My Solar Install

[boatguy]

Well it was a productive weekend between rain storms. I brought my new 390MB home from the dealer last week. After a very thorough PDI there are only a few little things and HitchNGo are awesome. They have everything under control and there is nothing to stop me enjoying the 150th birthday for Canada this long weekend.

I decided to do a cheap and cheerful solar install so I could keep everything charged and fresh when I wasn't around. I installed 4X100 watt solar panels on the forward part of the roof. I secured them with Eternabond and there is plenty of room left for another 4 or 8 if I ever needed that many. When the dealer installed my cell and wifi antenna I had them run the wires down to the generator and battery bay. I put in a couple circuit breakers and a 40amp MPPT controller and a remote monitor. All in it was $1100 for all the parts and about 6 hours dodging rain storms.

In heavy overcast it was producing as little as a 14.1 volts and 5amps charge to the batteries. Who the sun came out I was thrilled to see 14.2 volts and 32 amps going into the batteries. That should do nicely to keep things topped up.

Next project a whole house inverter (minus A/C) and replace the batteries with 4 6 volt AGM.

[texastbird]

Don't forget the roller you left on the roof! Ha, ha, great job.

[MuddFlap]

Sweet looking install John!

[Peter&Shannon]

Looks great, thanks for sharing!

[homeguy]

are those thinfilm panels?

[boatguy]

They are thin and flexible but they are not Thin Film technology. Monocrystalline provides more energy by surface area and offers more longevity and better warranty from what I could learn. I found a few three year reviews that we favourable so I went ahead.

They are attached with Eternabond tape and no holes were made in the roof. Removing could be tricky but the suggestion is to just cut the tape and replace a panel if need be.

Very fun and easy project that will help keep me charged up.

[Dan]

Now that's a sweet setup, nice job
That's a funny way to park your truck



.

[boatguy]

I was checking to see how sharp I could turn. I read a bunch of messages about first timers damaging their trucks and smashing windows. So I figured I would see how far it goes before I got into trouble.

[atom ant]

I had to make a turn in our Redwood like that in a parking lot once. Truck was fine - trailer springs did not fair well. at a 90 degree turn, the side force on those springs is incredible.

[johnboytoo]

That is a normal turn in some of the parks we go too (not really!) but once, the 5'ers long pinbox did hit the SIDE of our trucks bed and the pic below was the result!

how close is your extended trailer hitch in your trucks receiver to the rv on uneven ground ? does it hit?

In perfect conditions a 90 degree works, but its when the twisting and turning of the chassis on uneven ground TILT each toward each other - then a perfect day becomes not so perfect !

On your solar stuff - very, very nice use of dead space !!!
Can you give us the specs on the panels and where you got them ?

[boatguy]

Sure I can give you a rundown. Especially now thats its been about 6 weeks, I can tell you I am thrilled with it. The panels are 100 Watts each. I have installed four. I am going to add two more in the future.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use a MPPT charge controller to maximize efficiency and not worry about cable loss.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And then some odds and ends like a thru hull or waterproof entry point, Eterna bond tape, a breaker and the wires to run from the roof to the battery compartment.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

All of this connects to my two (2) 125 amp hour 12 Volt dealer installed AGM batteries. The whole install is under $1000 US. It works well. And so far has outperformed my expectation.

[boatguy]

To give you an idea of how it's performed for me so far check this out.

I came home from a week away on Monday at noon. I parked the trailer in the storage lot and left the fridge running on the inverter. It has been sunny mostly and one afternoon rainstorm each day. I went to get some goodies loaded to leave again today, Friday and the fridge is still running. 5 days. Just on solar. The inverter will shut off if the voltage drops to low. It doesn't restart when the voltage comes up without me powering it on so I have to assume its just been working away. All the ice cubes in the freezer were still frozen. Its been 85-90 degrees every day.

This is why I wanted solar in the first place.