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My 5th wheel solar setup

DILLIGAF

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Here is some info I get thru my bluetooth app on my IPhone. I only took a pic of one display for the solar but you can see what the total current output is.

this is producing enough power to run a portable AC unit for Roxy in the garage and then some.

real happy with this.

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HitIt

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Lets get some more details of the setup. I am going to put up around 600 - 800W on my 5er soon and would love to see how you mounted the panels. I am considering some sort of rail system to make it easier to swap/replace/upgrade panels.
 

mesquito_creek

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That's pretty cool!... I am installing the Victron smart shunt into my battery bank this weekend. I should be able to gather the same since it appears you are on the VE app also. Can you tell us what the manufacture watts/amp output is on the AC unit plate vs what you are observing? Also any details on the AC like BTU/Watts etc.. I am trying to guessimate some of my AC loads.
 

DILLIGAF

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Lets get some more details of the setup. I am going to put up around 600 - 800W on my 5er soon and would love to see how you mounted the panels. I am considering some sort of rail system to make it easier to swap/replace/upgrade panels.

I have 2400w of solar on top. 8 300w panels. I am not 100% sure of the mount but I think they can be swapped out pretty easy with just some basic screws to remove.

5 Battle Borne lithiums, 3K w invertor, and the Vicon setup for IPhone usage.

I love checking out the performance of it all via the phone.
 

Taboma

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Hard to determine what I'm seeing here on those screen shots. I'm seeing 103 volts and over 1600 watts, what is it feeding, the AC you mentioned ? Charging batteries ?
Anyway, glad it's working great for your needs. 👍
 

mesquito_creek

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.... Never mind I see it now! You are pulling in 805 watts of your 2400 pv array and using 1183!
 

DILLIGAF

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That's pretty cool!... I am installing the Victron smart shunt into my battery bank this weekend. I should be able to gather the same since it appears you are on the VE app also. Can you tell us what the manufacture watts/amp output is on the AC unit plate vs what you are observing? Also any details on the AC like BTU/Watts etc.. I am trying to guessimate some of my AC loads.

Not as versed as you but the AC in the back produces a lot of AC and is just plugged in to a regular outlet. The hose hangs out the window and it is on wheels. Bought it at HD or Lowes....can't remember. I just looked on the AC unit and the label shows:

Here is the label off the portable. I decided not to add a 3rd roof AC and went this route. Its an LG
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DILLIGAF

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I ise this Victron to check on battery, solar (i have two zones if you will), input and output. It is at 30a now because I do not have 50a currently.

you can also go into other areas of the app to check out history, graphs, etc

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mesquito_creek

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Kick ass.... I think the way to read the 805 watts you are show is net of the load!... So you are producing about 1988watts of you 2400watt array.. that is excellent.

You could validate that by turning off the AC load and showing the same screens again. We would see something like 19XX on that solar status page.... "Total Network Power" might be the same thing but the math is off, but not to say its not telling you the same thing measured vs via the calculator.

Sorry to put you to work, but I think this is showing a great scenario for you!
 

DILLIGAF

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lol....Making me work :) I don't want to turn the AC off right now as the pup is in there sleeping. Its basically her dog house...I don't need the AC on in the rest of the trailer right now. If a little AC is needed I crank hers and just open up the door into the trailer and that gets a bit of cool air in here as well. I really like the flexibility of that portable unit.

I get good sun where I am at....no shade over head and a straight shot pretty much right now. I believe one of the "zones" is tilted a bit one way a bit and the other "zone: is tilted the other way a bit. Its not a completely flat roof

I respect your opinion of this and am pretty happy with it. I am still considering adding the 5 additional BB's to have more in reserve. I try to stay off the generator if at all possible. Thats my fail safe backup only. I will run it a bit from time to time so it doesn't get stale though.
 

mesquito_creek

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Not as versed as you but the AC in the back produces a lot of AC and is just plugged in to a regular outlet. The hose hangs out the window and it is on wheels. Bought it at HD or Lowes....can't remember. I just looked on the AC unit and the label shows:

Here is the label off the portable. I decided not to add a 3rd roof AC and went this route. Its an LG

That's great. The AC unit is rated at 1270 and your total load across the whole RV is 1183... so the manufacture did not lie!
 

