Hi Everyone,

Just finished installation on a KYOCERAKC-130 130 Watt 7.3 amps per hr. solar panel on the roof of the coach, Sunsaver dual 25 amp with dual charging and readouts and a 1700 watt inverter and two 6 volt batteries, 220 amp each. Had it hardwired to the circuit breaker so that we have 110 volts for boondocking. We hope this is enough but if not, we will add more. In the future, we will tap into the LP Line and put up a 6000 btu Olympian Catalytic Safety Heater so that we will be free from running the furnace motor which eats up electricity. We are headed out this weekend to the cool mountains of Arizona to give this all a try. Just for giggles I tried out my electric shaver and lo and behold, it worked. Amazing technology because we have tons of sun in Arizona.

Bye for now,
Richard & Lee

Hi Richard, Enjoyed your post ref: solar set-up! I'm planning on tackling that at the end of the season.
I'm still trying to learn the theory behind it all, and have a question:

You said you wired inverter direct to circuit breaker panel.....Assuming you also have a 120vac-to-12vdc converter on board, how is this by-passed during inverter use? Without some type of bypass, it seems that
the inverter would also be powering the converter, i.e.: using 12v battery power, converted to 120vac at inverter, which would be feeding converter, which sends 12vdc back to batteries - kind of a low efficiency
perpetual motion machine

Like I said, I'm a solar newbie, so maybe I'm not thinking correctly.......

Sounds like an interesting setup.

A few words of caution from my days selling Honda generators:
1) electrical appliances require varying power depending on the type of appliance; a light bulb is very different from a motor
2) Light bulbs are pretty simple, there is a require wattage for maximum light and if they don't get enough they just dim down with no damage
3) Electrical motors require power to start them rolling which can be many times the power required to keep them rolling, this is commonly referred to as "start-up" requirement
4) Some appliances, like a circular saw require "start-up" power to get rolling, a minimum amount of power to free wheel (rated power), then an increasing amount of power to work which can exceed the motors abilty, like cutting oak. We all have probably experienced what happens when a circular saw stalls out in wood, it either fries the saw or pops the breaker for lack of electrical power to do the work.

The proper way to set up any circuit board to auxiliary power is to add up all the possible things that could be go on at once with their maximum power consumption, usually "start up". The idea is to have enough power for that day, which will come, when everything wants to start at the same time! If that happens and there is not enough power, motors will fry or you could start a fire!!!

Therefore, it is not a good idea generally to run an underrated power source (low power solar) straight to the coach circuit board if inadequate to power everything.

You could easily run a second circuit board with a disconnect off the main board for powering just the solar stuff, again being sure you have adequate juice.

I'm guessing you are running through the battery bank which gives you lots of storage and reduces the low power problem. I just though this thread gave a good opportunity to explain the issues with any secondary power source.

Let us know how it works in the desert.

That brings up another question, you said you ran direct to the circuit board, is that with a disconnect or through the common battery bank?

To answer your question - Right now we assume we are close to 100% free from hook ups. The 130 watt solar panel produces a little over 7 amps per hour. In 8 hours on sunny days it will produce a little over 50 amps. I calculated it will run a flat screen and receiver 8 hrs. not that we plan to run the TV 8 hrs. but the juice is there. Also we plug in toaster, small appliances,drills and power tools NOT all at the same time. About the converter and inverter, I simply unplugged the converter and unplugged the refrig so that the frig will run on gas. So if need be to plug in the shore power, I will simply shut off the inverter (should shut off when not in use) and plug in the refrigerator and the converter. We calculated the two of us should use 35 amps a day conservatively. Since this system will not run the micro or convection oven for more than a minute, it will need a bigger bank, or use generator. My thing was to see how this works and add later panels and batteries. We also put in a 300 amp catastrophe fuse with sensor 2 feet from battery for protection.

At first all this was very confusing. But I got wonderful information from RV Solar Electric, Scottsdale, AZ, who specializes in this product. They have a book available and are very helpful. Call them at 800-999-8520. Thanks for your input.

Richard

Sounds like you guys are well sorted. Watch out for the toaster, anything that makes heat is a real power hog.

Hi,

A toaster is 800 watts. You divide watts by 12 volts and the result will give you the amps drawn for 1 hr. Example: 800 divided by 12 equals 66.6 per hr. Divide that by 60 minutes and you get the amps used to make toast. So if the toast takes 2 minutes, you used 2 amps. Meanwhile, the sun is replacing the amps used.

Bye again,
Richard