Solar, Inverter and ESS Design for jbeletti's demo coach - feedback?

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hey all,

Most here know I've chosen to downsize my next demo coach. I'm going into a Sundance 262RB travel trailer. We'll be giving up a LOT of space and a built-in generator :(

On our travel days, of which we typically have many, we stop to eat lunch "in the RV". We've enjoyed the luxury of being able to turn on the generator to run anything we needed to be comfortable (air conditioner, heat pump, fireplace, vent fans, electric recliners! etc.) and have lunch (microwave / induction cooktop).

So without a generator or some other source of power, much of the above is a no-go.

Enter... a Lithium (LiFePO4) battery bank (ESS: Energy Storage System) and 3000 watt inverter :) We're not overnight boondockers by plan, so each day when we leave a campground, we expect to have a full battery bank (100% state of charge). This should allow us to run what we need to be comfortable for those 30 to 60 minute lunch stops.

I also plan to have a Solar component for battery charging. I am uncertain on which brand of panels, what size and how many. My sense is that we'll have 300-400 watts and that will be fed into an MPPT charge controller and then into the ESS.

We may even add the ability to do ESS charging from the truck's alternator (using a DC-DC converter) while we travel. The REDARC brand converter I'm considering can deliver up to 40 amps of nicely regulated DC power with a LiFEPO4 charge profile.

Heartlander Jim Tanner (Oregon_Camper) runs a nice Facebook group for Solar and Boondocking and I've shared this there as well - and now I want to share my designs here and see if anyone has any feedback on them. I've never done this before, so I welcome all questions and critiques.

The design overview (as of 12-Mar):
Beletti-Sundance-DC-v4.jpg

The solar component overview (as of 12-Mar):
Beletti-Sundance-Solar-v4.jpg
 

CDN

B and B
Re: Solar, Inverter and ESS Design for jbeleti's demo coach - feedback?

Jim,
Looks good to me. Are you installing a auto transfer switch to use the inverter or just a manual version?

Brian
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Jim,
Looks good to me. Are you installing a auto transfer switch to use the inverter or just a manual version?

Brian

Brian - the inverter I am using has a charger and transfer switch built-in. It's the Victron MultiPlus 12-3000-120/50

I'll decode that model number:
12 Volt DC battery input and charge voltage
3000 Watts output @ 120 VAC (technically, 3kVA)
120 VAC Shore Input / Output (L1 only)
50 Amps VAC switching current
 

orion7144

Well-known member
When I went through this, in my traveler, I used the AIMS power 3KW inverter charger and the manual said 4/0 wire on the + side since it was capable of ~6KW of surge. May have been overkill but I felt that if I did go to a bigger inverter I would not need to rewire.
 
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jbeletti

Well-known member
When I went through this, in my traveler, I used the AIMS power 3KW inverter charger and the manual said 4/0 wire on the + side since it was capable of ~6KW of surge. May have been overkill but I felt that if I did go to a bigger inverter I would not need to rewire.

I agree with you on this Jim. I too have designed the system with 4/0 from the Inverter to the bus (Lynx Power In) and from the Batteries to the bus (Lynx Power In).
 

Silverado23

Iowa Chapter Leaders
It looks like your MPPT charge controller can handle 100V of input power.

If you connect your solar panels in series, You raise your voltage and the current would be lower allowing smaller gauge wiring from the solar panels to the charge controller. Fuse/circuit breaker sizes could also be reduced.

Also with lower light levels, panels connected in series would also allow for charging situations such as overcast or rainy days.

The higher voltage should also ensure your charge controller is working at peak efficiency.
 

orion7144

Well-known member
It looks like your MPPT charge controller can handle 100V of input power.

If you connect your solar panels in series, You raise your voltage and the current would be lower allowing smaller gauge wiring from the solar panels to the charge controller. Fuse/circuit breaker sizes could also be reduced.

Also with lower light levels, panels connected in series would also allow for charging situations such as overcast or rainy days.

The higher voltage should also ensure your charge controller is working at peak efficiency.


the only downside to series only is if you loose 1 you are completely dead. I went with series parallel to get the best of both worlds but you need 4 panels
 

Silverado23

Iowa Chapter Leaders
the only downside to series only is if you loose 1 you are completely dead. I went with series parallel to get the best of both worlds but you need 4 panels
Your right if all in series. I have 9 panels in 3 x 3 series parallel configuration.


I used Solo power flex panels on my NT but they don't seem to be available any longer.

I am intrigued by these panels by Global Solar which are similar.[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]
Various sizes and wattages available.
http://www.globalsolar.com/powerflex-flexible-solar-panels
http://www.globalsolar.com/sites/de...PV Datasheet (PROD LIT - 1000781 - 1 - D).PDF

One possible source:
100-110W Panels
https://www.continuousresources.com...110w-powerflex-bapv-flexible-cigs-solar-panel
200-220W Panels
https://www.continuousresources.com...220w-powerflex-bapv-flexible-cigs-solar-panel

Available with or without adhesive backing.

Easy to seal down edges with Dicor.

[/FONT]
 
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