DILLIGAF

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Hard to determine what I'm seeing here on those screen shots. I'm seeing 103 volts and over 1600 watts, what is it feeding, the AC you mentioned ? Charging batteries ?
Anyway, glad it's working great for your needs. 👍

I only showed one zone in the previous pics. The latter had both zones broken out.

So earlier is was producing a total of over 1600w while I was drawing about 1200w for the AC. The overage goes into keeping the batteries topped off and if that is 100% it restricts further flow into them until the batter drops a bit
 

DILLIGAF

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That's great. The AC unit is rated at 1270 and your total load across the whole RV is 1183... so the manufacture did not lie!

That little AC gets the job done for sure. My pup is very happy with that on. I assume the draw on that is less than my overhead AC would be drawing as well. For the most part I will be hopefully running around in mountains where the temps won't be as dramatic up. If I am going to end up anywhere like LHC in the summer I will have full hook ups as the AC units will be running hard..
 

mesquito_creek

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lol....Making me work :) I don't want to turn the AC off right now as the pup is in there sleeping. Its basically her dog house...I don't need the AC on in the rest of the trailer right now. If a little AC is needed I crank hers and just open up the door into the trailer and that gets a bit of cool air in here as well. I really like the flexibility of that portable unit.

I get good sun where I am at....no shade over head and a straight shot pretty much right now. I believe one of the "zones" is tilted a bit one way a bit and the other "zone: is tilted the other way a bit. Its not a completely flat roof

I respect your opinion of this and am pretty happy with it. I am still considering adding the 5 additional BB's to have more in reserve. I try to stay off the generator if at all possible. Thats my fail safe backup only. I will run it a bit from time to time so it doesn't get stale though.

Let sleeping dogs lie as they say.

you have 5 - 100 ah 12v batteries... so 500X12 = 6000watts of storage.....

so at your current 1183watt load you could run for 5.07 hours in total darkness... But AC units cycle on and off and don't run continuous. You should run what you brung and field test it. You might be right where you need to be. But its nice knowing your equipment will let you scale up to 12000watts of battery storage if you need to.
 

HitIt

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Dropping another $5k on more batteries is a hard pill to swallow. If I was you (I will be when my current lead-acid batteries die) I would look into making your own battery bank with prismatic cells. I would bet you could sell your current bank for around $3k and build a pretty kick ass battery bank for way less than you would be into the new 5 BBs.
 

DILLIGAF

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By the way....It was James who set me up on this. Same guy who set up you and Wash11. A transfer switch burned up on me recently and had to be replaced.....YIKES!
 

DILLIGAF

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Dropping another $5k on more batteries is a hard pill to swallow. If I was you (I will be when my current lead-acid batteries die) I would look into making your own battery bank with prismatic cells. I would bet you could sell your current bank for around $3k and build a pretty kick ass battery bank for way less than you would be into the new 5 BBs.

Above my pay grade.....I hear ya though

I did see some other batteries and it may have been Mesquito creek talking about them. I don't want to mix match batteries but I think the ones he uses are less expensive and maybe 2-3 times the power of the BB's. I would have to look back on it all.
 

DILLIGAF

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Its kind of fun checking everything out on the Victron displays. Very cool

While driving I can turn on the genset to in turn run the AC to cool off the rig prior to arriving or just use the solar if producing good for me. I can keep an eye on the draw and everything else while driving as well.

I use the OneControl App for the coach devices on the IPhone
 

mesquito_creek

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Dropping another $5k on more batteries is a hard pill to swallow. If I was you (I will be when my current lead-acid batteries die) I would look into making your own battery bank with prismatic cells. I would bet you could sell your current bank for around $3k and build a pretty kick ass battery bank for way less than you would be into the new 5 BBs.

While I am probably going to build my own batteries next time and do what you are suggesting.... I personally think that the reputation of Battleborn given the stress and conditions of RV travel warrants the extra expense. It hard to find even the most die hard solar enthusiast who will not endorse the quality and application of BB in the RV solar world. Its only a money proposition and while its alot of money, RV people want to RV and not ever think about the batteries. BB is the top of the line in that respect in my opinion.
 

mesquito_creek

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By the way....It was James who set me up on this. Same guy who set up you and Wash11. A transfer switch burned up on me recently and had to be replaced.....YIKES!

I did not use James at the end of the day... I got quotes but ended up sourcing all my own equipment. But he was reasonable and competitive.
 

