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We’ve all seen these guys with 1,000,000 watts of RV Photo voltaic panels on their roof, and 30 batteries within the stomach of their camper boasting how they’ll run each of their AC items and an air fryer whereas they watch TV of their rig. This text isn’t about a type of techniques, I’m not that man.
My Spouse and I’ve been dwelling on the highway full time in our RV for a few yr now. After we first received began we had extra kinks to work out of our system than we thought we did, and spent most of our time bleeding cash in gasoline and campground prices.
We tried our hand at Boondocking at a Harvest Hosts one night time, and at 2 a.m. the low battery alarm began going off. Hell we didn’t even make it sooner or later, we left our campground with full hookups at 9 a.m., received there at midday, and 14 hours had no juice left.
Properly now we have to work out a strategy to maintain sufficient cost within the batteries in order that I would have the ability to sleep till dawn. We hadn’t performed ANY analysis in any respect on RV Photo voltaic, however then I got here throughout the 400 Watt RV Photo voltaic Package from Renogy.
It appeared to have every part we would have liked to throw some panels on the roof, and maintain our batteries charged sufficient to have the ability to use the lights within the kitchen and maintain our low battery alarm from going off, so we ordered it.
We ordered it from Amazon, and it confirmed up at my buddies home in 3 days, and it did include ALMOST every part we would have liked to finish the set up. The one issues it didn’t include was the roof sealant, and a cross by way of for the wires to go from the roof down and into the RV, however we ordered these as properly, so now we have been able to go.
You’ll be able to watch my quick Set up video right here: Renogy RV Photo voltaic Package Set up
The RV Photo voltaic package from Renogy comes with 4 100 Watt Photo voltaic Panels, a 10 amp inline fuse, panel combiner plugs, cables to go from the roof to the cost controller, a 40 amp MPPT Cost Controller, a Battery fuse, a Bluetooth antennae so you possibly can monitor your energy manufacturing with an App in your cellphone, and cables to go from the controller to your batteries.
The instructions for set up have been fairly straight ahead, besides how the panels themselves ought to be wired collectively on the roof. There are a couple of choices for placing them collectively, and I’ll admit I did it ‘Mistaken’ the primary time. With photo voltaic panels you may have the choice of wiring them in Sequence, Parallel, and Sequence-Parallel.
Wanting on the components readily available, and the included combiner plugs, I assumed they wanted to be wired in Parallel. Which is when all of the Constructive cables tie collectively, and all of the Destructive cables tie collectively, then go all the way down to the Cost Controller. Whenever you wire them this manner, the entire Amperage from every Panel is added collectively, and on a full Solar day, will pop the ten amp fuse.
I replaced the fuse, and rewired them in Sequence, Constructive to Destructive, Constructive to Destructive, Constructive to Destructive, Constructive to Destructive, then all the way down to the Cost Controller and every part began working completely.
We had 200 amp hours of normal outdated Deep Cycle Lead Acid batteries from the manufacturing unit, so we figured that ought to be sufficient storage to maintain us going. We’ve got a residential fridge in our RV that runs off a 1,500 Watt Energy inverter that auto switches ON once we unplug the RV at a campground.
IF we ONLY use the 12 volt lighting, and depart the fridge working like regular, the photo voltaic will cost our batteries through the day on a decently Sunny website, and get us by way of the night time with no battery alarms. Realistically that’s all I used to be searching for, so it was doing what it wanted to do, and will get us off grid ceaselessly sufficient that I WOULD spend the cash on it once more if we have been to do it over again.
Concerning that topic, of If we had it to do over once more, There are issues I’d do in a different way, like altering out the batteries, and searching into how one can measurement the system to get a sure variety of hours out of it. BUT…
Based mostly solely on, whether or not or not this method carried out as I imagined it could, Sure, it did.
The package got here with most every part wanted for the set up, It does cost the batteries through the day, and the set up was straight ahead. If you’re searching for a simple RV Photo voltaic possibility, that may get you off grid for the weekend with out plenty of difficult math, that is it. Simply be sure to get the roof sealant, and a cross by way of, and it couldn’t harm to seize a spare fuse to throw in a junk drawer simply in case.
Keep tuned for my observe up article on evaluating our RV Photo voltaic vs Generator, and how one can measurement an RV Photo voltaic System to get you thru a whole day of clouds and rain.
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