Solar Hookup for outlets

[tonyradsr]

I have a 2018 Cherokee 274. The fridge switches automatically from propane to electric. I want to hook up the solar but I'm not sure how to hook it to the camper. All the 12 volts stuff works. Yes, I've got the inverter. But need to know where to put the power in. WFCO didn't want to help. I want to be able to run the tv and some outlets. Any thoughts?

[SeaDog]

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. So rigs are prewired for solar others are not. Solar is normally connected to the batteries on a rig I have never heard of wiring direct to an inverter or anything else. Use the search function in the upper right corner of this page there tons of arctics on how to hook up solar.

[boondocking]

Connect the solar to the battery bank.

[Rich.M]

X2, wire to battery bank if already have an inverter. Buy a kit with panels, mounts, charge controller and cut off switch and or fuse/breaker.

[Nurek]

What wattage and amperage will the panel(s) be providing?

Have you got a charge controller? What are its output limits?

Is your TT prewired for solar?

What battery set up do you have?

What kind of output are you expecting?

Do you know about what kind of draw you can get from your 12V?
Have you looked at Youtube for hundreds of videos for the job at hand?



Your fridge AFAIK, will be 120v or propane not 12V. It sips LP so don't worry to much.

[jimmoore13]

A guess/hunch. Requires verification.

The job of the WFCO converter is two-fold: 1) deliver 120 volt AC to the house 120 volt circuits. 2) send charging current to the battery. A conventional converter does not accept power from the battery.

In a typical installation, 120 volt house circuits draw shore power straight through the converter.

To run 120 volt AC throughout your rig on the existing "house" wiring (downstream of the converter), it's likely that you'll need some sort of "transfer switch" that automatically chooses between shore power through the converter and 12 volt power through an INVERTER large enough to run many appliances at once (2000 to 3000 watts or more). If there is shore power, the 120 volt circuits draw power direct from the outside source. If the outside source "fails" or is disconnected, then the transfer switch chooses to get power from the inverter, which gets its power from the batteries, which are charged by solar.

This arrangement is vaguely similar to having a backup generator at one's home with an automatic transfer switch choosing the better source of power...one or the other.

I suspect WFCO was not helpful because this is well beyond the scope of what their converter is intended to do...and requires a significant amount of additional equipment unrelated to the WFCO converter.

You may be able to replace the WFCO converter with a much more sophisticated device that can manage all these tricks for you. It also appears that there are inverters that include built-in transfer switches, but I don't know if they are up to this task.

This video may be helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckxBv9s7-CM

The point of me commenting is that you may need professional help to safely make this installation work for you as you wish it to - and to wire the converter/inverter/transfer switch/house circuitry correctly. My limited understanding of the electronics involved suggest that the transfer switch is the key element.

[Flybob]

Originally Posted by jimmoore13

A guess/hunch. Requires verification.

The job of the WFCO converter is two-fold: 1) deliver 120 volt AC to the house 120 volt circuits. 2) send charging current to the battery. A conventional converter does not accept power from the battery.

In a typical installation, 120 volt house circuits draw shore power straight through the converter.

The 120VAC side of the system does not actually go through the converter but rather through the distribution panel that is usually located directly next to the converter.

[jimmoore13]

Originally Posted by Flybob

The 120VAC side of the system does not actually go through the converter but rather through the distribution panel that is usually located directly next to the converter.

Helpful. So the converter is one of the things fed by the distribution panel?
If one of these inverters with a built in transfer switch would do the job, how would it be connected...and where?

[hankpac]

Do NOT hook up your panels to your inverter. Do NOT.
Hook them directly to your batteries via a charge controller. The controller prevents over charging and boiling away your electrolyte.
"Pre-wired for solar"is a marketing scam. The wires provided inside behind the connector are often way undersized. If you put a serious number of watts on your roof, you want to skip that wiring and go direct to the batteries. Solar panels are Strictly for charging up a battery, Strictly.
For more detailed information, go to Brian Boones blog, Got Solar installed? or look for him on Facebook. He is a great guy, has many facebook pages, but start with his personal page and go from there. Brian installed mine 4 175 watt panels, 4 6 volt flooded golf cart batteries. We run everything except roof air (don't get started on that subject yet).
Good luck.

[formerFR]

right, there is no such thing as powering 120v outlets simply by solar panels...

Solar panels send wattage/amps down the wires to the Controller, which controls how much amps are going into the batteries, in order to not 'over charge' them, then into the batteries. There is no 'direct' route to 12v devices or 120v outlets.

An INVERTER takes 12v from the batteries, changes it up to 120v, and supplies that power to your Main breaker panel, or better-yet a sub-panel for the outlet circuits that the Inverter will power when you are not plugged in.

You CAN also simply use an off-the-shelf 750w inverter, with battery alligator clips, from Walmart or auto stores, and then run extension cord(s) from the inverter to whatever you want to plug into them, such as tvs, receivers, chargers, etc.

[Flybob]

Be aware that for every amp of 120VAC current that you use, you will be drawing 10A DC from your battery. This requires appropriate wiring and generally a higher capacity battery bank than the general purpose battery that came with your unit. I suggest you do more research before you buy anything.

[tonyradsr]

Thanks for all the replies. However everything I am fully aware of. Problem is where to run the wires "from the inverter" so that I can run everything except the refer. I already have it running the 12 volt items but need to work the 110. Yes, seems a bit beyond my scope. I found a company in Nappanee IN who says they can do it. That's the plan unless I figure it out. Thanks again.

[formerFR]

the wires out of the Inverter go to the breaker box, simple