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Old 10-23-2018, 06:51 PM   #1
showme
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How hard is it to add solar?

Our 2000 is equipped with a converter to charge the battery and support the dc side, but I'd like to add some solar and maybe an inverter so we could use the 5th wheel while we've got it parked on our land, which has no power yet. We're building an earth covered home next spring and intend to use solar and wind to power the house and shop, so I'd like to set up about 1kw of panels as soon as we get the trailer to the property to have a daily supply. How would one go about tying in to the system, aside from just charging the batteries with the panels through an MPPT charge controller? If anyone has any information on this, I would appreciate your thoughts. Lee
 
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Old 10-23-2018, 08:07 PM   #2
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Lee,

Welcome to the forum!

If you are semi permanently parking your rig on the property and want to start on your solar for the house you could set up a solar system including panels and charge controller with a battery bank and inverter and just plug your trailer into it.

If you would rather install the system on and in your rig that is also doable. Installing 2 solar panels, 4 golf cart batteries and a 3000 watt inverter took me over 60 hours with running wiring the biggest challenge.

IMHO the first option would be a little easier and get you moving toward the end goal of a solar powered house. The wiring would be easier, you could better align your panels for available sunlight and it would be more scalable as you might want to go to a bigger system in the future.
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Old 10-24-2018, 06:33 AM   #3
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Thanks, AZTraveler. Although we're setting the 5th wheel in the spot where the panels are destined to go, what I have in mind is to set up a temporary pole mount right next to it and just run the line to the battery compartment under the nose to charge the batteries, but I've found that this trailer doesn't have an inverter for ac. So I'm wondering if I could get a smaller (2-3kw inverter) for the 5'er. What we have for the "homestead" are (2) SW5548 NOS Xantrex inverters, each 5000 watt, 48v, for our 8kw of new solar modules, plus (8) 120 Evergreen modules which will power our mini split heat pump/AC (which we will probably never need to use), and a 1kw Bergey wind generator. This system will power our home, shop and well pump. But before we get all that in, I was thinking of setting up the 8 Evergreens on a pole or stand just to be assured of plenty of power for the times we're at the property while we're working there getting ready to build next spring.
I know that (8) 120w panels is overkill to just charge a few trailer batteries, but if we were to install a small inverter to power AC loads, too (no air conditioner needed through this winter, fortunately!), it would be nice to know how to wire the inverter into the Montana's system. Since the schematics for these rigs is non-existent as far as I can tell, and getting into the back side of the converter will be challenging, I'd at least like to hear from other Montana owners what they've experienced when attempting this, and also all the "Don't do this!" or "This worked well" comments. Thanks very much for your positive comments and suggestions! We plan on moving the 5th wheel down to the property (30 miles away outside of Fredericktown, Missouri) this weekend after I replace a bad section of floor in the dinette slide out and winterize the water system. Since you're the AZ Traveler, I'll add that we're heading to Phoenix (Sun City, actually) this weekend to visit my sister and her husband. We're picking up our two "new" inverters in NM on the way home. And it's 34* here in southeast Missouri right now, so AZ's 80* days will be nice!
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Old 10-24-2018, 01:34 PM   #4
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Wasn’t hard for us, we just wrote a check. There’s an outfit in Quartzsite that does it all day every day. We had a 135W panel installed, with all the stuff that goes with it, for $1000 or so a few years ago, and it’s been adequate. We wouldn’t be without it now.
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Old 10-24-2018, 03:35 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by showme View Post
Our 2000 is equipped with a converter to charge the battery and support the dc side, but I'd like to add some solar and maybe an inverter so we could use the 5th wheel while we've got it parked on our land, which has no power yet. We're building an earth covered home next spring and intend to use solar and wind to power the house and shop, so I'd like to set up about 1kw of panels as soon as we get the trailer to the property to have a daily supply. How would one go about tying in to the system, aside from just charging the batteries with the panels through an MPPT charge controller? If anyone has any information on this, I would appreciate your thoughts. Lee
This is what I am going with on my new 3120RL Montana and my trailer is coming with the 265 watt panel from Keystone and I will add another to end up with 530 watts and other than the battle born kit I added one more battery 300ah system.
https://battlebornbatteries.com/shop...ithium-bundle/
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Old 10-24-2018, 03:45 PM   #6
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Wasn’t hard for us, we just wrote a check. There’s an outfit in Quartzsite that does it all day every day. We had a 135W panel installed, with all the stuff that goes with it, for $1000 or so a few years ago, and it’s been adequate. We wouldn’t be without it now.
Who is the guy in Quartzsite that does the solar?
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Old 10-24-2018, 04:42 PM   #7
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Check out Fate Unbound on Youtube. David Hiser has several how-to videos on how to size and install solar panels and related hardware. Here is one:
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Old 10-24-2018, 09:47 PM   #8
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Who is the guy in Quartzsite that does the solar?
As I recall, it was Discount solar. The paperwork is in the 5er, which is in storage at the moment. Sorry, not much help.
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Old 10-24-2018, 11:10 PM   #9
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The only thing I will say about Discount Solar that if you are going to have them install for you is that you do your homework before so that you get exactly what you want and not what they feel like installing.
There is nothing wrong with what they sell and I have bought a panel, tilt kits, wire and batteries from them.
One of the things that they will tell you is that you should never charge your batteries at more than 14.4 volts. That is completely wrong if you are using wet cell batteries as you will never get them fully charged if you use solar as your main source of charging.
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Old 10-28-2018, 04:33 PM   #10
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I’ve installed 3 Samlex 160 watt panels on 3 different rigs. Their system is great and reasonably priced. 2 panels on top your 5r will keep those batteries up great. You can do an inverter but keep it dedicated for a specific plug. Do you have RV gas/ac frig or residential?The good old gas absorption frigs are better for remote or boon dock camping. Plus you can get them in and out the door if you have to change it.
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Old 10-28-2018, 07:25 PM   #11
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solar

what is the coast to add solar to a 42 fth wheek?
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Old 10-28-2018, 07:27 PM   #12
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Advice.....LISTEN to Lenny K above. Try to find Handybob's blog and you will change your mind about Quartside.
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Old 10-29-2018, 12:19 AM   #13
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I too was interested in the battleborn batteries and other brands of lithium’s but I have come across some conflicting information with regard to their use/installation. I’ll do my best to explain it as best I understand it.
The battleborns and other brands that LOOK like conventional batteries have what is called an Internal BMS, Battery Monitoring System.
It is basically a watchdog circuit board which monitors the battery and in the event of a fault, it triggers an internal switch which shuts the battery off to protect it. The faults can include reverse polarity connection, over and under temp, exceeding charge and discharge current limits and cell balancing.
Cell balancing is monitored and adjusted so that all of the cells in the battery are maintained within a few 10ths of a volt of each other. Balancing maintains you’re battery life by ensuring all of the cells perform the same amount of Work and receive the same level of charge which ensures a long service life.

Now, from the research I’ve done, I’m told that batteries with internal BMS’s that are arranged into a parallel or series bank, are not able to communicate with each other via their individual BMS’s, so when they are being charged or discharged, each battery even though they are connected may receive or deliver a differing amount of energy.
This goes against what Battleborn has advertised and I have contacted them for clarification and I am awaiting their reply. As soon as I know I’ll post it. Alternatively if anyone has already come across this would they please share with the group.
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