BozemanTrail
Montana
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Joined: 11/20/2010
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Just starting up my solar install project on the roof of my class C.
Installed four Unisolar ePVL-68 panels today. They went on really cleanly on the roof.
Next part is to wire things up and get the charge controller in place.
I'll post a few pics along the way.
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BozemanTrail
Montana
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Two panels installed up front
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi,
It's looking GREAT!
Are you going parallel or series/parallel?
Which charge controller?
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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BozemanTrail
Montana
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Two pairs each in series to get me up to nominal 24v (when I pulled the open voltage today it was 44v). Then those two strings in parallel. The other two panels are on the back end of the rig -- hard to find space on top.
I'll be using the Rogue MPPT controller -- likely overkill for what I really need, but looks to be a nice unit.
I didn't get all the wiring in place yet. I wanted to get the panels up on the roof to see where things were going to fit best. It was such a nice day in Montana today that not only did I dry fit them to see where I wanted to run the wire, but I also installed them. I will say that the adhesive on the bottom seems like it will keep them on for life without any holes in the roof -- but they were also really easy to get in place.
Hopefully this will give me enought power to last a bit more w/o power or running the genny. I already have all the lights inside replaced with LEDs, so now it is just trying to manage power with a wife and two young daughters wanting to do their things.
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BozemanTrail
Montana
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About as wide of a shot as I can get showing the front and rear pairs of panels:
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BozemanTrail
Montana
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Finished the installation yesterday (almost). Ran the cables through the fridge vent and mounted the charger controller up high so the kids couldn't mess with it.
Only thing left is to get some covers for the wiring if I can find something that works (they are currently held down with cable ties and cable tie anchors).
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Hi,
It looks like a wonderful system install to me. I can hardly wait to hear your results.
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BozemanTrail
Montana
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Yup, it will be good to see -- right now it's not all that exciting sitting in the driveway will the batteries already charged. It recorded 376 Wh today, likely most of it in float I'd presume since the batteries were likely topped off...
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smkettner
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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Leave a couple lights on overnight 
Not sure the wires through the living area would be right for me but it looks like an excellent install.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
675 watts solar
Send a PM if I missed something
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BozemanTrail
Montana
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yeah, I need to cover the wires up with something nicer looking. But in looking at the space I have, I really didn't have much choice. Not many flat areas inside and I didn't want to put in any of my storage compartments underneath because those seem to get filled up with all sorts of stuff and ventelation wouldn't be good.
My batteries are under the steps (see the last picture) and the fridge vent is to the right (see the last picture). So, my cable runs were pretty short -- ~15 feet total from panels to the MPPT controller and ~12 feet from MPPT controller to batteries.
When I cover up the wires I'll post up a few more pictures.
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