Xplorer AM Solar Setup

[wincrasher]

Tonite I completed my install of the AM Solar Kit. This kit came with everything you need (except for tools of course) to install solar on an RV from nothing.

I got the Victron 50 Amp kit with a 180 watt panel. It came with all the fittings, a run of 10 AWG cable and 30' of 4 AWG cable, a combiner box, switch, circuit breaker and feet for the panels with VHB tape. Even came with a tube of Dicor. It also came with a bluetooth dongle so you can change settings and monitor performance on your smartphone.

My plans are only to run this one panel for the time being. I have room to install one more smaller panel (probably their 100 watt) forward of the roof vent. With the curvature of the roof, I didn't really want to load the roof up with panels. This single panel is mostly unnoticeable from the ground. It should keep ahead of my refrigerator and some minor charging. Should be good for 9-10 amps DC most days.

I drilled a hole in the roof and mounted the combiner box and panel a few days ago. Tonite I ran all my cables, installed ring terminals, mounted the controller, switch and circuit breaker and connected all the cables. I mounted everything in one of the lockers and routed the cable under the locker and into the storage bay and on over to the battery bank. I don't think it takes up too much space. All the parts are extremely robust - some may argue it's overkill. I did have to drill one hole thru the bulkhead to get to the storage area, but luckily didn't hit anything.

I still need to dress out my cables with some tie-downs.

Everything came to life correctly when I threw the switches. I did have to download the app and update firmware on the dongle and the controller. But it found all devices in about a second - Victron seems to have their app game on point! Every easy to use.

Here are some pics of the finished installation:

[GeorgeRa]

Congratulation, nice installation. 30’ of 4 AWG cable was required for future expansion or for 15’ distance between the panel and the charge controller. The AM Solar is a great company, they were the only company I found to sell 10ga duplex wire with round profile to enable good seal in roof penetration.

[Phoebe3]

I went to their website and found they have an interesting way to tilt the panels or lift them for working underneath. Looks to be very easy to install and useful to have.

Your installation looks really professional. Please let us know how it works out after you had some time to use it.

[wincrasher]

Since I only am using the 1 panel, I ran the AWG 10 all the way to the controller. So I have lots of AWG 4 left over. If I add another panel, then I'll have to replace that run from the combiner box to the controller with the heavier cable. I guess having the combiner box was a waste of money since I'm really using it only as a roof penetration housing.

Yes, I'm very impressed with the quality of the kit. It's not cheap, but it is compared to adding solar on most new RV's - usually you pay far more and get low grade components.

I'm very impressed with the mounting hardware for the panels. They use a terrific VHB tape - I doubt I could pull the feet off the roof without damage. I wish I had used this setup when I did my Class A. Much better than the "Sticky Feet" mounts I used.

The tilt kit is essentially two aluminum bars (with drilled holes) for each panel. $40 is a bit much for it, but it is what it is. Not sure I'll get those, but I like that you can add it later.

[Phoebe3]

My only concern with the tilt kit was that the knobs appear to use plastic heads and I wonder how they will hold up to heat, cold and UV.

Our Crossfit came with 100 A solar, using a flexible panel. In theory, they also come with a 200 A option, but I don't know where they would put the second panel. We travel in the SouthWest, where it is sunny and HOT (113 at my house last week). Our RV is dark and the panel is dark and that all adds up to solar gain inside so we have to run the generator and AC more than we would like.

Although the flexible panel reduces wind resistance and possibly helps mileage, a rack-mounted flat panel would have the benefit of shading the roof and also be a bit cooler itself, resulting in better efficiency. Additionally, because of the curve of the roof, a flat mounted system would allow an additional panel without issue. The system you just installed looks really good so I'm interested in hearing how it works out in case we decide to replace our flex panel with a rack mount.

[wincrasher]

I've heard some complaints about heat losses with the flexible panels. ARV mounts them to a board first, and then to the roof. I think that helps their performance.

If the knobs deteriorate, they can always be replaced with stainless bolts and wingnuts you can get at a hardware store. AM also sells the knobs as a stand-alone part, so that may tell you something.

I'd not worry too much about aerodynamics of traditional panels. You are well within the slipstream of the vehicle, so there isn't much wind load on the panels. I have read about people having them blown off by passing trucks - largely I think because they put them on tall racks that allowed a big gap between the panel and the roof, thus creating tremendous uplift forces.

On my panel, I chose the middle setting on the mounting feet - there are 3 holes on each. I looks to leave a 1 1/2" gap between the panel and the roof, which seems plenty for cooling.

[BBQ]

.

