solar system

[losthighwaydrifter]

Ok I have a complete system I got of a wrecked rv   for free!!! lol  
it is 6 255watt mono panels and 8 t-105 trojan battery's with a 5000watt 48v invertor and 3 mppt controllers.

I can fit all those panels on the roof and started making a rack mount for them. I figured pluses were two fold  1: most solar I can and 2: it would shade the van. 

My needs are a 12v fridge and a 5000btu a/c draws 3.9 amps, that I also have a easy start type capacitor for. and a few low draw led lights as well as charging a few devices phone/ laptop/ etc. I also have a genny as a back up and I put a 200 amp alternator and isolator in there to tap in at 12v on the bank. 
I guess my main question is the invertor willrun 24 v so is it worth it/needed to use 8 battery's can I just use 4? save the weight.

and has anyone use 1 or a bank of. 1 farad capacitors like used in car audio to deal with a/c or spikes in draw?

 

[Master Mechanic]

for 24 volt u need 24v inverter 4 6v battery to make one bank. with 8 u can do 2 banks for more AH. your choice either way the solar gods are with u getting all that free.
48v to 24v check wiring sizes u need bigger for 24v

 

[losthighwaydrifter]

yea it turn out a customers rv had flood damage from a storm couple months ago and ins would not cover so he gave me solar for helping him sell drivetrain etc. to recoup some $$$ for him. he had it set up at 48v but he was running way more than I need plus for the weight savings I was looking at 2 lifeline 250ah? lithium battery's for $700 each the weight and space saving. Plus I hear you can run them down to 30% instead of 70% with the trojans I have plus I could sell the trojans for $75-100 each and get half of that back. I want to keep as many panels as I can to maybe run a/c of just solar on peak hours when solar is putting out most is when I need a/c the most.

 

[highdesertranger]

I get Trojans T-105's for 120 bucks brand new. so I think you are being overly optimistic about the price you can get for them. highdesertranger

 

[losthighwaydrifter]

I saw them locally here for $160. but either way they were free to me! lol Any thing will help off set the lithium's. I ordered 2 lifeline gpl-8dl for $680 ea. free shipping weight savings should be worth the $$$ plus usable amphours. I hear a lot about 2:1 ratio of watts to ah. but if I have my biggest draw during peak sun hours so ill do all my device charging and that will be my most demand for a/c when I'm actually in the rig.

we layed out all the mounts and panels today. the panels I have take up every inch of available space. I was thinking of getting linear actuators for power tilt to get the most out of them. also had a friend offer me a 6.oL ls motor with low mile 4l85e but I got a lot on my plate with the inside to do a motor swap too. if I was going to do a swap I do a 5.9 cummins

 

[Weight]

your plans are in over my head.

 

[Seminole Wind]

I was looking at 2 lifeline 250ah? lithium battery's for $700 each the weight and space saving.

250 amp hours of lithium for $700? that sounds too good to be true

 

[Seminole Wind]

Any thing will help off set the lithium's. I ordered 2 lifeline gpl-8dl for $680 ea.

http://lifelinebatteries.com/products/marine-batteries/gpl-8dl/
just saw the part numbers you ordered, hate to break it to you. those are AGM, not lithium. that is still lead acid tech, wont be much if any weight savings

 

[wistful vista]

Yup, I just looked them up;  they're AGM, not LiFePO4.  They also weigh 156 lbs each.

 

[tripper]

Ok I have a complete system I got of a wrecked rv   for free!!! lol  
it is 6 255watt mono panels and 8 t-105 trojan battery's with a 5000watt 48v invertor and 3 mppt controllers.

I can fit all those panels on the roof and started making a rack mount for them. I figured pluses were two fold  1: most solar I can and 2: it would shade the van. 

My needs are a 12v fridge and a 5000btu a/c draws 3.9 amps, that I also have a easy start type capacitor for. and a few low draw led lights as well as charging a few devices phone/ laptop/ etc. I also have a genny as a back up and I put a 200 amp alternator and isolator in there to tap in at 12v on the bank. 
I guess my main question is the invertor willrun 24 v so is it worth it/needed to use 8 battery's can I just use 4? save the weight.

and has anyone use 1 or a bank of. 1 farad capacitors like used in car audio to deal with a/c or spikes in draw?

You will not need a capacitor with that large of an inverter.  BTW a 1 farad capacitor (or even .1 farad) cap at 120v ac can easily kill you, if you meant it on the dc side it won't matter with 4 batteries, they can handle most normal loads, if you plan to push that inverter near its 5k watt limit you should have all 8 batteries hooked up with some huge cables. You also will not need a soft start cap for a 5k window ac with that big of an inverter. I assume it is a modified sine wave inverter, I have no idea how well those work with window AC motors.

