User Tag List

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 25
  1. #1
    Seasoned Camper acadiaforever's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Bass Harbor, ME
    Posts
    353
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Another solar install: 310GK

    Kathe and I plan to spend a significant amount of time in the desert southwest this winter, boondocking on BLM land. Toward this end we planned to install solar and have now completed that. In a past life I installed electronics on yachts, so doing this kind of an install was familiar to me. Fortunately, Kathe talked me into hiring someone to do the install. It was completed faster and better than I would have done.

    Thanks to DMB for his write up of his install last year, including the name of the person he had do it, Brian Boone. Brian is active on facebook and also has https://gotsolarinstalled.blogspot.com. Brian is a full-time RVer who travels the country installing solar systems with over 15 years experience.

    I had done a fair amount of research on components, but was finding it difficult to make the choice between competing similar products. It would have ended up as a coin toss. In the end the recommendations from Brian were all on my list except for the solar panel manufacturer, so I went with his recommendations.

    • Panels: eight 180W panels by Hightec Solar, Inc out of Indiana. The panels are manufactured in the US, and come with a 25 year warranty. I find the warranty a little bogus, as the company has only been in existence for less than 10 years according to Brian. But I'm mostly interested in the first few years as most electronic failures happen in that period. The panels are wired in parallel. I went back and forth on whether to go with Brian's recommendation (parallel) or do four two panel series configurations. I ended up with Brian's. I can switch it in the roof junction box later if I decide to.
    • Controllers: Blue Sky SB3024iL MPPT; each can handle four panels. They network together to feed one IPN ProRemote control/monitoring panel. http://www.blueskyenergyinc.com/products/
    • Batteries:six 100AH BattleBorn LiFePo4 batteries. https://battlebornbatteries.com/
    • Inverter: 3000W MagnaSine hybrid inverter by Magnum, with the ME-RC remote.


    With a single inverter, we're only feeding one leg of our system. We put the receptacles, microwave, refrigerator, water heater, and the living room AC on that leg. Many of those are high load, but are either low duty cycle (microwave) or are mostly on that leg for load balancing when we're on shore power (air conditioner).

    I've seen charging amps of over 50A, but I haven't been in the rig under peak conditions so I don't know what our limits are. The batteries are at 100% SOC every afternoon when we get off the road or come back from the day's activities. Color me happy.

    Grand design calls out a chase from the roof to the basement for satellite or solar cabling. It will do for the RG-6 for a satellite cable, but it is too small to accommodate our solar cabling. It is roughly as big as one of my fingers. We came down through the small cabinet in the bathroom and the pantry closet in the kitchen (they're one on top of the other). In both, the cabling is out of sight.

    And now for the pics.

    The solar controllers and switching.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	_MG_5155.jpg 
Views:	171 
Size:	101.0 KB 
ID:	15880

    Our inverter installed on the reinforced floor (1/2" plywood, full width).

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	_MG_5156.jpg 
Views:	138 
Size:	65.6 KB 
ID:	15881

    One hundred seventy-four pounds of energy storage. I plan to put a shelf over this to recover some of our physical storage.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	_MG_5157.jpg 
Views:	141 
Size:	68.0 KB 
ID:	15882

    Panels

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	_MG_5143.jpg 
Views:	170 
Size:	79.8 KB 
ID:	15883

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	_MG_5137.jpg 
Views:	139 
Size:	100.3 KB 
ID:	15884

    All in all, we're very happy with this install. Here's hoping 600AH and 1440W are enough for what we want to do! I'll let you know when we get to the desert.
    Al and Kathe
    House: Bass Harbor, Maine
    Home: Wherever we're parked
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Highlighted states are those we have camped in for at least one night in our Solitude.
    2018 Solitude 310GK 110463 (Rhett) / 2018 F350 CC DRW 4x4 Lariat (Scarlett)
    Follow us: http://lobstersontheloose.com

  2. #2
    Seasoned Camper acadiaforever's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Bass Harbor, ME
    Posts
    353
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Lastly, the remote for the solar controllers:

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	_MG_5175.jpg 
Views:	62 
Size:	96.7 KB 
ID:	15885
    Al and Kathe
    House: Bass Harbor, Maine
    Home: Wherever we're parked
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Highlighted states are those we have camped in for at least one night in our Solitude.
    2018 Solitude 310GK 110463 (Rhett) / 2018 F350 CC DRW 4x4 Lariat (Scarlett)
    Follow us: http://lobstersontheloose.com

  3. #3
    Rolling Along JColeman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Location
    Tucson, AZ
    Posts
    691
    Mentioned
    10 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Looks terrific. Would you be willing to share the ballpark cost of the system and install so we can start budgeting?

  4. #4
    Seasoned Camper acadiaforever's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Bass Harbor, ME
    Posts
    353
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Total cost was on the order of $13K. All the main components were sourced through Continuous Resources https://www.continuousresources.com/. Ancillary parts like wire, switches, fuses, connectors, etc. were sourced through Amazon. The 2/0 and 4/0 wire were supplied by Brian (and billed for, of course), since they are so darned expensive per foot and one doesn't want to order an approximation of what will be used.

    Total install time was two (full) days.

    Scheduling was interesting. We had to find a place where our two travel plans came close to intersecting and then adjust as needed; this resulted in the job being scheduled about two months out.

