Planing out imagine 24mpr solar/electrical

[marlowefamily]

24mpr is very tongue weight sensitive and has ac, garage, electric water heater, fridge, etc.. garage can be used to build a mobile office or carry/charge toys. However, dry docking limited to 4 days due to limited tank capacity.

Current thinking:
Between 240Ah to 520Ah Lithium running at 12v
Tongue mounted lockable battery box unless can easily mount behind storage bay with other battery box
3kw inverter
Victron Smart Solar Bluetooth
Possibly Victron lynx Busbar distribution system
Victron smart shunt
4 solar panels between 150-200w each, TBD
.

I have a lot to learn, but need advice on:
- regular battle born heated 100Ah lithium batteries versus gamechanger 270Ah vs victron 200-300Ah
- battery boxes and mounting
- taking out and replacing default charger
- Any good reason to consider 24v?
- Not sure I want to pay for cerebrum gx mgmt, but the touch 50 display is sweet, just use Bluetooth?
- which battery monitor?
- best disconnect switches?
- how to update the crippled one connect in imagine xls to be aware lithium
- ideally want electric and one control remote manageable using same cell connection/hotspot

Yeah, I should probably pay someone to do most of work and design, but if going to maintain system long term.. need to understand why every part chosen and when/how to fix, plus good installers seem to be overloaded and expensive..I guess could hope they teach as they go..




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[Second Chance]

Perhaps @SolarPoweredRV will chime in with some advice here - very knowledgeable.

Rob

[bertschb]

have a lot to learn, but need advice on:
- regular battle born heated 100Ah lithium batteries versus gamechanger 270Ah vs victron 200-300Ah
- battery boxes and mounting
- taking out and replacing default charger
- Any good reason to consider 24v?
- Not sure I want to pay for cerebrum gx mgmt, but the touch 50 display is sweet, just use Bluetooth?
- which battery monitor?
- best disconnect switches?
- how to update the crippled one connect in imagine xls to be aware lithium
- ideally want electric and one control remote manageable using same cell connection/hotspot

I won't give any advice but I can give you my opinion based on the project I just completed on my Solitude.

The reason I went with the new Battleborn Gamechanger 270ah model was because the wiring is simpler which results in fewer potential failure points and also because of the smaller footprint. Two 270ah BBGC3's takes up less space than 5+ 100ah batteries. It's also a newer design so in theory, there may be improvements in the construction and/or materials. That's just a guess though. No proof of that whatsoever as I've seen no battery teardown videos for this new model.

If you get a Victron Multiplus or Multiplus II, it includes a charger so you don't need to replace your charger.

I think the main advantages of a 24v system is you can use smaller wiring which is cheaper and also the components themselves (e.g. solar charge controller) are less expensive.

The Cerbo GX will allow you to connect all your Victron equipment and view the data in the online VRM Portal. In this case, the Touch 50 display isn't necessary as it displays the same data that you see on the VRM Portal from your phone, iPad, laptop, etc.

The Victron Smart Shunt will act as your battery monitor.

Most people use Blue Sea disconnect switches.

There are many good resources online to help you plan and design your system. I knew nothing about solar systems when I started my project and my system is working perfectly. Since I built it, I understand (more or less) how everything works. Check out Explorist.Life for great calculators, tutorials and wiring diagrams. He also has a series of fantastic videos showing you how to do just about everything with solar systems.

Good luck!

[SolarPoweredRV]

24mpr is very tongue weight sensitive and has ac, garage, electric water heater, fridge, etc.. garage can be used to build a mobile office or carry/charge toys. However, dry docking limited to 4 days due to limited tank capacity.

Current thinking:
Between 240Ah to 520Ah Lithium running at 12v
Tongue mounted lockable battery box unless can easily mount behind storage bay with other battery box
3kw inverter
Victron Smart Solar Bluetooth
Possibly Victron lynx Busbar distribution system
Victron smart shunt
4 solar panels between 150-200w each, TBD
.

I have a lot to learn, but need advice on:
- regular battle born heated 100Ah lithium batteries versus gamechanger 270Ah vs victron 200-300Ah
- battery boxes and mounting
- taking out and replacing default charger
- Any good reason to consider 24v?
- Not sure I want to pay for cerebrum gx mgmt, but the touch 50 display is sweet, just use Bluetooth?
- which battery monitor?
- best disconnect switches?
- how to update the crippled one connect in imagine xls to be aware lithium
- ideally want electric and one control remote manageable using same cell connection/hotspot

Yeah, I should probably pay someone to do most of work and design, but if going to maintain system long term.. need to understand why every part chosen and when/how to fix, plus good installers seem to be overloaded and expensive..I guess could hope they teach as they go..




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Here are a few things you might consider:

First, how much 120 volt electricity will you need while camping?

