Quote:
Originally Posted by dgravlin
Would you be willing to share some details on your solar installation? Panels, wire routes, controllers, tying into the factory inverter, etc...
Thanks!
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Prepare for boredom!
I used Grape Solar for all components and installed 4 ea. 105 watt mono panels. I used a 25 amp. Blue Sky MPPT controller. (MPPT controllers are far superior to cheaper types regardless of brand or amp rating). I used a standard household 30 amp. disconnect type fuse box between the controller and batteries, (mainly because I had plenty of room and it was easy to obtain at Home Depot). I used 4 guage multi strand wire from the roof to the controller and ran the wires down the holding tank vent between the fridge and the bathroom. Drilled a hole in the vent (then resealed later) to exit the wires behind the bathroom drawer then on into the wet bay, out the back of the wet bay, over the top of the frame rails and into the battery box.
The inverter is not involved in a solar install since the panels are connected the controller, fuse, and straight on to the house batteries. The controller is mounted directly under the inverter on the front bulkhead in that compartment.
I mounted the panels on the roof with the brackets provided, butyl rubber double backed tape and one stainless #10 x 3/4" screw per bracket, then covered liberally with dicor sealant.
The downside of my install is that I have no ammeter to see what the panels are actually doing, however, this is the 5th system I have built and I usually find that to be a novelty more than necessity, we park where we park and the panels do what they do so I made the decision to do without this time. The voltmeter on the inverter panel gives a good enough assessment of battery condition for me.
There are a multitude of variations available, could install triple this much power if you wanted to but it seems to be adequate for our needs especially since we have auto gen start now just in case.
A few pictures attached, the one with the panels is not much (was under my RV cover doing the wiring)
The only thing I might change if doing this same job again, I might bite the bullet and put a hole in the roof near the LR corner, come through the bedroom cabinet, and into the air filter area then into the battery box. I would make some matching moulding to hide the 12" of wire in the bedroom. This would make the wire run much shorter and probably 10 hours less labor. I choose the more difficult route and it was a pain.
Hope this helps