Small solar set up question

[Rhianntp]

Hi,
Have a class A motorhome that has an on board generator and two house batteries. I have a 100 amp hour agm battery, 100watt panel, charge controller, and 600 watt inverter that I would like to experiment with solor power with. The only thing I will run off the system will be my back up camera via a switch, my RV "basement" lights via a switch, and occasionally charge a phone, laptop, or tablet.

My question is about grounds and fuses. What do I ground and fuse.. and where?  The inverter has + and - lugs of course, but also a small ground lug. Do I connect a large gauge cable from the battery to the frame of the vehicle? A smaller one from the inverter to the frame as well?
Thanks for any insight you all might provide

 

[Rhianntp]

I should add that this will be a 12 volt system and the charge controller is a negative ground unit

 

[bullfrog]

Solar panels should be the last thing connected and the first thing disconnected. Solar panels and controllers should be mounted with the shortest wire runs possible and the controller connected to the bus bars. If you don't have positive and negative bus bars get them as you will need multiple battery connections. Mount them as close as possible to the battery. Be sure to connect the controller to the battery at the bus bars before connecting the solar panel to the controller and disconnect the solar panel from the controller before disconnecting the controller or the battery from the bus bars. It would be best to have the inverter mounted close to the battery as possible. DC current doesn't travel distances as well as the AC current. The inverter should be hooked directly to the bus bars. Since it is an AGM battery there will be few worries about fumes or gases but usually inverters are mounted on the opposite side of the wall of the battery compartment. Inverters like cooler air and most have a cooling fan and most have an on/off switch and plugs you will want access to from inside the motor home.

 

[Rhianntp]

Thanks   Does the battery need a connection to the vehicle frame?

 

[bullfrog]

If you are using the vehicle's alternator or generator to charge house batteries then you most likely need to ground the negative bus bar to the shinny frame. If you are using a "stand alone" solar charging system with it's own battery no.

 

[Rhianntp]

The battery for solar will only be charged by the panel or a small charger I plug in to AC.  The inverter has a small terminal for ground..that's why I ask if that should go to the frame?   What would be the pros and cons to connecting the battery neg to the frame ?

 

[bullfrog]

Should you ever choose to use DC power for fixtures only one positive wire would need to run the entire length as the ground could simply be attached to the shinny frame, very little gain if you will use it as a "stand alone" system. I imagine the small ground on the inverter case is more for safety, but I would check with the manufacture.

 

[Rhianntp]

Ok thanks    Was just concerned about any safety issues related to not grounding any of it to the frame

 

[frodo2222]

Hi,
Have a class A motorhome that has an on board generator and two house batteries. I have a 100 amp hour agm battery, 100watt panel, charge controller, and 600 watt inverter that I would like to experiment with solor power with. The only thing I will run off the system will be my back up camera via a switch, my RV "basement" lights via a switch, and occasionally charge a phone, laptop, or tablet.

My question is about grounds and fuses. What do I ground and fuse.. and where? The inverter has + and - lugs of course, but also a small ground lug. Do I connect a large gauge cable from the battery to the frame of the vehicle? A smaller one from the inverter to the frame as well?
Thanks for any insight you all might provide

All great questions and the very best thing you can do is look at Nates Yarbrough channel, has all of that and more, with lists orf parts, how to tcetc. https://www.youtube.com/c/EXPLORISTlife I did all of my system by just following along 2500 watts 4000 watt inverter 12 lead batteries and I knew NOTHING! nOW i LIVE OFF GRID AND CAN RUN MY ac ON SOLAR

 

[user 19146]

Hi,
Have a class A motorhome that has an on board generator and two house batteries. I have a 100 amp hour agm battery, 100watt panel, charge controller, and 600 watt inverter that I would like to experiment with solor power with. The only thing I will run off the system will be my back up camera via a switch, my RV "basement" lights via a switch, and occasionally charge a phone, laptop, or tablet.

My question is about grounds and fuses. What do I ground and fuse.. and where? The inverter has + and - lugs of course, but also a small ground lug. Do I connect a large gauge cable from the battery to the frame of the vehicle? A smaller one from the inverter to the frame as well?
Thanks for any insight you all might provide

I do not understand why you would want 2 systems in your RV. the motorhome's and a solar system. is your experiment just to learn about solar. I think you would want the backup camera working full time on the RV's electrical system. is your goal to add solar to charge the house battery's. the RV should be able to charge phones, tablets and laptop's and run basement lights. if so you would not need the 100 amp battery. just connect the solar to the house battery's. but if the house battery's are also agm then also connect it for more power storage.