does anyone make

[jonsun]

An inverter charger with automatic generator start and solar charge controller in one?

AIMS and GTSUN seem to come close. But not quite.

 

[ccbreder]

My experience with multiple function electronic devices? Each unit is not as good as it could be. When one unit fails, well, that is it for the whole.

 

[highdesertranger]

what they ^^^^^ said. highdesertranger

 

[jonsun]

if any one component fails you're screwed until you get it replaced, too. running independently cause charging conflicts, If a programmable all-in-one were made you would have a very stream lined setup with much less wire nests, fuses, confusion, etc.

for example

-setup genset boost voltage at 50% to auto start
-when generator or shore power is on, panel output stops (programmable) preventing phantom [non] charging
-and of course inverter DC-AC
-programmable voltage output

an integrated system allows for a healthy, yet smaller battery bank and smaller panel array. as it is now if you have a seperate charge controller you cannot charge the battery while running a generator as the voltages confuse the two systems....as far as I know. unless there's parameters to set on higher end units or something

 

[Mobilesport]

I don't  know  if  anyone makes anything like that but once you get the 
auto start generator set up I would think it would be easy to make some sort of
circuit that when the generator turned on it would power the circuit that disables 
the solar system.
Maybe something as simple as a electric switch.....
Genset on  = switch is open = solar not working-----charger would be working 
Genset off  = switch is closed = solar working
I know nothing about Solar systems so you would have to look
into if it's safe to just abruptly open circuits of the solar system to disable.
I know I've seen alternators blow out there diodes from intermittent open circuits.

 

[Mobilesport]

My experience with multiple function electronic devices? Each unit is not as good as it could be. When one unit fails, well, that is it for the whole.

This makes me think about how many things a Smart phone does , just imagine having 
all that different stuff in your pocket .

Phone 
Calculator 
Fm stereo
Camera
On and on 
...........
.........
......
.....a awful lot of stuff in your pocket. .

 

[wayne49]

We need to ask "What Would SternWake Do?"

 

[highdesertranger]

there is no need to disconnect one charging source when using another. highdesertranger

 

[jonsun]

got proof?

old absorption chargers would give whatever the battery demands with a steady voltage with tapering amperage (absorption), modern 3-stage chargers use the SOC (state of charge) to determine what phase to charge. Again if you plug in and your 3 stage reads 14.4v because the solar is outputting that, it's not going to bulk charge a "full" battery.

reading the battery is how they go from one stage to the next.

 

[jonsun]

...or does the one with more current over ride the other?

 

[Mobilesport]

...or does the one with more current over ride the other?

I think the one with the highest voltage over rides but the currents would be added , example. 
Two different 40 amp outputs would  give you 80 amp out put
And so your batteries would have to be capable of handling 80 amps.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

See this thread:

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Vehicle-alternator-solar-questions

 

[jonsun]

If you had old constant current chargers. 3 stagers to my knowledge do not work that way.

 

[jonsun]

See this thread:

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Vehicle-alternator-solar-questions

Great, thanks

So you don't even mess with a charger, just the alternator?

 

[Mobilesport]

Great, thanks

So you don't even mess with a charger, just the alternator?

The way I read it was that you  don't  mess with  anything ,,, It's all good to go and the 
outputs wont conflict

 

[Mobilesport]

Great, thanks

So you don't even mess with a charger, just the alternator?

The way  I  read it was  that  you  don't mess with anything  ,,, It's good to go and 
the outputs wont conflict.
Reducto wrote 
"Short answer - any reasonably smart controller will have a high voltage cutoff which is generally set to lower than what the alternator will put out. When the battery gets higher than this, the controller simply shuts off. I've had my solar setup hard wired to my back battery for a couple of years now and it still plays nicely with my alternator."

 

[jonsun]

The way I read it was that you  don't  mess with  anything ,,, It's all good to go and the 
outputs wont conflict

I don't mess with the alternator at all. Systems are 100% isolated. So my question means he just uses an alternator not a generator.

And are running alternator straight into battery or through a charger?

 

[jonsun]

The way  I  read it was  that  you  don't mess with anything  ,,, It's good to go and 
the outputs wont conflict.
Reducto wrote 
"Short answer - any reasonably smart controller will have a high voltage cutoff which is generally set to lower than what the alternator will put out. When the battery gets higher than this, the controller simply shuts off. I've had my solar setup hard wired to my back battery for a couple of years now and it still plays nicely with my alternator."

this one opens up another can of worms in that deep cycles are needing higher voltages (14.8v) than alternators put out....especially after 10-20ft cable runs.

 

[Mobilesport]

this one opens up another can of worms in that deep cycles are needing higher voltages (14.8v) than alternators put out....especially after 10-20ft cable runs.

It will be fine , it will just charge slower then if you had 14.8 volt output

 

[jonsun]

Right but that can be a whole lot of $$ in idle time. We'd be talking many hours a day. Not to mention isn't it significantly less efficient to run off an alternator than a generator?