I think you will find with inverter inefficiencies (especially a 5k one) and long term running heat the AC will pull 450-500 watts alone. The 12v dc fridge will pull a few amps itself when running, maybe 15 minutes per hour.

 

[losthighwaydrifter]

I did mean on the d/c side. I am switching to 2 255ah lifelines since I ordered them already plus at 312lbs the pain its no that much weight in my rig. all I am going to be running on the 120v side is the a/c and laptop and a couple cameras and some low draw led lights . I got my 12v compressor fridge and have a pair of 12v batterys with an isolator on the truck side to charge phone/tablet and run some part time led lights inside if I need them.
since we have all these golf cart batterys my son bought a golf cart for a song that need new batterys. so he got 4 of them and my other son is looking for a electric golf cart to use the motor and stuff for a go cart hes building so hes taking the other 4. KIDS!!! LOL

 

[John61CT]

Unclear, when you say run aircon on the 120AC side, you do mean plugged into shore power or running a genny right?

You won't be able to do that for long off just 300lbs of lead batts.

 

[losthighwaydrifter]

I meant on 120v side like after inverter. I got the batterys today and solar is all hooked up. a/c js just laying on the floor plugged in worked just fine.
It was kinda overcast here today and it ran on med. for 4 hours cooled 16 fstep van with only half of it insulated and a moving blanket over the windshield. What I thought was great the batterys are at 80%. im happy with that cause I really don't need a/c on days like today fan is good and if I did need it sun would be out. oh and max draw with the added starting capacitor was 4.1amps. running is at 3.6-3.8amps.
So the finished solar is 6 255watt mono panels, a midnite solar 250ks mppt and the 2 lifeline bat. all battery are wired with 1/0 oxygen free fine strand welding cable and AIMS pure sine invertor if I had to buy it all today looks like roughly $5700 plus shipping! and that would be with every fuse block ,wire bolt and bracket.
Now Friday the van is off to the cabinet shop for the interior build out.

 

[losthighwaydrifter]

I ran my 5000 btu window a/c off solar all day today batterys never dipped below 100% and I have been running it of bat. for 4 hrs now. still over 80%

 

[John61CT]

Sure plenty of panelage there.

But what are you using to guesstimate SoC on the bank?

And make sure to give recharging priority, don't run the aircon until bank is back up past 85-90%, and check they get to endAmps well before the SC stops producing, should be at least 6 hours mostly continuous charging.

Or use your genny for an hour or two - to that 85-90% point - before the SC starts up, tgen you may be able to run the aircon and get enough trailing amps concurrently.

 

[jimindenver]

Nice system! Worthy of Rolling power station nominations. Those Lifelines are the newer version of what I have three of. Take care of them and they will take care of you. (mine are over 7 years old)

 

[losthighwaydrifter]

ok well I am starting from scratch. I just bought a 36 pass mid size skoolie. I'm giving the box truck to a friend who is living in a tent.
So new plan is 4 of these 375 watt solar panel XL LG375N2W-G4 MonoX NeON2 72 cell with

4 Outback Power EnergyCell 200GH, 12V 191AH AGM Battery. I though about going lithium but for that many ah its so much more $$$ and in a bus weight will be no problem. and that should be 1.5 watt to 1 ah ratio.


any ideas for better? what about panels def want mono? right and would the t-105 solar battery be a better option?

best I can figure I need 400ah of usable time for the needs of the new rig for 3 days of use. I though about a wind turbine to if solar is bad ie: bad weather wind will most likely be up.

 

[John61CT]

Look like great panels.

If partial shading will be an issue put a victron smartsolar mppt SC on each, 100/30 to save money, lose some peak production, otherwise 100/50

If never shaded the the much bigger model you choose to hook up the whole array will depend on how many panels, total the Impp amps hooking up in parallel.

And yes Trojan RE series will last well **if** you coddle them

For a first bank Duracell / Deka at $1 / AH @12V are better value, should get 5-8 years if well cared for but half the price if you screw up.

 

[John61CT]

Whoops saw 4x panels at ~35A charge output, 150A is too big for one SC with victron anyway, the 150/70 will handle a pair, but likely not saving much money.

 

[losthighwaydrifter]

Well I found through my brothers construction company I can get a way better deal

4 of these for $250ea Trojan L16P-AC 420Ah, 6V Deep Cycle Battery

and if in buy 10 I can get these for $210ea Axitec 350W Monocrystalline Solar Panel

any reviews of these?