HitIt

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While I am probably going to build my own batteries next time and do what you are suggesting.... I personally think that the reputation of Battleborn given the stress and conditions of RV travel warrants the extra expense.
He is going to be in for $10k of batteries when all is said and done. Sure, it is plug and play but at that level of capacity I would start looking at other options. If the money it isn't a problem, it is hard to argue with the convenience and the warranty though 👍

If you really want to give BB all of the money, they just came out with this:

 

mesquito_creek

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He is going to be in for $10k of batteries when all is said and done. Sure, it is plug and play but at that level of capacity I would start looking at other options. If the money it isn't a problem, it is hard to argue with the convenience and the warranty though 👍

If you really want to give BB all of the money, they just came out with this:


Well if any RV guy want to get real serious... they need to step off of 12v battery banks and at a minimum go to 24v. This is RDP, 10K is just a 3rd axle on a 4500 lbs boat. Based on what I see with DILLIGAF set up first and foremost he is already fully equiped at 12v and probably not going to need to double his storage. If he's up in the woods with no AC demands he's probably good to go. Maybe 2 more battery's to keep his dog cool... LOL!
 

DILLIGAF

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Well if any RV guy want to get real serious... they need to step off of 12v battery banks and at a minimum go to 24v. This is RDP, 10K is just a 3rd axle on a 4500 lbs boat. Based on what I see with DILLIGAF set up first and foremost he is already fully equiped at 12v and probably not going to need to double his storage. If he's up in the woods with no AC demands he's probably good to go. Maybe 2 more battery's to keep his dog cool... LOL!

that bitch is a princess ;)
 

mesquito_creek

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If you really want to give BB all of the money, they just came out with this:

That even more expensive than the 100 ah battery price per WH... 12 cents more a WH... that only a "game changer" if you are the game....
 

DILLIGAF

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He is going to be in for $10k of batteries when all is said and done. Sure, it is plug and play but at that level of capacity I would start looking at other options. If the money it isn't a problem, it is hard to argue with the convenience and the warranty though 👍

If you really want to give BB all of the money, they just came out with this:


always other options. I am good though
 

HitIt

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That even more expensive than the 100 ah battery price per WH... 12 cents more a WH... that only a "game changer" if you are the game....
The price really is nuts on that thing. They are probably using 4x 280AH prismatic cells in that thing that go for ~$100/ea wholesale for grade A's. Plus $100 for BMS and another $100 for packaging/wiring and you can see why they can afford to give away batteries to every wanker with a camping youtube/instagram/blog.
 

WhatExit?

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Great stuff Tom, thanks for keeping us posted on your setup and your solar. You've been a great help with my 5th wheel - I'm just getting started.

I think your solar guy is north of Phoenix. Any chance you can give me his contact info as I'd like to speak with him about my trailer?
 

DILLIGAF

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Great stuff Tom, thanks for keeping us posted on your setup and your solar. You've been a great help with my 5th wheel - I'm just getting started.

I think your solar guy is north of Phoenix. Any chance you can give me his contact info as I'd like to speak with him about my trailer?

sure. Thanks and I will send you his contact info. He is in Flagstaff.
 

DILLIGAF

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Well if any RV guy want to get real serious... they need to step off of 12v battery banks and at a minimum go to 24v. This is RDP, 10K is just a 3rd axle on a 4500 lbs boat. Based on what I see with DILLIGAF set up first and foremost he is already fully equiped at 12v and probably not going to need to double his storage. If he's up in the woods with no AC demands he's probably good to go. Maybe 2 more battery's to keep his dog cool... LOL!

if I dont need any AC I for sure have plenty of reserve to get thru this night-day.

roxy has no idea how spoiled she is...its all she knows. Haha.
 

DILLIGAF

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Great stuff Tom, thanks for keeping us posted on your setup and your solar. You've been a great help with my 5th wheel - I'm just getting started.

I think your solar guy is north of Phoenix. Any chance you can give me his contact info as I'd like to speak with him about my trailer?

PM sent
 

JB in so cal

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All I'm gonna add is just, for God's sake, keep that great white shark with legs happy in the back of the rig!
 

mesquito_creek

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Got my shunt installed so I can at least play along on the battery monitor/charging side of things! Over here at Lake Powell the sun seem to be almost an infinite resource!... shout out to your "time remaining" = infinite reading on your picture. I too am in that state while I bring up my battery bank to full SOC. I won't get a full calibration until I hit 58.8 v on the batteries.

