Putting Solar Power in my Palomino Toy Hauler

[mud yapster]

My solar project has been fun and interesting also. Come on weather I need a break so I can complete my green power. I looked at different solar kits but they are just to cheep of components in them so I pieced all my quality components together seperately and built a lot better system for a lot less cash even though there isn't much cheep about it. Total investment in my solar project so far $1650 with 2/160watt monocrystillin panels, MC4 connectors and wiring, 40amp LCD charge controller, 1additional 125AH battery I already had 2 I just added a third one to make 375ah total, 2000 watt True Sine Wave inverter with built in transfer switch, breakers, 2/0 welding cable, panel anchors and roof sealant.

I'm in the process of putting 2 12V 160 watt each monocrystillin panels on the roof and a 40 MPPT charge control to 375AH battery bank. I have the wiring ran from roof to the controller and battery bank so all is left is mounting the panels once the weather clears up. Next going to be installing a Cotek ST2000 True Sine Wave inverter, it has a built in transfer switch. All that tied to my shore power, 5500 watt Onan, and 50amp Progressive surge protector and 50amp transfer switch. I should't need the Onan generator anymore except to run the 2 A/C's if there's no shore power. I'm excited about getting this project done once this icey weather is gone. We camp a lot where there isn't any shore power available. It's been a fun project for me and I'm excited about not needing shore power or the generator and can run everything free so to speak. LOL I didn't take pics but I will when I'm done with the install. I also did this project so when power is out at home we can still watch tv make coffee or what ever til it's back on. Power goes out here sometimes and when it does it's off a long time.

[rana]

Sounds like fun! Don't forget your in-line disconnects (input and output on the controller), switch breakers and controller to battery line fuse.

With a 375ah bank, one more 160w panel would really help keep your SOC's up on a daily basis. With 480 watts up top you're just about breaking even with that size of a bank and controller. 2 more 160w'rs and you'll be just a bit ahead of the curve.

[mud yapster]

thanks for the reminder on the inline fusing but I already have them in place on the panels and battery bank along with disconnects to both I just forgot to list them. I used the 40 amp MPPT charge controller so I could upgrade my panel array if needed later. I can add another 160w panel for $213, I thought I'd see how this worked first but like you said I probably need another panel because she watches TV a lot. LOL

[rana]

Sounds like you're golden! It's not that big of a deal if you're only dry 4-5 days at a time between a good shore power charge (assuming you're not running a residential fridge). Your end of day SOC might droop a little day by day, but it sure beats the heck out of havin to gen up.

[mud yapster]

I think your dead on with the droop I can see that 3rd 160w panel in my near future already. LOL
we onlycamp a couple days at a time so we can get back home and back to work to pay for toys. LOL I want it all fixed up for retirement though so we can camp for free as long as we want. A new 1 Ton dually is next on my toy list this year. LOL

[mud yapster]

Here are a few pics of my solar set up I put in my 2014 Palomino Columbus 3650TH. This was a fun project. 435AH 12 volt battery bank now using AGM VMaxTank Batteries, Morningstar MPPT TS-60 charge controller, 320 watt Mono Crystillin panels, Cotek True Sine Wave inverter with built in transfer switch. I tested the ability of the battery bank this last weekend and it was awsome but on Saturday with full sun there wasn't quit enough solar panel to totally top off the battery bank so going to add 2 more panels to the system to make it a total of 560 watts of solar. I found a deal on 2-120 watt mono panels so going to order them today. The system and inverter set up works excellent. We watched our 42" TV and DVD player for at least 8 hours on Friday having a movie marathon, made 2 pots of coffee 12 cup coffee pot, ran the microwave and convection oven, had all the LED's running outside all night, had the fridg. running on propane, and really just went about our merry way all weekend running water pump, tv, radio, lights and what ever else just like we were hooked to the shore power and all went without a hitch. So it turned out to be a awsome solar system setup for sure just need a little more solar to make sure the batteries get fully topped off. This is the 1st solar set up I've ever done and I only made a few tweeks to it with a better battery bank than I had rigged up at first and added a better charge controlled than the first MPPT one I used. All and all I'm really pleased with it. Here's some pics of the set up. There are a couple items missing from the battery bank pic which are the battery temperature sensor and voltage monitor wiring feeding to the Morningstar charge controller. And Yes all work was done by myself as always and had alot of fun doing it. LOL


2-160 watt mono crystillin panels = 320 watt the panels each measure 57" X 26"s


Cotek True Sine Wave inverter with built in transfer switch


2-12volt 155AH and 1-12volt 125AH VMAX Charge Tank batteries


Cotek True Sine Wave inverter Remote and Morningstar Remote Meter


Morningstar MPPT TS-60 charge controller

[lonb]

Just wondering if I wanted to put that set up together what kind of money am I looking at spending

[mud yapster]

