel to the others you purchase.

Nice thing about a portable solution is have ability to aim directly at the sun and get the perfect angle....or move panels to best location with more sun.

jesstalkn said:

I did the "Go Power Elite system" and I love it.
They have one system bigger and one smaller then my system. Everything you need in the kit including the 2000W invertor defiantly loving the luxury of never worrying about power again. My Gen is getting kinda board though. The only time start it is to exercise it every few months.
I did do 4 12V RV batteries to give me more storage. You should at least do 2 batteries.

here's the link
http://gpelectric.com/products/solar-elite-charging-system

You'll need to get them to send the 50 transfer switch.

Click to expand...

Looks like a nice kit. I guess I would need to find where my inverter is and swap it out with the one included in the kit?

I kept my original convertor in my RV. The one that came in my Landmark is a very good one. So now I have the Go Power one as a spare still in the box.
I also have kept the small 1000w invertor in for the fridge. That's the one I run while traveling. As it only runs the fridge. The big one (2000w) is hooked to a second transfer switch and runs the entire Coach. Everything but the AC's !!!! It's an awesome system.

Here's how mine is ran



Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Go-Fly said:

This is what I installed on my 5th. Comes as a kit with everything you need. I went on-line and got it for half price. Run two batteries. We can watch two hours of tv a night using the invertor and still have plenty of battery to run the furnace all night. Batteries read 11.5 in the morning.

https://www.renogy.com/renogy-400-watt-12-volt-eclipse-solar-rv-kit-back-order/

Click to expand...

its listed at over $1000, you got this for half price???

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jesstalkn said:

I kept my original convertor in my RV. The one that came in my Landmark is a very good one. So now I have the Go Power one as a spare still in the box.
I also have kept the small 1000w invertor in for the fridge. That's the one I run while traveling. As it only runs the fridge. The big one (2000w) is hooked to a second transfer switch and runs the entire Coach. Everything but the AC's !!!! It's an awesome system.

Here's how mine is ran

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

thanks for your help. your setup is propably more than what I'm looking for though. I still cant seem to find a flush mount MPPT controller out there, assuming that its a better choice than a PWM?

300W flush mount MPPT charge contoller. This will easily keep a couple 12v batteries fully charged.
https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Boost-...rd_wg=3sYtz&psc=1&refRID=EVMS6ADS2FSJBPV78010