I ask this because, exclusive of the garage, you have a relatively small camper and there are not too many 120v appliances to power up.

Since you are considering Victron for most of your devices, I would recommend installing a Victron Inverter/Charger.

Blue Sea is the brand to go with for your Battery Disconnect switches and any buss bars you may need to install. You might be able to save some money using the Blue Sea buss bars versus the Victron Lynix buss bars.

Also, in the money saving category, you may not need any "Solar System" monitor like the Cerebrum GX you mentioned above. I find that I constantly use the Bluetooth capabilities of my Victron Solar Charge Controller and Victron Battery monitor (with shunt included) to monitor my system and almost never use the Victron GX monitor.

As far as heated batteries go, if you can install the battery(ies) inside the hold (or better yet, inside the garage) you won't need heated batteries. Also, what temperatures do you normally camp at? You need to remember that the LiFePo4 batteries work just fine below freezing, they just can't be charged if the battery temp is below 32 degrees, so, heating would be rarely needed for most of the winter camping in the USA. If the daytime temps reach above the mid 30's your batteries should be able to charge up.

As far as individual batteries vs the Game Changer batteries from Battle Born; choose whichever solution fits your installation space.

Do you need 270ah battery or 540ah battery bank? Only you can answer that question, however, unless you know you are going to need lots and lots of battery storage, I would suggest you install one 270ah battery and design your installation to accept a second 270ah battery if you determine you need it. Basically, I determined that I need 100 ah of battery storage to run the 12v systems in my coach for 24 hours, with heavy Winter Furnace (power hog) usage (this assumes Propane refrigerator). Speaking of refrigerators, if you have a residential refrigerator, I would definitely install the 540ah battery bank from the beginning.

I am a proponent of 24 volt installations, however, you will need to install the 540ah battery bank and if you need to increase it in the future you will need to add another pair of batteries. I like the 24 volt system because the cabling can be smaller and the Inverter does not need to work as hard to make 120 volts. For example: I have a 24 volt system and my battery cables are single ought cable versus the four ought cables which are in a typical 12v system, I also have my system fused at 150 amps versus 300 or 400 amps for a 12v system.

The last item to address are your proposed Solar Panels, Your proposal is too little Wattage for your 270 ah battery and definitely too small for your 540 ah battery bank. Solar panels are going to be the lowest cost items in your entire system. I recommend you look into Residential Solar Panels, on a dollar per Watt basis, they offer great value and your camper should have plenty of space for 1200 to 1400 Watts of Residential Solar panels on the roof. Here is an example: I purchased 4 305 Watt Canadian Solar Panels for $0.69 cents per Watt and mounted them on my roof with "Z" brackets. Today you can get even higher wattage panels for less dollars per Watt.

Here is an example: This panel is a brand name (Longi) 350 Watt panel for only $189, that's 0.54 cents per Watt for a high Wattage, brand name, Solar panel. You could put four of these on your roof for around $800, that is a really good price for 1400 Watts of Solar Power.

Here is the link: https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=...ww8IwgU&adurl=

PS: I found this panel in less than 5 minutes of Google searching.

PPS: Just as a point of reference for the value of the above Solar panel; I recently read that the current average price for Solar panels imported into the USA is $0.34 cents per Watt.

PPPS: the best way to compare Solar panels is on a $/Watt basis.

[Pater C]

I’m no expert, but I have a 24MPR and I am also researching solar. First I discovered lynx batteries. They do not have a case. They are raw prismatic cells held together with VHB tape, but they are only 36lb for their 200 ah. They also sell 24v batteries (don’t know the weight). You can also make your own, but the trickiest thing for me with diy over 150ah is finding a capable bms. I also discovered that Xantrex Freedom inverters are only 16lbs. They are not as capable as a victron, but they are lighter. Another option I have explored is using a solar generator like the Hisolis and wiring it inside the camper. This would give me 4Kw of battery and I would have the ability to move the weight in the camper where I wanted.

Now I have a question for you @marlowefamily
Does your 24mpr have side solar or the roof solar. Mine has side solar and so I am considering just starting with a suitcase solar setup, and then later route from the roof. I haven’t seen any pictures of roof solar on a 24MPR to figure out where I might route myself.

[marlowefamily]

Now I have a question for you @marlowefamily
Does your 24mpr have side solar or the roof solar. Mine has side solar and so I am considering just starting with a suitcase solar setup, and then later route from the roof. I haven’t seen any pictures of roof solar on a 24MPR to figure out where I might route myself.

Both, but to my knowledge the side solar is limited to 10A....roughly 200w.

The roof solar is gauge 10 or 12 wire? So, 20A or 30A?

Both are unfortunately insufficient, but roof seems better setup.

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