I constructed my own solar generator which consists of a Jita 300 amph LiFepo4 battery, Renogy 50 amp dc to dc charger with a mppt charge controller, Giandel 2200 watt inverter, PV combiner box capable of handling up to 6 panels and a 30 amp receptacle so I can just plug the camper in. The first couple of times I used it it worked great but now I'm not getting the full 50 amps out of the dc to dc charger. I think it has something to do with my truck which has a smart alternator. I guess I'll be spending a couple of days troubleshooting that. But today I hooked it up to a 20 amp lithium charger and 4 100 watt panels in parallel and got a total of 42 amps at 22 volts. I want to add another 400 watts solar. The inverter will run the microwave and it will run my AC just fine but not for very long but long enough to cool off a overheated person or pet
I'm curious... what kind of output are you getting from that dc-dc converter now? Please post if you find the solution.
Sounds like you're getting set up for boondocking. Since not many of us have converted to solar, we'd be interested in how it works for you.
Used the solar generator last night so it needed to be charged today because we are boon docking tonight. Before I hooked it up to be charged using the DC to DC converter I pulled the 30 amp fuse that supplies the 12 volts to the trailer. I let the battery on the trailer handle the 12 volt fridge today. The max output from the converter was 45 amps running down the road. I believe that and the normal load is close to maxing out the alternator output on my truck. I need to put an amp meter on the alternator output to check this. I also am curious to see what the alternator output is with nothing hooked up.
After checking everything out the best I can with limited resources while on the road I've come to think the problem is with the trucks charging circuit. Last time charging the solar generator going down the road I limited the charging current to 20 amps everything worked fine. That usually gets me to 90% state of charge after a few hours driving after a nights use which depending on what we do can draw the battery to 40% to 60% state of charge.
I've found that 4 100 watt solar panels hooked up and laid flat on the ground or with a slight tilt gives us a little over 20 amps till almost sundown. At 20 amps that's the point where it supplies all our needs unless we run the microwave or the ac for a short time. After this trip is over I'm going to install the 4 100 watt solar panels on the roof along with 2 more for a total of 600 watts. I also have a 100 watt panel with a cheap (free) solar controller that I use to top off the battery on the tongue.
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