So as most of you have probably seen already, we bought a brand new 5th wheel and of course as with our previous RV we wanted to put solar on it. However, this time we have learned so much more about the installation and setup of solar from our previous attempt. If you didn't see our previous solar setup you can view it here.
So with our new found knowledge of solar and the tech toys that go along with, we have finished our phase 1 and phase 2 steps, out of 3 phases. Listed below are what we have or will include in each phase and what it will allow us to run.
PHASE 1 ITEMS:
SOK LifePO4 Batteries at 400 amp hours of capacity (or 5120 watt hours)
600 watts of solar on the roof
60 amp solar Renogy charge controller
Victron 500amp Smart Shunt
Solar Tilt Rail System
Victron Lynx Distributor (smart bus bar)
Magnum 2000 watt Inverter/Converter (with power fault fail-over)
WHAT WE CAN RUN: Our Residential Fridge, TV's, a few power outlets, Ceiling Fan, Coffee Maker and all the lights.
PHASE 2 ITEMS:
Victron 150/70 Smart MPPT Solar Control (replaces the Renogy controller)
Victron Multi-Plus II 3000 watt (2x Inverter/Converter - replaces Magnum 2000 watt inverter)
WHAT CAN WE RUN: All the previous items plus ALL of our appliances, outlets.
PHASE 3 ITEMS:
6 - 200 watt solar panels (totaling 1200 watts of power)
WHAT CAN WE RUN: All the previous items plus one of our air conditioners.
So what does all this mean? It means that if we have a power outage wherever we are parked we will continue to have power to all of our rig while most people will only be able to run a few items like their lights. If we want to park out in the black hills in South Dakota for a week we can continue to have all the comforts of home as if we were plugged in to shore power. Below are some photos of our "Phase 1 and 2" setup and some videos documenting what we did and the equipment we used to setup this system. The first 2 photos you see will be screenshots from my phone to show our power consumption over a 24 hour period during our trial boondocking run to test all our systems and their setup. PS... it was a HUGE success and we are thrilled!
If you have questions about our setup or solar in general then feel free to leave a comment below! Happy Boondocking!
Phase 1 and 2 Videos (Photos are below this area)
Phase 1 and 2 Photos
Phase 3 Photos ... (COMING SOON)
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