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03-21-2017, 02:26 AM
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#1
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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Complete Solar Install for Boondocking
Before I get going on the fun stuff allow me to introduce ourselves (I know this isn't where it should go but, this is where I will hang out the most). We are the Trowbridge's, Michael, Robin, and pup Sophie From College Station, Texas. We purchased our 2109S August this past year and have already logged over 15k miles in Seymour.
Last night I placed the final order to obtain the final components to begin our solar upgrade! It will be very modest but very stealth. 480W of flexible panels will be installed on the roof, a Midnite 150 Classic charge controller, twin 6v 250AH wet cell batteries, a 3k peak Watt pure sine wave inverter, and a ton of wire and connectors.
I will post a link to the install video within a week as work gets in the way of my fun entirely too much 
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-21-2017, 04:11 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Sarasota
Posts: 590
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Your system should meet your boondocking needs. No use in going larger unless you add batteries but no need to if not to many 110 appliance uses. At this stage just watch your panel placement with thought given to shade from AC and any antenna or open roof vent hatches. May not be able to avoid shade all parts of the day on every panel but planning layout carefully and running parallel or series-parallel will keep the power going. A little shade is devastating to solar output. I was surprised how much shade drops power in this video.
https://youtu.be/1qD3mN8VotQ.
Don't skimp on wire gauge, best to go lower gauge than most kits provide. Make sure to add a switch to cut off the roof power to the controller, 480 watts is a lot of power if you get a short or just need to work on the system . Looking forward to your video.
__________________
2015 Solera 24r
2017 Jeep Wrangler
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03-21-2017, 04:22 AM
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#3
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich.M
Your system should meet your boondocking needs. No use in going larger unless you add batteries but no need to if not to many 110 appliance uses. At this stage just watch your panel placement with thought given to shade from AC and any antenna or open roof vent hatches. May not be able to avoid shade all parts of the day on every panel but planning layout carefully and running parallel or series-parallel will keep the power going. A little shade is devastating to solar output. I was surprised how much shade drops power in this video.
https://youtu.be/1qD3mN8VotQ.
Don't skimp on wire gauge, best to go lower gauge than most kits provide. Make sure to add a switch to cut off the roof power to the controller, 480 watts is a lot of power if you get a short or just need to work on the system . Looking forward to your video. |
Thank you Rich and you are correct, plenty big enough. This will be my sixth RV solar install for ourselves and the second on our current. I built my shop/man cave off-grid with just over 3kW worth of solar and just a bit over 1,500AH's of battery storage. My biggest problem has been not burning up inverters. For some reason they don't like welding machines [emoji23]
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-21-2017, 11:58 AM
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#4
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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I decided to go ahead and run the MidNite Classic 150 now instead of the cheap PWM (works great but). I will remote mount the display near the iRV radio so we can closely monitor our usage and available power.
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-21-2017, 02:34 PM
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#5
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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Complete Solar Install for Boondocking
The display has been mounted. Tomorrow I will mount and wire in the controller as well as add a couple batteries.
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-22-2017, 04:28 PM
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#6
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Hantsport, Nova Scotia
Posts: 79
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Interesting read Michael, keep us posted.
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03-22-2017, 05:00 PM
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#7
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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I'm editing the video of part 1 of the install now. The batteries I was going to add were no good sadly. I did get the controller mounted, tied into the existing batteries, and display wired in. I'll post up the video soon.
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-22-2017, 10:47 PM
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#8
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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What a time for the notebook to take a dump. Grabbed another laptop and editing software is loaded. We may just put it all into one video now because it's bed time  . G-night all
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-22-2017, 11:49 PM
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#9
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Happy Camperz
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island
Posts: 4
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Cost?
Hey Michael
Interesting project and to tell the truth, it's something BJ and I had discussed during our RV search. What's the cost all in?
Thanks
DJ & BJ
__________________
DJ Retired RRT; BJ Retired RN; Roxy the Boxer
Born Again RVers
Still M/C Enthusiasts
Boxer Rescue Folks
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03-23-2017, 10:10 AM
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#10
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VanIslander
Hey Michael
Interesting project and to tell the truth, it's something BJ and I had discussed during our RV search. What's the cost all in?
Thanks
DJ & BJ
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Our system with 480 Watts of solar, 200Ah's of battery capacity, controller, inverter, adhesive hardware and wire was right at $2500. With that we will be able to run everything but the AC in our 2109S!
3 of the 4 solar panels arrived! After I get my ears lowered, I'll be on the roof getting it going!!! I'm so ready.
On a different note, my new bed cover came in. Took all of 20 minutes to install. Now our generator and cooler will be out of sight and mind as well as out of the weather.
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-23-2017, 11:17 AM
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#11
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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We are missing a couple pieces so all I can do is mount the panels today and can't tie them in just yet. Time to scrub the roof and install them!
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-23-2017, 11:33 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 175
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Looks good. I'm in the process of the planning stages, so very interested in the end result and video.
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03-23-2017, 11:43 AM
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#13
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Always Learning
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Four Corners, FL
Posts: 21,891
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Do you know what the weight of all of this is? Between the panels and batteries and misc equipment?
__________________
Officially a SOB with a 2022 Jayco Precept 36C
Checkout my site for RVing tips, tricks, and info | Was a Fulltime Family for 5 years, now we're part-timing on long trips
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03-23-2017, 12:13 PM
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#14
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Part-Time
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Spokane, WA
Posts: 71
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Very interested in your project, would like to do something similar on my 2618 Ultra V. How do you route wires from the roof through the interior of the trailer. Have tried to get wiring layouts from Rockwood/FS and so far they haven't been too helpful. Hope you include a ton of detail in your project report.
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03-23-2017, 12:28 PM
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#15
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mwtracht
Very interested in your project, would like to do something similar on my 2618 Ultra V. How do you route wires from the roof through the interior of the trailer. Have tried to get wiring layouts from Rockwood/FS and so far they haven't been too helpful. Hope you include a ton of detail in your project report.
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The part did not come in to run the wires into the RV. Should be here Monday along with panel 4. This will be mounted next to the radio antenna so all wires will be hidden by the "entertainment center".
Quote:
Originally Posted by J007
Looks good. I'm in the process of the planning stages, so very interested in the end result and video.
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Thank you so much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ependydad
Do you know what the weight of all of this is? Between the panels and batteries and misc equipment?
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Just under 250#'s
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-23-2017, 01:31 PM
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#16
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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Now for the not so glamorous part and the real work, editing video.
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-23-2017, 11:38 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 1,502
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Nice so far but please consider adding more battery capacity.
I started out with 400 watts and 3 battery banks each consisting of 232 amp hours of battery capacity.
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03-24-2017, 04:29 AM
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#18
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyliner
Nice so far but please consider adding more battery capacity.
I started out with 400 watts and 3 battery banks each consisting of 232 amp hours of battery capacity.
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We do not have the room to or we would. My only option would be lithium and they really aren't an option.
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-25-2017, 02:03 PM
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#19
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WE RV
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Bryan, Texas
Posts: 57
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Well, I finally had time to complete the Install Part 1 video and it is uploading now. I am having to do it through my phones hot spot so it may take an hour and a half or so but I will post the video as soon as it is uploaded.
__________________
2017 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S
2016 Ford FX4 F150 V-8 4x4
Michael, Robin, and Sophie
"If you want to see some changes in your life, you have to make some changes in your life"~Michael
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03-25-2017, 02:08 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 175
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Excellent! Look forward to checking this out since it on my list to do once we pick up new TT next weekend.
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