I do not have the victron mppt so I can't show you that, but I took a picture of my equipment display... I have been making about 50 amps 2600 watts since about 8 oclock this morning.... When the PV array woke up at sunlight I was doing 500 watts at 0630 AZ time. I am looking at a solid 8 hours of production and we aren't even to the summer solstice yet...

I fired up my coleman/airxcel 15000 btu AC for kicks and it was only pulling 1300 watts, but probably not a very good reading since its 70 outside and I set the RV thermo at 76... I don't know much about AC draw, so I guess I will have to wait until its really hot outside to see if the power demand goes up the manufacture 1900watt rating...

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DILLIGAF

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Got my shunt installed so I can at least play along on the battery monitor/charging side of things! Over here at Lake Powell the sun seem to be almost an infinite resource!... shout out to your "time remaining" = infinite reading on your picture. I too am in that state while I bring up my battery bank to full SOC. I won't get a full calibration until I hit 58.8 v on the batteries.

I do not have the victron mppt so I can't show you that, but I took a picture of my equipment display... I have been making about 50 amps 2600 watts since about 8 oclock this morning.... When the PV array woke up at sunlight I was doing 500 watts at 0630 AZ time. I am looking at a solid 8 hours of production and we aren't even to the summer solstice yet...

I fired up my coleman/airxcel 15000 btu AC for kicks and it was only pulling 1300 watts, but probably not a very good reading since its 70 outside and I set the RV thermo at 76... I don't know much about AC draw, so I guess I will have to wait until its really hot outside to see if the power demand goes up the manufacture 1900watt rating...

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i dont have the display...only the app. My other trailer did have the display and I was always checking it out ;).

sounds like you are good to go now!

ya, when it heats up and that AC is really working it will draw more power I believe.

for a while you will be messing with everything experimenting and using it. I still get a kick out of checking up on everything.
 

DILLIGAF

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Had the portable AC and fridge running on nothing but solar today for 6 hours so far.

pretty happy with the performance. Without the AC on I would be at 100%.
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mesquito_creek

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Roxy ain't no F1....She is a pit mix :)

My mistake... I was joking about the "pure bread" doodle thread! I left my system running with the fridge un attended for the next 2 weeks so it the first time all winter I have left it on its own to see if it can do its thing. I put a bag of ice cubes in the freezer drawer and hopefully it not either a block of ice or bucket of water when I get back.
 

DILLIGAF

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My mistake... I was joking about the "pure bread" doodle thread! I left my system running with the fridge un attended for the next 2 weeks so it the first time all winter I have left it on its own to see if it can do its thing. I put a bag of ice cubes in the freezer drawer and hopefully it not either a block of ice or bucket of water when I get back.

That was a good idea to test it out.....Mine is a residential and I am sure your's is as well....It usually is consuming tight around 625 continuously. With your setup I would not think it will be any issue at all.
 

mesquito_creek

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That was a good idea to test it out.....Mine is a residential and I am sure your's is as well....It usually is consuming tight around 625 continuously. With your setup I would not think it will be any issue at all.
I am just scared of the inverter reliability if it were to throw a fault or something. Battery/Solar wise I have zero concerns. When I was making 3000 watts an hour, technically I covered my daily fridge demand in about 20 minutes! I think I could run the fridge for 18 days straight with zero sun. They warned me that when you get into this it becomes an obsession, so I am looking for ways to monitor remotely now! haha.
 

mesquito_creek

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Well when you swing back around the southwest on your travels and you are coming back to AZ through UT.. let me know, I have an RV clean out and 10000 gallons of use it or lose it monthly water allocation up in the Lake powell area.... Me and the wife have a hard time using 10K of water just the two of us in an RV... LOL
 

DILLIGAF

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I am just scared of the inverter reliability if it were to throw a fault or something. Battery/Solar wise I have zero concerns. When I was making 3000 watts an hour, technically I covered my daily fridge demand in about 20 minutes! I think I could run the fridge for 18 days straight with zero sun. They warned me that when you get into this it becomes an obsession, so I am looking for ways to monitor remotely now! haha.

lol.....I don't have remote access but if I did I would be looking at it all the time as well.
 

DILLIGAF

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Well when you swing back around the southwest on your travels and you are coming back to AZ through UT.. let me know, I have an RV clean out and 10000 gallons of use it or lose it monthly water allocation up in the Lake powell area.... Me and the wife have a hard time using 10K of water just the two of us in an RV... LOL

Thank you
 
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