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Old 01-16-2020, 05:35 PM   #1
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Solar Question

Hi!

We have a 2014 FR30DS with one solar panel on the roof. How many can we put up there total and what wattages should they be capable of handling with the stock GoPower inverter?

Has anyone added panels to their roof here? How easy/hard is it to do and when to you run the wires and what do you connect them in to???

Thank You!!!!

Dylvinia
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Old 01-16-2020, 05:57 PM   #2
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solar is mostly customization by each owner - there's no 'rule book' of what you can or cannot do - each to his/her own as to what you want, what you need, and what you can find economically - more batteries is probably a better spend of your money, first, THEN you can add more solar. Without enough battery 'storage', you don't have anywhere for 'all that expensive solar' to go.
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Old 01-16-2020, 06:35 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by formerFR View Post
solar is mostly customization by each owner - there's no 'rule book' of what you can or cannot do - each to his/her own as to what you want, what you need, and what you can find economically - more batteries is probably a better spend of your money, first, THEN you can add more solar. Without enough battery 'storage', you don't have anywhere for 'all that expensive solar' to go.
In full agreement. Let your wallet be your guide. FormerFR nailed it, start with batteries unless you're going to do lithium right off.
If you're going AGM for batteries once they have been added I would consider a suitcase style solar panel for the ground then add roof panels as needed.
I like the suitcase panel as you can position and re position during the day to "chase the sun"
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Old 01-17-2020, 11:31 AM   #4
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Thanks formerFR and RET.LEO!

I have 2 brand new 6V AGM batteries installed now as the original house batteries were on their way out. I am hoping to put 3-4 panels on the roof and also tie in a vertical wind turbine at some point down the road.

Will the suitcase style solar collector be better for the interim? The single one on the roof (factory installed) is basically a 100 watt trickle charger correct? Can I install 300+ watt panels up top AND have a directional array unmounted (or on a swivel-mount on the ground) for purposes of "following the sun"??? What is the max the stock inverter can handle?

I also bought a Nature's Pulse solar generator as a backup system and mounted it in the trailer-hitch basket. It gives me 1800 watts of addition power in a 12V battery storage and allows me to collect and store solar panel and wind turbine power. I am adding a pod (when I get my tax rebate) that will increase my storage capacity 167%. Is there a way to tie that in to the house system???

Many thanks for your expertise and sharing as wells as so many others here who have helped me along the way!

8-)
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Old 01-17-2020, 12:23 PM   #5
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The biggest thing you need to know is how a solar system basically works. The inverter pulls its power from the 12volt batteries and inverts it to from DC to AC. The solar panels recharge the batteries.

It can take a while to put the charge back into the batteries through solar. So, if you are going to run heavy wattage AC appliances then you need a larger battery bank if you are going to run those appliances for longer periods of time. Likewise if you have a larger battery bank you will need more solar panels to get closer to fully charging those batteries in one day of daylight.
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Old 01-18-2020, 01:48 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dylvinia View Post
Hi!

We have a 2014 FR30DS with one solar panel on the roof. How many can we put up there total and what wattages should they be capable of handling with the stock GoPower inverter?

Has anyone added panels to their roof here? How easy/hard is it to do and when to you run the wires and what do you connect them in to???

Thank You!!!!

Dylvinia
You can install as many solar panels as you can fit on your roof. Solar charge controllers are rated in amps. You are only limited by the amperage rating of your charge controller. I have a 50A MPPT and know I can only get about 730 watts from my solar array. I may add a 2nd MPPT at a later date.


I ran the wires through the refrigerator vent to the MPPT next to the batteries.
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