solar and battery system 12v or24v

[zoomy]

so 2800 watt is the largest 12v inverter /charge controller that i could find with outback and magnum. i want a little bit more but the next larger wattage steps up to 24v.

Like all vehicles i'm using the steel chassis of the bus as the ground/common for the 12v system for lights and cigarette outlets and the like.

SO HERE IS THE QUESTION if I set the PV array and the battery system as 24v and it has the same ground am I setting my self up for trouble?

im hoping if the ground is on the chassis but the 24v common doesn't touch the chassis until its gone through the 24v/12v step down, that I will be OK.

ANY ONE have a 24v system on there skoolie?

[Deezl Smoke]

You can parallel inverters. Have a good look at your usage and timing of usage. If you see where you can run one inverter for most of the day, then wash clothes or run AC etc. Why not run on one smaller inverter until higher wattage is needed? Look at the static draw, or parasitic watt draw when the inverter is turned on without any usage. The smaller inverters usually have quite low static draw. Some may even be as low as 10 watts. But the larger ones I've seen 75 watt static.

IMO

[family wagon]

It's common practice in a multi-voltage environment to have all the electrical systems reference the metal structure. The 24 volt ac system used for thermostats controlling HVAC gear, the 120/240 volt used for small appliances, the 277 volt used for commercial and industrial lighting, 480 volt wye three phase used for larger commercial and industrial motors.. all have one pole semi-arbitrarily called "neutral" and connected to the building, the framework of the machines, etc. It's all tied together.

It's slightly confusing that in the dc world we call one pole "ground" instead of "neutral" but the principle of connecting one pole to the building (vehicle), machine chassis, etc still applies. You won't have any trouble caused by connecting the 24 volt solar's negative/ground, the 12 volt lights etc negative/ground, and the inverter/generator/shore power neutral all to the bus chassis. That's really the way it should be unless there's a clear reason to keep an electrical system fully isolated.

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by family wagon

It's slightly confusing that in the dc world we call one pole "ground" instead of "neutral" but the principle of connecting one pole to the building (vehicle), machine chassis, etc still applies. You won't have any trouble caused by connecting the 24 volt solar's negative/ground, the 12 volt lights etc negative/ground, and the inverter/generator/shore power neutral all to the bus chassis. That's really the way it should be unless there's a clear reason to keep an electrical system fully isolated.

No kidding!!!
I was text messaging with our Electrical Instructor (different project) and he said I needed to ground the white wire...

I said "wait, what? Is that a typo"

He said no and said it'd be ok.
That broke every rule I ever had about electricity!

[family wagon]

Originally Posted by family wagon

... and the inverter/generator/shore power neutral all to the bus chassis.

On re-reading that, it seems I should clarify a bit! I didn't mean to connect the ac system's neutral directly to the chassis. The chassis should connect to the ac system's grounding wire. The ac system's grounding and neutral wires ultimately do get connected together somewhere (at the inverter, generator, or somewhere upstream in the shore power system) and it's from that big-picture viewpoint I was looking at the situation. The order of the connections does matter; don't ever just grab all the ac system's white neutral wires and terminate them directly to the chassis!

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by family wagon

On re-reading that, it seems I should clarify a bit! I didn't mean to connect the ac system's neutral directly to the chassis. The chassis should connect to the ac system's grounding wire. The ac system's grounding and neutral wires ultimately do get connected together somewhere (at the inverter, generator, or somewhere upstream in the shore power system) and it's from that big-picture viewpoint I was looking at the situation. The order of the connections does matter; don't ever just grab all the ac system's white neutral wires and terminate them directly to the chassis!

In my case, I was running a new residential outlet run in a garage to the control panel.

But, I understand what you mean.