Shore Power Connection

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by o1marc

If I was in that situation, I would find a way to shut the fridge off when I went to bed. If you don't open the door , it will maintain it's temp for more than 4 hours, a freezer for about 24hrs. I'd rather do that than get up at 4am to turn a generator on. I seriously doubt I would be able to get back to sleep after all that. Put the fridge on a timer that shuts it down at 2am and comes back on at 6am.

I have considered that and if the rig did not have a for sale sign in the window I would do it. Wanna buy a 26' fifth wheel trailer and 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

I have considered that and if the rig did not have a for sale sign in the window I would do it. Wanna buy a 26' fifth wheel trailer and 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4?

Thanks, I'll pass. I have a bus addiction right now.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Thanks, I'll pass. I have a bus addiction right now.

Awww Marc! I really need to sell it. I need room to park another bus....

[MambaJack]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Yeah.... I need a little bit more. I am spoiled with things like refrigerators and televisions am not fond of running the generator much.

I have 300 watts on my trailer and it is not enough to cover the refrigerator all of the time. Same with the batteries. If the refrigerator hits defrost early in the morning, when the batteries are at their lowest, it makes the low voltage alarm on the inverter scream. On a recent trip it managed to do that most every morning about 4:00am prompting me to get out of bed and go outside and fire up the generator.

For my bus, i simply calculated my energy budget and sized my battery bank to support it. Then I sized the solar to support the batteries. Given the amount of time that I spend in Western Washington, I used Seattle for my location in PVWatts to calculate solar hours.
When I go to Seattle for Thanksgiving I won't have to run my generator all of the time.

$150 for 100 watt panel is cheap? I must have stolen mine. I bought 10- 300 watt panels shipped from AZ for $1400.

If you have a cheap source for batteries and charge controllers I would appreciate it. That is the expensive part. I am looking at the following:

https://www.amazon.com/MidNite-Solar...31412467&psc=1


https://webosolar.com/store/en/deep-...hoCNbwQAvD_BwE

Thanks.

PS: someplace close for the batteries would be great. Shipping on 500# of batteries is a killer.

Hey Steve, I recently purchased and hooked up this from ebay, and seems to work really well.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FULL-VERSIO...72.m2749.l2649

Seems like i saw them either advertising on here or spt

I am running a very similar sized setup to what you are

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by MambaJack

Hey Steve, I recently purchased and hooked up this from ebay, and seems to work really well.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FULL-VERSIO...72.m2749.l2649

Seems like i saw them either advertising on here or spt

I am running a very similar sized setup to what you are

Thank you.

That is a good buy.

Now I need to find a good bit on batteries.

[Doktari]

That’s a good price on a Midnite Classic charge controller. It’s the 250 volt input model. Just remember that it runs most efficiently if controller input voltage not too much higher voltage than the battery voltage. Running a 12 volt battery I don’t go above 24 volts nominal, running a 24 volt battery I don’t go above 48 volts nominal. It will function at higher input voltage and only loose a few percent efficiency but it can add up to a lot of power over time.
For example running two 12 volt nominal panels in series for 12 volt battery is optimal but running 3 panels is ok. Not loosing a lot. More than 3 panels the efficiency drops off a little.
My 24 volt system input runs around 70 volts as it’s 4 panels in series. That’s a bit high but works. My other 24 volt system input runs at about 34 volts as it’s two panels in series.
You will have large safety margin on this charge controller input as far as letting the magic smoke out.
Lifeline batteries sure are nice but expensive!!! They are the only agm I know of that takes a mini equalization charge so I suggest them to people.

[Doktari]

As far as shore power connection we like the Outback Power systems 250 enclosures as they are very compact and relatively affordable. There’s the AC 250 enclosure that goes in top of the inverter and the DC 250 enclosure that goes on the bottom of the inverter. These can be space savers and enclose all the breakers, the shunt, the ground bar, etc. They can get a little tight to work in. If there is extra space I like a separate enclosure for the AC input. Saves money and gives more options as far as placement.
One could wire it like a boat with no proper enclosure but marine breakers and panels cost more and is not enclosed well.
Another effective money saver is using a Square D type QO enclosure for the DC solar input and output to the charge controller. . They are cheap, available at any hardware store, and rated up to 48 volts DC. We have used a lot of these.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by MambaJack

Hey Steve, I recently purchased and hooked up this from ebay, and seems to work really well.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FULL-VERSIO...72.m2749.l2649

Seems like i saw them either advertising on here or spt

I am running a very similar sized setup to what you are

Thank you!

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Doktari

As far as shore power connection we like the Outback Power systems 250 enclosures as they are very compact and relatively affordable. There’s the AC 250 enclosure that goes in top of the inverter and the DC 250 enclosure that goes on the bottom of the inverter. These can be space savers and enclose all the breakers, the shunt, the ground bar, etc. They can get a little tight to work in. If there is extra space I like a separate enclosure for the AC input. Saves money and gives more options as far as placement.
One could wire it like a boat with no proper enclosure but marine breakers and panels cost more and is not enclosed well.
Another effective money saver is using a Square D type QO enclosure for the DC solar input and output to the charge controller. . They are cheap, available at any hardware store, and rated up to 48 volts DC. We have used a lot of these.

I was getting excited about saving a buck on my combiner. Only to be dissapointed when I got to the 48 volt Max

My strings are 74 volts. Looks like Midnite for me.

[Doktari]

Yep, I used Midnite combiner panel on outside of my cargo trailer. Not a lot of options here if there’s more than one string especially. I’ve seen pictures of interesting alternatives for DC overcurrent protection in Europe. Some look much more compact than a 6 space Midnite panel.