My Solar Install - It's Complete

[mjammersc]

quote:Originally posted by Bigboomer

Nice looking install.....ah and the feeling of completion is almost there.....

Flipping the switch and seeing juice running thru the system is electric!

Yep it is an exciting yet anxiousness moment coming up. Just hope the electric goes in all the right directions.

[mjammersc]

Well, almost there. Got the battery box installed and wired up. After checking the voltages (pretty low, batteries need some charging), I connected the battery box to the system. I setup the Trimetric monitor and it looks good other than only 12.3V on the batteries. Next it was time to try the solar panels and enabled them and no faults or apparent issues other than it was almost dark so other than one or two brief instances where it tried to charge, I was out of any sun (history showed it hit 30.6V on the panels at some instant but it was quickly down to the teens so no charging. Darkness came so the inverter is the only thing left to check out tomorrow. I'll post some pictures soon.

Almost done!

[Bigboomer]

Waiting for sunrise????

[mjammersc]

I HAVE THE POWER!
All systems have checked out on the install and seem to be good to go. I am seeing about 13A off the solar at the moment on a very overcast day. The inverter is doing good and currently charging up the batteries with some help from the solar panels. Seems like the temp compensation circuits are working as the charge volts are higher as it is in the upper 30's out. Now to finish labeling breakers, do some cable dressing and clean up all my tools. There was one casualty, when I was snaking the cables to the control panel, I busted the connector off (electrical traces and all) the back of the thermostat - oops At least I found it now so I can order a replacement before my first outing in a couple weeks.

Thanks everyone for all the help, advice, and encouragement. I'll post some final picts, updated drawings, etc. If anyone following this was more details, PM me and I can get the data to you.

[Razrbk]

Congrats! Thanks for sharing your install.

[mjammersc]

Here's the last round of install and setup picts - as least until I do some fine tuning.

Here is the final battery box install and venting:





And the meters when I was charging it up. 13A off the solar on a gray day and 48A from the inverter charger (set to be backed way down to allow joint charge with Solar and not overcharge the batteries). The Trimetric showing the net power (we were running some items and there are a fair amount of low draw "idle" loads in these rigs I'll have to account for).







That's all for now. First trip is in a couple weeks with a couple nights on solar only if all goes to plan.

[Drifty1]

Now you need to disconnect the shore power cord to see how your solar really works.. By the size of your system you should run fine.. Nice setup by the way, it looks very clean..

[mjammersc]

Thanks. Looking forward to trying it out and seeing how it does off grid. And then hunting down phantom loads and eliminating them as possible.

[Mudchief]

I found out the best time to hunt those phantom loads was at night. If you do it during the day disconnect the panels.

[rjlamb]

My husband is beginning the installation of the 3 solar panels on our 2014 293RL Montana. He has finally found the converter! We found your design on this thread. Could we have a larger copy of a solar design please. Our email is rjlamb@shaw.ca. He also wants to know about prewiring for satellite.

Any tips and tricks will do!