New to solar

Fairview Roamstead

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New Hampshire
We just purchased but haven’t taken possession of an Influence 3704 and it comes standard with a 320w solar panel to run the 12 volt fridge. We upgraded to a 2000w inverter so we can use some things while not connected to power. I am seriously considering purchasing a Battleborn 270ah battery for the rig. My question is, how well will a 320w panel keep up with charging if we used things like lights, the tv on occasion and small appliances like a coffee maker, etc. Will this one panel be sufficient or should I be looking into adding another panel?
 
We just purchased but haven’t taken possession of an Influence 3704 and it comes standard with a 320w solar panel to run the 12 volt fridge. We upgraded to a 2000w inverter so we can use some things while not connected to power. I am seriously considering purchasing a Battleborn 270ah battery for the rig. My question is, how well will a 320w panel keep up with charging if we used things like lights, the tv on occasion and small appliances like a coffee maker, etc. Will this one panel be sufficient or should I be looking into adding another panel?

Hey fellow New Hampshirite, congratulations on your new coach. There are a few considerations to consider before answering your question. Are you planning to camp off-grid? If so, you would benefit from coming up with an energy budget. You mention a 12-volt frig, for us the 12-volt frig uses about 100 Ah (Amp hours) per day. Your lights and TV won't use that much, something like a coffee maker or the microwave uses a lot, but usually just for a short time.

On the solar side, where do you usually camp? Here in New Hampshire, we often camp on wooded sites with limited solar exposure. If it's the same for you, then a portable panel might be better since it can easily be moved around to capture what sun you have. To calculate your solar gain divide the total watts of your solar power by 12 volts (assuming a 12-volt system) then multiply by the number of hours you will get sun. For example 320/12 = about 25 Amps per hour times 4 hours = 100 Ah per day. If you added another 320-watt panel you would get 200 Ah.

Once you have an idea of your energy uses and sources, then you can make a good estimate of how much storage you might need. For us it works like this: 250 Ah daily usage (includes 12-volt frig, lights, pump, various inverter users) less 50 Ah of solar leads to storage needs of 200 Ah per day. We have 800 Ah of LiFePo4 batteries which gives us about 4 days of off-grid camping.
 
I wouldn't waste the money on battleborn, there are plenty of decent lithium batterys for substantially less dollars than battleborn. I would make sure to get one with low temp cut off and if you desire possibly heated, but I have not found the need for a heated battery. I am a fan of Ampere time which is currently called Litime.

you can sink as much money as you want in solar panels and batterys and it still isn't enough. I have roughly 600 amp hours in batterys and 360 watts of solar on the roof. It is more than enough to travel with.
 
I second the opinion about Battle Born. I doubt if anyone would say they are a bad battery, but I can say, you will waste a lot of money on them. There are several manufacturers that will give you what Battle Born does and a price that is almost 50% less. Research what others have done.

When it comes to their warranty, I feel if the product or manufactured product is bad, it will fail fairly quickly. I purchased a Renogy 3k inverter that was bad out of the box. The warranty one has been trouble free.

If you feel much more comfortable with a long term warranty, then you can't beat a Battle Born. Assuming they will be in business by the time warranty runs out. Yes, that is something you need to think about with Battle Born and the cheap Chinese brands that are out there. Will you even need the warranty that long [ie will you have the RV that long?].

I recently topped my capacity off at 1200ah. I think I got enough. Recently, we went dry camping for 3 complete days. We left with 60% remaining. We did not skimp on anything.
 
I would definitely buy something other than battle born .
Buy you your solar setup with the extra money.
 
Given the mention of cheap Chinese brands, just also want to mention that the cells Battleborn uses are also from China. I do not believe any are manufactured yet in the US. Battleborn is assembled in the US though.
 
I like Battle Borns. Yes they are expensive. Just like a Mercedes cost more than a Chevy. A Chevy will get you places, but it will never be a Mercedes. Battle Borns have a great reputation and following for a reason. Buy what you can afford and be happy with.
 
Given the mention of cheap Chinese brands, just also want to mention that the cells Battleborn uses are also from China. I do not believe any are manufactured yet in the US. Battleborn is assembled in the US though.
I will point out here that Battle Born uses different cells than all the others. Will Prowse did a teardown of one a while back
 
I have 2 Battleborn batteries. If I want to add to the bank, I assume I can mix with a different brand?

Oldcow
 
I will point out here that Battle Born uses different cells than all the others. Will Prowse did a teardown of one a while back

Yes, but still made in China. Just trying to clarify that if people think Battleborn (assembled in USA) means they are sourced and made in the USA, that is not the case. I'm not saying it diminishes their quality at all. I'd prefer more cells and chips and everything else get produced here but that's just not reality at the moment.
 
As cheap as Americans are, China is not going out of business anytime soon and American production will remain low.

The way Boeing is making planes anymore, even buying American is not saying much.
 
