I got a PM recently asking for a write-up on what we did, so I thought I'd start a new thread with all of the information in one place. To make things simple, I'll write as if Dylan did all of the work. In practice, I did some of the easier stuff, but he did all of the climbing and most of the crawling. Dylan is Dylan Morrison of Superstition Solar in the Phoenix area. Great guy to work with.
We have three 365W residential solar panels in series on the roof. We were able to use the existing wires coming down, which made life a LOT simpler. The little panel that was up there Dylan took away. That gives us a possible 1,095 Watts of solar. That feeds into a switch, then into a Victron MPPT solar controller, a 150/70. That, in turn, goes to the Victron MultiPlus II. Staying with the low voltage side for a bit, we have a pair of Redodo 24 V 200 AH batteries, so we also have a Victron Orion 24-12 V converter. We have a Victron Lynx distribution system with fuses right by the batteries, then a battery master switch on the positive side, with the original shunt on the negative side.
The original inverter is still present, but has been disconnected on the low voltage side. One of these days I'll shut off all power to the trailer and remove the inverter. I suspect that I'll have to put a junction box in there for the 120 V line.
On the 120 V side, I removed the factory shore power connection completely and hardwired the shore power cord to the Hughes Power Watchdog. That feeds the MultiPlus II. Why move the shore power connection? Simplicity. By moving the shore power connection to the front, where everything is located, I was able to have only one run from the MultiPlus II to the breaker box instead of one from the old shore power connection up to the MultiPlus II and then another one going back to the breaker box. That saved a few pounds of weight and a lot of extra work and expense.
The SmugMug link in my signature has been fixed so you can see the pictures. I'm still working on them, so if they are of interest to you I'd suggest you check every couple of weeks for changes. I'm starting by trying to get them in some sort of logical order, then I'll add some captions and notes. There are more pictures that will be added as I get all of the wires properly labeled.
What would I do differently? Probably nothing. I was really on the fence about 12 V or 24 V batteries. I went with the 24V because the day I ordered them that was the best deal. Honestly, I'm not sure that there is really that much of a difference in price when you are all done. Yes, I would have had to use 4/0 cable in places where I was able to use 2/0, but there isn't really that much of that. Because of the 24V system I have to have the Orion converter, which was an additional cost. The weight savings of 2/0 vs 4/0 was probably offset by the weight of the Orion. Because of the 24V system, the very first change that was made was to disconnect the battery charge line from the truck. That means that, when we're traveling, the solar panels are the only source of power for powering the refrigerator and charging the batteries.
Hope this helps.
We have three 365W residential solar panels in series on the roof. We were able to use the existing wires coming down, which made life a LOT simpler. The little panel that was up there Dylan took away. That gives us a possible 1,095 Watts of solar. That feeds into a switch, then into a Victron MPPT solar controller, a 150/70. That, in turn, goes to the Victron MultiPlus II. Staying with the low voltage side for a bit, we have a pair of Redodo 24 V 200 AH batteries, so we also have a Victron Orion 24-12 V converter. We have a Victron Lynx distribution system with fuses right by the batteries, then a battery master switch on the positive side, with the original shunt on the negative side.
The original inverter is still present, but has been disconnected on the low voltage side. One of these days I'll shut off all power to the trailer and remove the inverter. I suspect that I'll have to put a junction box in there for the 120 V line.
On the 120 V side, I removed the factory shore power connection completely and hardwired the shore power cord to the Hughes Power Watchdog. That feeds the MultiPlus II. Why move the shore power connection? Simplicity. By moving the shore power connection to the front, where everything is located, I was able to have only one run from the MultiPlus II to the breaker box instead of one from the old shore power connection up to the MultiPlus II and then another one going back to the breaker box. That saved a few pounds of weight and a lot of extra work and expense.
The SmugMug link in my signature has been fixed so you can see the pictures. I'm still working on them, so if they are of interest to you I'd suggest you check every couple of weeks for changes. I'm starting by trying to get them in some sort of logical order, then I'll add some captions and notes. There are more pictures that will be added as I get all of the wires properly labeled.
What would I do differently? Probably nothing. I was really on the fence about 12 V or 24 V batteries. I went with the 24V because the day I ordered them that was the best deal. Honestly, I'm not sure that there is really that much of a difference in price when you are all done. Yes, I would have had to use 4/0 cable in places where I was able to use 2/0, but there isn't really that much of that. Because of the 24V system I have to have the Orion converter, which was an additional cost. The weight savings of 2/0 vs 4/0 was probably offset by the weight of the Orion. Because of the 24V system, the very first change that was made was to disconnect the battery charge line from the truck. That means that, when we're traveling, the solar panels are the only source of power for powering the refrigerator and charging the batteries.
Hope this helps.
