Solar/Inverter/converter project

[Dave27]

I want to thank the contributors to this forum for freely sharing your ideas and experiences, especially Poppy’s 5th wheel (Paul), TucsonJim (Jim) and BjornF16 (Jeff) who led the way for me with similar projects. I read the same on-line material BjornF16 referenced in his recent write up. My design is different than theirs, but there is a lot of overlap. I finished the design and would appreciate any suggestions, and please point out anything I missed or may have misunderstood!

We mainly like to camp in rustic campgrounds, and hope that this solar system can make us independent of the grid. We don’t have many demands for 120 volt electricity – CPAP, recharging the laptop and other portable electronics, and maybe running the TV/DVD once in a while. So we only need a small inverter (300 watt should do). It takes too long to charge the batteries, and they don’t get fully charged with the original converter, so that will be replaced. The main battery bank is two 6 volt Trojan T 105s, with the original 12 v as back up. A Trimetric 2030 RV Battery System Monitor is already installed. I like the idea of having the camper under trees, and move the solar panels into the sun, so they won’t be fixed on the roof, and we will have long PV wire. The wiring diagram is attached. Also attached is a photo of my Power Center, and I marked my planned changes.

Here is what I plan to use:
Progressive Dynamics 30A Auto transfer switch (PD 5110010)
Run one leg of 50A shore power wiring to switch, the other to the Power Center
Wire the shore power on Generator (priority) side
Replace 50A double pole breaker in Power Center with 30A.
Morningstar Sure Sine 300 W inverter
100A fuse on DC positive
3 A fuse on AC positive
4 awg for earth ground (green)
6 awg for DC pos and neg
12 awg AC wire for output to auto transfer switch
Progressive Dynamics converter/charger with charge wizard (PD 9245)
12 awg AC wire to the charger (from shore power side of Power Center)
4 awg to battery
Renogy 100W Polycrystalline solar Panels (two wired in series) (RNG-100P)
8 awg PV wire (50 feet out, 100 feet total loop)(this should be between 2 and 3% loss)
MC4 connectors
Morningstar Prostar MPPT Solar Controller (PS-MPPT-25)

Any suggestions on what to use in place of the “Furrion Solar Charge 10A” connector that is currently installed to bring the solar power into the battery compartment from the outside?

Thank you for any suggestions on any of this.

Dave

[offtohavasu]

Why are you going to derate your panel from 50 to 30 amps?

[KatrinaAnon]

The suggestion I will make is make sure you can run everything on 12 volts as much as possible. Inverters are power hogs. They consume a huge amount of power.

I also use a portable dc power pack. They do a wonderful job and recharge reasonably quick when the gensets run. If you put a power tap on your battery you can recharge the power pack when you are driving.

There are also some new LithIon battery packs that have a lot of storage.

it won't replace you battery mains, but it will let you charge cell phones and tablets easily.

[Dave27]

Why are you going to derate your panel from 50 to 30 amps?

I don't use 50, don't have a second air conditioner where I would need it. So rather than paying extra for a 50 amp auto switch, I'm using a 30 amp. To make sure I can't somehow draw more than 30 through it, I thought I could change the main breaker to 30 amps. Does this make sense?

[Dave27]

The suggestion I will make is make sure you can run everything on 12 volts as much as possible. Inverters are power hogs. They consume a huge amount of power.

I also use a portable dc power pack. They do a wonderful job and recharge reasonably quick when the gensets run. If you put a power tap on your battery you can recharge the power pack when you are driving.

There are also some new LithIon battery packs that have a lot of storage.

it won't replace you battery mains, but it will let you charge cell phones and tablets easily.

We do as much as possible through the 12 volt. If it wasn't for the CPAP, I probably wouldn't get an inverter. The one we are getting is small, it's self consumption is only 0.6 Watts, and it can be turned off (which will be done when we're not using it.)

[offtohavasu]

Before derating it, I'd do load calcs for full load amps to make sure you stay under the 30.

[orbiker]

Our Go Power panel came with this type of connector to go to the battery.

[Dave27]

Before derating it, I'd do load calcs for full load amps to make sure you stay under the 30.

The way we camp when we have electricity, I don't think we can go over 30A. I don't think we have ever camped at a site with 50A service, and even if we did, we use the 30 amp portable EMS. However, I do want to protect against the possibility of being plugged into 50A and having 50A try to go through the 30A auto-transfer switch. I thought the simplest way would be to change the main breaker to 30A. Is there another way that would be better? Am I right to be concerned about this possibility?
thanks,
Dave

[offtohavasu]

Honestly, and I mean no disrespect, but if you're going through the expense to do this, save up the little extra money and get the right product for the job. For $50 to $60 more you can get the 50 amp transfer switch. After saving the $10 of not having to buy the 30 amp 2 pole breaker, your down to $40 to $50.

[offtohavasu]

Another option, if you want to save some money, you can use a manual switch like this: https://www.bluesea.com/products/907...ns_240V_AC_65A

Rob has recommended these in other posts.