Cotek ST2000-12 True Sine Wave inverter $800, Morningstar MPPT TS60 charge Controller $650, 2 Renogy Mono 100watt-12 panels $250, 2 Eco 160watt -12 panels $430, 2 AGM12v SLR155ah VMax Charge tank batteries $640, 1 AGM 12v SLR125 VMax Charge Tank battery $260, Morningstar Remote $130, Cotek Remote $100, disconnects switches, 2/0 battery cables and 8 awg wiring, flex conduit, tie wraps, roof adhesive, and miscellaneous about $250. Your own knowledge and labor free for a total of $3510 give or take a bit case I forgot something like beer. LOL

[mud yapster]

These are the final updated items from my original solar set up. After putting $900 bucks worth of battery bank in I wanted a better charge controller then I also wanted to make sure my batteries were topped off after heavy use so I added the 200 more watts of solar. On a good sunny day I seen 17.3 amps from the 320 watt solar string and 10.1 from the 200 watt Renogy string for a total of 27.4 amps. I feel more comfortable that my battery bank will get topped off before dusk. The system has been working flawlessly and the Cotek inverter works great running everything. What a awesome solar system it is but I will probably never see a payback of the cost but the convence is priceless. Makes the 5er toy hauler truely self contained. If to cloudy to charge the batteries then we can always fire up the 5500 watt Onan and charge from the 60 amp converter. While raining the other day the panels where still making 4.6 amps also. A very nice system it is. This system will get moved to another RV if that day comes. Also I still have room for a lot more solar on the roof if I feel the need to add more cause there is plenty of capacity left in the Morningstar charge controller.

[mark wyoming]

Nice setup and looks like a job well done

[mud yapster]

Thanks Mark today I ran a electric heater on low 900 watt for 2 hours and the battery bank still read 12.92v after I turned it off. Then the sun came up and recharged the batteries before noon. Nice system!!!

[mud yapster]

Here are some updated pics after wiring in the 200 more watts of solar

[mud yapster]

Was camping for the last 3 days off solar and battery power and it worked perfect. We had plenty of power even with the rain and cloudy sky's. I did see 32 amps from the panels while the sun was out.

[Cypressloser]

Well done

[ependydad]

Where's your battery bank installed? With where my battery box is, I can see 1 more battery making it in there but that's about it.

Also, thanks to the person asking about pricing and to you for answering.

[mud yapster]

Remember pricing is with your free labor. There is 26 x 18"s in my battery compartment each one of my batteries are about 7 1/2" to 8"s wide and 13"s or so long. Remove the factory battery and plastic battery box, cut a piece of 3/4" plywood to cover the whole surface and the 3 batteries will fit fine. You won't need a battery box for these AGM batteries they are sealed. You can stack these batteries on their side if you want they won't leak. Batteries are located to the right of the generator.

[mud yapster]

Another update on my Solar set up.
Was camping this weekend and used a lot of my battery bank on purpose because it was going to be sunny all day Saturday. On Saturday we made coffee and watched the news on tv as always, when the sun came up awhile I checked my solar output to the batteries and it read 0.00v hmmm. Went out and check the panel breakers and all ok, checked breaker from charge controller to the battery bank and it was tripped.(30 amp). I reset it and in about 15 sec. it tripped again. Took the amp draw and my panels were putting out 32 amps. LOL I had used 10 gauge stranded THHN wire going to the battery bank so upgraded the wiring to 8 gauge welding cable and replaced my breaker with a 50 amp. Good to go now. Solar panels cranked out 34 amps most I've seen them put out so far and the sun isn't even straight up in the sky yet as summer isn't here yet. These panels are efficiently awesome!!! Can't wait to see how much they produce when the sun is straight up in the sky this summer.

[WestCoastRV'er]

Awesome review. I've been putting my system together and now can see the potential when I finish. Going to be using the 155AH Vmax batteries with 500 watts from Renogy
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[mud yapster]

Originally Posted by WestCoastRV'er

Awesome review. I've been putting my system together and now can see the potential when I finish. Going to be using the 155AH Vmax batteries with 500 watts from Renogy
.
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That's awesome westcoast you will really like the convenience it provides and when your not using your rv you won't have to plug in to the power at home to keep the batteries charged anymore either. I haven't plugged in since I put my system on line. I go out and watch tv while at home for the heck of it to us up some free power. LOL Glad my reviews helped out. Post some pics of your setup if you get a chance.

[Blackhat6mike]

Westcoaster. Make sure you go with the MPPT controller and not the PWM unit. Huge difference in power delivery and sustained charge. I tried both and there is no comparison between the two. I keep the old PWM unit for a backup.
Looks like a clean system the way you have it layed out.
I didn't know it took 39 amps to trip a 30 amp breaker [written right on the side of the breaker, Duh]. I changed all breakers to 63 amp just to cover any surges. I'm happy.
OBTW, 6 X 100 watt panels will not produce over 550 watts. There is always loss and they tell you that they operate at 90%-95%. A 50 amp controller will handle 6 panels and have some left over.