Well now that a lot of you said not to buy Battle Born batteries, too late. I purchased two 270Ah batteries during their Earth Day sale which took $400 off each one. They are definitely a lot more expensive than some of the other brands mentioned but I do like the fact that it is an American company (despite the cells being sourced from China) and they have a 10 year warranty. I also upgraded the camper with a second 320W panel giving me a total of 640W of solar. I’m thinking that should be plenty for my needs. We don’t do a whole lot of off grid camping but feel this should work nicely for us when we do. Next question, would this setup be able to run one of the air conditioners if I installed soft starts on them? It isn’t imperative as I’ll also have dual 3500 watt inverter generators and a parallel cable along for when the need arises.
 
Well now that a lot of you said not to buy Battle Born batteries, too late. I purchased two 270Ah batteries during their Earth Day sale which took $400 off each one. They are definitely a lot more expensive than some of the other brands mentioned but I do like the fact that it is an American company (despite the cells being sourced from China) and they have a 10 year warranty. I also upgraded the camper with a second 320W panel giving me a total of 640W of solar. I’m thinking that should be plenty for my needs. We don’t do a whole lot of off grid camping but feel this should work nicely for us when we do. Next question, would this setup be able to run one of the air conditioners if I installed soft starts on them? It isn’t imperative as I’ll also have dual 3500 watt inverter generators and a parallel cable along for when the need arises.

You would need a 3,000 Watt Inverter to run one A/C unit.

In theory, 2,000 Watts might be able to run one A/C unit, however the draw from the A/C startup would be too high to start the A/C, even with a soft start A/C module. Additionally, nothing else would be able to operate during A/C operation.

With my 3,000 Watt Inverter, I am able to operate a single A/C unit.
 
Well crud. I know I got screwed by the dealer too. They are charging me $3K to install a 2000W inverter and the trailer is already prepped for it. If I ordered the trailer from the factory it would cost $1700 for the inverter AND a second 320W solar panel. Now I’m paying $3K plus $1200 for the second panel. If I knew how to do this stuff myself I’m sure I could have saved a ton of money.
 
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Yes, but still made in China. Just trying to clarify that if people think Battleborn (assembled in USA) means they are sourced and made in the USA, that is not the case. I'm not saying it diminishes their quality at all. I'd prefer more cells and chips and everything else get produced here but that's just not reality at the moment.

Just about everything has some parts made in China.
The Battle Born cell difference is signifignant though. They use a bunch of cylindrical cells Will Prowese really liked them, said he could understand how BB could warranty them for 10 years.
I also really like the strength/quality of their posts. The cheap ones tend to skimp on that part.
 
Well crud. I know I got screwed by the dealer too. They are charging me $3K to install a 2000W inverter and the trailer is already prepped for it. If I ordered the trailer from the factory it would cost $1700 for the inverter AND a second 320W solar panel. Now I’m paying $3K plus $1200 for the second panel. If I knew how to do this stuff myself I’m sure I could have saved a ton of money.

I suppose now might not be the best time to provide you with this link:

Affordable-Solar-How-To-Design-and-Install-an-Affordable-Solar-System

Perhaps it will prove useful for any future upgrades.
 
Well crud. I know I got screwed by the dealer too. They are charging me $3K to install a 2000W inverter and the trailer is already prepped for it. If I ordered the trailer from the factory it would cost $1700 for the inverter AND a second 320W solar panel. Now I’m paying $3K plus $1200 for the second panel. If I knew how to do this stuff myself I’m sure I could have saved a ton of money.

On the bright side, you'll have quite a good system that should give you years of enjoyment.
 
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Well crud. I know I got screwed by the dealer too. They are charging me $3K to install a 2000W inverter and the trailer is already prepped for it. If I ordered the trailer from the factory it would cost $1700 for the inverter AND a second 320W solar panel. Now I’m paying $3K plus $1200 for the second panel. If I knew how to do this stuff myself I’m sure I could have saved a ton of money.

Don't beat yourself up, there's just no getting around the fact that doing it yourself will save lots of money. Not everyone has the time, energy, or inclination to DIY on all things, so you're putting food on someone else's table. No harm in that. For reference, I was able to get pricing for a similar system to the one I installed, albeit less battery capacity, less solar, but otherwise very similar equipment and such. I spent just under $6.000 on my system, the similar one installed by a reputable company was priced at $15,500. It does pay to DIY. But the caveat is, I could not tell you how many hours I spent researching, learning, testing, installing, re-installing, etc. There is no way it would have happened if I had not been retired. It would have taken 3 years to do it while I had my job. It seemed like a full time job for months for me to do it myself. So, don't fret it. If you are interested, start researching so you can make incremental upgrades on your own in the future.
 
Just about everything has some parts made in China.
The Battle Born cell difference is signifignant though. They use a bunch of cylindrical cells Will Prowese really liked them, said he could understand how BB could warranty them for 10 years.
I also really like the strength/quality of their posts. The cheap ones tend to skimp on that part.

I like them too. Will Prowse also likes other batteries and often says you don't need to spend that much anymore. If you can buy twice or more AH capacity batteries for half the price of a Battleborn, it seems silly not to consider options. EVE cells are also very reliable, and some have dual posts, are sold by companies within the US. Battleborn was definitely the first to major market and for a while there really weren't any viable competitors. But those days are gone. They'll still be around - similar to Apple phones and such - they just have a portion of the market willing to pay more for their product when there are other viable lesser expensive options around. Those are just my thoughts on the subject...
 

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