Solar Panel Project

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Here are a few pics of the solar panel install, and some explanations.  More pics to come and more details, but this will get you all started. 

Here are the panels up on the roof.  These are 235 watt Canadian Solar monocrystaline solar panels, for a total of 705 watts of solar.  I mounted them flat, with aluminum Z brackets, with Eternabond under each foot, stainless steel screws, and some silicone over each screw head.  The cables are 10 gauge, routed with cable clamps, also screwed down with stainless screws through Eternabond, with silicone over the screw heads.  They go down through the vent cap, but because I had to lower the vent cap sides to get all the thick cables through, you can see the additional cover I added over the vent cap to keep the rain and rain splash out.  Its made from a chimney cover...and the only paint I had was gold, so now we have bling on the roof...lol!  If you look really close, you can see the wind fairing in front of the front panel:



Here's another pic, this time of the front of the RV, where you can see the wind fairing a little bit better:



This is our battery compartment...lots of amp hours!!!



And this is the charge controller set up.  There is a 48 volt muffin fan, barely visible, on the left side of the picture.  Its powered directly from the panels through a fuse, and keeps cooling air flowing over the charge controller cooling fins all day long.  The charge controller is a Morningstar MPPT Tristar 60 amp unit.  You can see some of the wiring in the pic, with more to come.  This is also the compartment where the 3000 watt peak (1500 continuous) inverter lives.  Its a Coleman modified sine wave, and so far is as durable and reliable any of the way more expensive units on the market!



And that is it so far.  I'll load more pics and more explanations when I have more time.

Kev

[Oz]

That's awesome, Kev.  A big thanks from all of us for you contributions on this project and your posts on the other boards.  I, for one, may not understand it all at first glance but, it's truly a play-play resource for all of us!

[DonD]

The plumbing looks like it has some Flair-it fittings. I really like those. Have 'em in my stick house too.

Good job Kev!

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Yep!  Flair-it fittings are awesome, and tie right into the existing grey pipes with no leaks or modification...or special tools!  We even used them for the washer dryer water valves, since they make those too.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Lots more pics!  Slow internet connection, so tonight I concentrated on just the solar panel system and chassis electric and converter, since it all ties into batteries and storage and charging.

This is the Powermax Boondocker Converter 3 stage charger that powers the coach on shore power...charges the batteries VERY quickly on genny power since we got the highest amp unit:



Here are the rear two solar panels, taken from the front of the rig.



A close up view of the front solar panel wind fairing.



A farther view of the front panel and wind fairing...



And a bit further away...



Front panel...sometimes it will get shaded by the antenna.



This is the center solar panel:



Here is another view of it:



This is how I brought the wiring from the roof to the controller...through the existing vent cap.



I added an additional cover over the roof cap, since I had to cut and lower the sides of the stock roof vent to get the thick wires through.  I only had gold paint, so now we have bling on the roof!



The rear solar panel




I had to add this oak wire run cover in the bathroom, since the wires were too thick to run through the wall directly...



And my internet connection is so slow, this is all I can stand to post tonight!

Kev

[joanfenn]

Looking good Kevin

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Okay, maybe a few more pics this morning.

This is the oak wire run cover I made to conceal and protect the big fat wires under the dinette.



Another shot of our battery compartment, and one of the RV power distribution panel in the compartment:





While I was at it, I put in a new chassis battery, also an Interstate.  This lives in the nose of the RV.  The picture right below it is of the Lestek voltage regulator, still good, and the still functional power solenoids.





In the charge controller compartment I also mounted the inverter.  This compartment, right under the front dinette bench, is right over the battery compartment, so the wire run from controller and inverter to the battery bank is very short, using very heavy wires.



The heavy orange cable in the above picture goes down into the battery compartment, and is zip tied to the new washer dryer drain pipe, all the way back to the power sewer compartment, where I added yet another plug for the RV power cord.  The one on the left is for the genny, the one on the right is for the inverter.  When boondocking, we plug the RV cord into the inverter plug, unplug the Powermax Boondocker converter, and everything in the RV works from battery power, including the outlets, TV, etc.  We also put the fridge on propane when hooked into the inverter.

Here are two pics of the power/sewer compartment showing the plug configurations.





Back to the charge controller compartment, you can see more of the wiring in the following pic.  The little phone cord looking cable goes to the monitor panel, which I mounted where I could read it without having to look in the compartment.  Sheba is very interested in whatever daddy is doing!





The following picture shows how I brought the wires in from the solar panels, and tied them into the charge controller.  The three thick 10 gauge orange wires, made from a Home Depot Rigid extension cord, come into the rig past all the wire runs, and then tie into a fuse block made by Blue Sea, available at West Marine.  I used the fuse block in reverse, since it made it the easiest way to fuse each solar panel before bringing them into the charge controller.  From the fuse block, a heavy 4 gauge wire leads to a Blue Sea 80 amp circuit breaker, and then from the breaker, another 4 gauge wire leads to the charge controller.  This picture also shows the wire and fuse that leads to the 48 volt muffin fan installed to keep the charge controller cool enough in this confined space.  It runs directly off the solar power coming in, so it shuts itself off at night when not needed.



The following is the last picture I took of the solar project so far.  It shows the L brackets I used to mount the muffin fan, and the other 80 amp Blue Sea circuit breaker that goes from the charge controller to the battery compartment.  It was necessary to add the muffin fan, since the charge controller is supposed to be mounted on a wall with at least a foot of air space above it.  Well, I wasn't about to mount it on the kitchen wall!  So yep, the muffin fan will definitely work to keep the unit cool enough...lots of air flow all day long!



And that's it!  At least so far!  If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

A quick update on the solar project.  I have decided that it is a VERY good idea to turn the breakers off on both sides of the charge controller when hooked to shore power.  As the winter sun gets stronger towards a spring sun here in Arizona, I've been noticing my battery voltage getting higher and higher when connected to shore power.  For the last few days I was consistently charging the batteries at 15.2+ volts!

And not trusting my little digital battery monitor that only tells me volts, I checked it at the batteries during sunlight hours and yep, 15.2 volts!

So apparently the Powermax Boondocker converter puts out a consistent base voltage regardless of what its reading, as does the Morningstar MPPT charge controller, and they don't cooperate with each other.

I tripped the breakers on both sides of the Morningstar to the off position since we are connected to shore power for the next 8 weeks, and the voltage dropped back down to a reasonable and good maintenance voltage of 13.2.

Since I had no idea of how long we were overcharging, I checked the battery water level, and its wasn't too low...I was able top all six of them off with about 16 ounces of distilled water total.

But still...Had I NOT noticed the overcharging, I could have boiled my batteries dry here over the next 8 weeks!

Keep an eye on your voltage...not all systems are compatible or self regulating, and nothing beats hands on intelligence gathering...lol!

Kev

[Oz]

... and nothing beats hands on intelligence gathering...lol! 

I apply this same method to sex.  It works!    :)rotflmao