Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

gojodo · 11-29-2006, 12:44 AM

OK, I have now prodded many of you on this site, others from RV Forum, and various installers around the country. I would like to share with you my conclusions on the most practical solar system for my 3075RL and would appriciate any suggestions you would have to improve it or correct my approach. I think I have described everything except wire sizes and a few in-line fuses that will be necessary. I still will have a problem drilling that first screw into my roof. In advance as usual I want to thank all of you for your help. I wouldn't be this far without it. John Weber

Solar System Specifications

Solar Panels - (4 Panel system) 4-AM100’s rated under pressure at 4.54 amps and 21.5 volts with 44 cells,

Solar Controller - The Heliotrope HPV 30 with 500 watt solar input capability

Batteries - 4 – 6Volt Golf Cart Trojan T105 batteries mounted in a slide out tray in the generator compartment. Two T105’s are rated at 225 amp hours. (I compared these with AGM but those are just to expensive)

Inverter – the pure sine wave Magnum MS 2012 with a 50 amp transfer switch built in.

Battery Meter - I am still checking on the instrumentation. If the Inverter doesn’t have cumulative amp hours I will probably go with a Trimetric Battery meter as well.

Installation: Wiring from roof to Solar Controller - Here I would bring the wire down the black water air vent pipe since I my refrigerator is in a slide. The black water air vent is near the front of the Monty and exits the upper unit in the basement. I would come out of the pipe in the basement and the run the wire into the generator compartment from there. In the generator compartment I would mount the Solar Controller next to the battery bank. I would then continue the wire from the battery bank through the sheet metal wall into the exiisting battery compartment where I will be mounting the Inverter. Somewhere here I would add the 500 amp shunt then wire into the Inverter. Right now the Shore power comes into this area because it is pre-wired for a generator and runs through a transfer switch. I would take out the transfer switch and simply attach the 50 amp cables to the Inverter. I would bring another line from the 500 amp shunt to the block where the existing battery is connected to branch off to three spots: the hydraulic pump, the jacks, and the main DC Panel. All of my monitors would be mounted above the thermostat inside and wired back to the appropriate components.

11-29-2006, 12:44 AM	#1
gojodo Montana Fan Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Manakin-Sabot Posts: 371 M.O.C. #5540	Solar System Specifications OK, I have now prodded many of you on this site, others from RV Forum, and various installers around the country. I would like to share with you my conclusions on the most practical solar system for my 3075RL and would appriciate any suggestions you would have to improve it or correct my approach. I think I have described everything except wire sizes and a few in-line fuses that will be necessary. I still will have a problem drilling that first screw into my roof. In advance as usual I want to thank all of you for your help. I wouldn't be this far without it. John Weber Solar System Specifications Solar Panels - (4 Panel system) 4-AM100’s rated under pressure at 4.54 amps and 21.5 volts with 44 cells, Solar Controller - The Heliotrope HPV 30 with 500 watt solar input capability Batteries - 4 – 6Volt Golf Cart Trojan T105 batteries mounted in a slide out tray in the generator compartment. Two T105’s are rated at 225 amp hours. (I compared these with AGM but those are just to expensive) Inverter – the pure sine wave Magnum MS 2012 with a 50 amp transfer switch built in. Battery Meter - I am still checking on the instrumentation. If the Inverter doesn’t have cumulative amp hours I will probably go with a Trimetric Battery meter as well. Installation: Wiring from roof to Solar Controller - Here I would bring the wire down the black water air vent pipe since I my refrigerator is in a slide. The black water air vent is near the front of the Monty and exits the upper unit in the basement. I would come out of the pipe in the basement and the run the wire into the generator compartment from there. In the generator compartment I would mount the Solar Controller next to the battery bank. I would then continue the wire from the battery bank through the sheet metal wall into the exiisting battery compartment where I will be mounting the Inverter. Somewhere here I would add the 500 amp shunt then wire into the Inverter. Right now the Shore power comes into this area because it is pre-wired for a generator and runs through a transfer switch. I would take out the transfer switch and simply attach the 50 amp cables to the Inverter. I would bring another line from the 500 amp shunt to the block where the existing battery is connected to branch off to three spots: the hydraulic pump, the jacks, and the main DC Panel. All of my monitors would be mounted above the thermostat inside and wired back to the appropriate components.