joeprinter
Fayetteville, NC
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OK,about to start my new solar system in the coach. My question is, if you had a big enough inverter, lets say 2500 Watts. Couldn't you just treat it as a campground plug, ie just plug your shore power into the unit. I suspect it would run everything except the AC.. Second ? If that is doable, how do you Not recharge the battery through the converter? I understand the solo plug approach from inverter, but I would rather have it be Whole RV,without tapping into the AC (alternating current)panel. Second ? is my house batteries are under the steps, however my converter is in the back bay.. What would someone suggest the placement of the inverter and solar control to get the most out of the panels.
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harold1946
Surprise Arizona
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Not sure how you system is set up but but when I am hooked to shore power I shut off the the charger at the EMS and use the solar to maintain the batteries.
The inverter and solar should be as close as possible the the battery bank.
Harold and Linda
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Helimech
Chino Valley
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I removed the fuse from my converter. I see no reason why you can't plug into the inverter.
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Off Pavement
The Silver State - Nevada
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If you are serious about wanting your system to work at it's best and are installing it yourself, I'd suggest you spend the better part of a day or so reading and digesting this web sites information... Handy Bob's Solar Blog
You need to read the the section called "The RV Battery Charging Puzzle". This is not an easy read as there are few pictures or sub headings to break up the text. You won't be able to "scan read" this information.
The author is not selling anything, so you don't have to worry about product bias beyond his own experience. There is so much information, if you are like me, you will end up spending hours on the site trying to make total sense of all the info presented.... I think it's worth it.
Frankly, after reading hundreds of forum posts about solar systems, I wonder how many folks REALLY know what is going on with their systems.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Hi,
The solar charge controller can be fairly far from the battery bank *IF* the unit has battery voltage "sense" wires.
How many watts of solar are you planning on?
Inverters need to be as close as humanly possible to the battery bank without being in the same compartment. Then run a 120 line to the shore power cord box and install an appropriate female outlet.
How many amp-hours of battery bank do you have?
Where there is low shore power I do run my RV off my inverter.
Here is what I do.
1. turn off the converter
2. plug the shore power cord into the outlet installed inside the shore power cord storage box
3. turn on the inverter.
You may wish to switch the fridge and hot water heater to their propane settings.
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts Unisolar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries, 2500 MSW watt inverter.
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joeprinter
Fayetteville, NC
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Thanks for all the responses. I definitely will read the blog regarding solar. I am planning on between 500-800 watts of power in panels. I'm not really sure what my amp hours are at my batteries. Ill have to look. Where my Shore plug is, the converter sits next to it in the same compartment. I am looking at installing a 2500+ pure sine wave inverter once the panels are up an running. I like the idea of running a line from the shore with plugs on each end too the inverter. Thanks for the suggestion. My current converter is 65 amp also its a charger as well, as im class A's. So i want to keep the converter as close to the panels an batteries as possible. Then if I run the ...romex with plugs back to the Shore power, will the amp drop be considerable?
Any suggestions well received.. thanks in advance.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Put the converter on a separate circuit breaker.
You should have 4+ batteries to run a 2500w inverter.
The 120v romex to connect to the main cord should be #10 wire and length will not cause any voltage drop issues. Keep the 12v connection short. That is where volage drop will get you.
With 500/800 watts of solar I would assume a higher voltage series configuration and an MPPT controller. Best to have the controller close to the battery.
Click here for some solar installs w/ pics
Does that 65 amp converter charge the battery at 14.4/14.8 volts? If not consider an upgrade. If you do start the generator you may as well make the most of it.
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shooted
Vancouver
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There will be no amperage drop. A 2500 watt inverter is 21 amps so 10 gauge is required.
As an option you can hardwire the circuit off the inverter and mount the appropriate receptacle just outside and pull the shore power cord to it to plug into as necessary. This is not as convenient as having the receptacle in the shore power storage area, but installation would be easier. I used mine many years like this before hardwiring with a manual transfer switch.
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harold1946
Surprise Arizona
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smkettner wrote:Put the converter on a separate circuit breaker.
You should have 4+ batteries to run a 2500w inverter.
The 120v romex to connect to the main cord should be #10 wire and length will not cause any voltage drop issues. Keep the 12v connection short. That is where volage drop will get you.
With 500/800 watts of solar I would assume a higher voltage series configuration and an MPPT controller. Best to have the controller close to the battery.
Click here for some solar installs w/ pics
Does that 65 amp converter charge the battery at 14.4/14.8 volts? If not consider an upgrade. If you do start the generator you may as well make the most of it.
Why would it be necessary to have 4+ batteries to power a 2500W inverter? I have been running a 3000W with 2 batteries for three years with 715W solar panels and also powering a residential refrigerator.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Xantrex and Victron recommend 400+ amp hours for an inverter this size. My Microwave pulls 165 amps and is less than 1800 watts. You will drain the battery rather quick at this rate and may encounter low voltage shut down.
Residential fridge is what 250w with a 1200w surge at start up?
Of course if you are just running a tv and charging a cell phone it does not matter so much. I assume when you install 2500w or 3000w it will be used at close to that level at times. Possibly even use an additional 50% for start surge.
Not saying it will not work. You just limit usability. As long as the limitations are understood.... go for it.
OP did not really get into how the inverter will be used so I will leave it at that.
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