    Also meant to note that they didn't use the MC4 connectors on the panels. They cut those off and hardwired them to remove a failure point. I had planned to do this when I was thinking about doing it on my own.
    Al and Kathe
    House: Bass Harbor, Maine
    Home: Wherever we're parked
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Highlighted states are those we have camped in for at least one night in our Solitude.
    2018 Solitude 310GK 110463 (Rhett) / 2018 F350 CC DRW 4x4 Lariat (Scarlett)
    Follow us: http://lobstersontheloose.com

  5. #5
    Site Sponsor gbkims's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Pearland, TX
    Posts
    1,709
    Mentioned
    15 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Great looking install.

    A few of questions just for my info.
    Panels wired in parallel, is that 4 in parallel for each solar charger?
    What size wire gauge on the roof, and then down to the chargers?
    Do the panel wires have the MC4s on the back of the panels to connect to the terminal blocks run in the roof boxes?

    Thanks,

    Gene
    - Gene

    Kim & Gene
    2015 Reflection 317RST
    2017 Ram 3500 CC LB 4x2 6.7 CTD AISIN 3.73 DRW Auto Level Rear Air, BD3, Prodigy P3, Aux Tank

  6. #6
    Seasoned Camper acadiaforever's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Bass Harbor, ME
    Posts
    353
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by gbkims View Post
    Great looking install.

    A few of questions just for my info.
    Panels wired in parallel, is that 4 in parallel for each solar charger?
    What size wire gauge on the roof, and then down to the chargers?
    Do the panel wires have the MC4s on the back of the panels to connect to the terminal blocks run in the roof boxes?

    Thanks,

    Gene
    Yes, four panels in parallel to each controller. We're out of roof space, but we discussed possibly adding four more "ground mounted" panels, which would require another controller. The current two are maxed out.

    The wire from the junction box down to the controllers is 2/0. The wires from each panel to the junction box are #4 .

    The panels came with the MC4 connectors, but they were cut off and spliced onto the #4 wire running to the junction box, to remove a failure point.
    Al and Kathe
    House: Bass Harbor, Maine
    Home: Wherever we're parked
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Highlighted states are those we have camped in for at least one night in our Solitude.
    2018 Solitude 310GK 110463 (Rhett) / 2018 F350 CC DRW 4x4 Lariat (Scarlett)
    Follow us: http://lobstersontheloose.com

  7. #7
    Long Hauler DaveMatthewsBand's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    2,794
    Blog Entries
    2
    Mentioned
    22 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)

    Another solar install: 310GK

    Quote Originally Posted by acadiaforever View Post
    ...
    AWESOME!

    I knew eventually one of you guys would drink the Kool-aid and one-up me!

    We are currently boondocking in the Nevada desert, and here it is almost November so the sun is super low on the horizon, but we're still pulling in a peak of about 40 amps on the solar. Back in the Summer we were pulling in 74 amps, so you can easily expect real world numbers around 80a to 85a since you have 285 watts more than we do.

    I also predict you'll never run your bank below 70% since you have 600ah vs. our 400ah.

    Reason I say this is because we are night owls. 7 days a week, for the past 6 months, we've stayed up 6 hours past sundown, using and charging our laptops and iphones, watching TV, which has a 300w soundbar and subwoofer, playing games on our Xbox, using the microwave, and the furnace at night because we're from the South and if it's below 65 outside, that heater is on! So using all these devices every single night we still only get down to about 60% when we get up in the morning, which I admit is usually the ''crack of 9am''. But like you mentioned, we're back at 100% in no time, I quit watching for it but normally before lunch time... anyway...


    Resistance is Not Futile, It's Voltage Divided by Current.


  8. #8
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Location
    Wandering the Country
    Posts
    142
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Hi Al

    Great looking install. Can you tell me a little about the panel mounts... source, brand, etc.

    Thanks
    Mike

  9. #9
    Seasoned Camper acadiaforever's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Bass Harbor, ME
    Posts
    353
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Thanks! We think that Brian did a very good job. I can't tell you much about the brackets and tilt arms; Brian supplied them. They are aluminum with pressed-in 1/4-20 "nuts", which I think are stainless. AM Solar in Oregon advertises similar components, made entirely of stainless. The pics below capture all I know about the mounts.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20181116_081138_resized.jpg 
Views:	48 
Size:	86.3 KB 
ID:	16349

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20181116_080927_resized.jpg 
Views:	45 
Size:	99.8 KB 
ID:	16350
    Al and Kathe
    House: Bass Harbor, Maine
    Home: Wherever we're parked
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Highlighted states are those we have camped in for at least one night in our Solitude.
    2018 Solitude 310GK 110463 (Rhett) / 2018 F350 CC DRW 4x4 Lariat (Scarlett)
    Follow us: http://lobstersontheloose.com

  10. #10
    Long Hauler DaveMatthewsBand's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    2,794
    Blog Entries
    2
    Mentioned
    22 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by acadiaforever View Post
    Thanks! We think that Brian did a very good job. I can't tell you much about the brackets and tilt arms; Brian supplied them. They are aluminum with pressed-in 1/4-20 "nuts", which I think are stainless. AM Solar in Oregon advertises similar components, made entirely of stainless. The pics below capture all I know about the mounts.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20181116_081138_resized.jpg 
Views:	48 
Size:	86.3 KB 
ID:	16349

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20181116_080927_resized.jpg 
Views:	45 
Size:	99.8 KB 
ID:	16350
    I’ve thought about converting our to tilting panels. I might crawl up there and see how much slack I have in the cabling.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Resistance is Not Futile, It's Voltage Divided by Current.


Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

DISCLAIMER:This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Grand Design RV, LLC or any of its affiliates. This is an independent site.