The best protection against UV on plastic parts -- get some rattle-can outdoor paint and spray them. Cheap and effective. I do that to my flower pots, etc.,

[Porsche911]

Originally Posted by BBQ

.

The best protection against UV on plastic parts -- get some rattle-can outdoor paint and spray them. Cheap and effective. I do that to my flower pots, etc.,

Nice tip.
Thanks

[markopolo]

I'm impressed with all the high quality items ................

Nice stuff!

[wincrasher]

Well, I've been playing with the AM Solar setup for a week now. So far, I'm pretty impressed with it. You set a rotary switch for you battery type, so mine is on LiFEPO4.

The app is really convenient. It confused me at first, but it appears that the panels only output what the charger wants to take.

I was wondering why it wouldn't show a full 180 watts in full sun. What was happening was that the batteries were above the cut-off point on voltage, so it wasn't wanting to put any amp load into the batteries.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Well, I've been playing with the AM Solar setup for a week now. So far, I'm pretty impressed with it. You set a rotary switch for you battery time, so mine is on LiFEPO4.

The app is really convenient. It confused me at first, but it appears that the panels only output what the charger wants to take.

I was wondering why it wouldn't show a full 180 watts in full sun. What was happening was that the batteries were above the cut-off point on voltage, so it wasn't wanting to put any amp load into the batteries.

Impressive.

That looks a lot better than the Woopi-Core offered by certain RV manufacturer, at a fraction of the cost.

[gerrym51]

Ron-you da man

[booster]

The solar works like any other charging source, all it does is generate voltage and the amps wind up wherever the rest of the system determines them to be, based on acceptance of the batteries and power to any loads.

If you watch the in and out of the controller for volts and amps, you can very quickly figure out what is going on. If the voltage from the panels is above the setpoint voltage to the batteries, the panels will likely be running under capacity of output because the power has nowhere to go. The higher the voltage into the controller above the maximum power point of the panels, the less output is going out of the controller, in general. We often will see our panels, if we don't have anything on for loads, and the batteries are full, go right up to near open circuit voltage on the panels, which is in the 20v range. When the batteries are low, so the panels are running at full ouput, we might see all the output voltage from the controller below 12.3 volts as the loads are pulling the panel voltage down by asking for full output. An MPPT controller will try to hold the panel voltage up at the maximum power point, which IIRC is somewhere around 17.7v or so, but you need perfect sun to hold that at full output.

[wincrasher]

Well, after watching my system work for a couple weeks, and doing some more measuring, I've decided to expand with 2 more panels. It's kinda a shame to let such a sweet solar controller only have one panel attached to it.

I'm going to move my existing panel over and add another 180w, plus add a 100w up front. Total will be 460 watts. I'm thinking on a good day this will yield 20 amps.

Now I have to figure out how to remove the feet that were stuck down with VHB tape. I'm thinking some fishing line to cut thru between the bracket and the roof will do it, then use a solvent to remove the sticky goo. Thoughts?

[booster]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Well, after watching my system work for a couple weeks, and doing some more measuring, I've decided to expand with 2 more panels. It's kinda a shame to let such a sweet solar controller only have one panel attached to it.

I'm going to move my existing panel over and add another 180w, plus add a 100w up front. Total will be 460 watts. I'm thinking on a good day this will yield 20 amps.

Now I have to figure out how to remove the feet that were stuck down with VHB tape. I'm thinking some fishing line to cut thru between the bracket and the roof will do it, then use a solvent to remove the sticky goo. Thoughts?

If you can get the panel off the feet, and they are individual feet, so they can be "rocked" up, it is likely best to peel them up that way.

First would be to use some mineral spirits all the way around the foot, at the tape line. Let is soak, and keep applying until you can get the foot to rockup at a loose point. Then just keep putting on solvent as you effectively peel the foot back. I have found the VHB is not very strong against peeling of this type, and the solvent should soften it enough to get it started and keep it moving, albeit quite slowly.

[wincrasher]

I did order 4 new feet. Figured they'd get wrecked prying them off.

[jmai]

Originally Posted by booster

If you can get the panel off the feet, and they are individual feet, so they can be "rocked" up, it is likely best to peel them up that way.

First would be to use some mineral spirits all the way around the foot, at the tape line. Let is soak, and keep applying until you can get the foot to rockup at a loose point. Then just keep putting on solvent as you effectively peel the foot back. I have found the VHB is not very strong against peeling of this type, and the solvent should soften it enough to get it started and keep it moving, albeit quite slowly.

Good suggestion. Once the solvent has softened the tape and you have some rocking and some lift, you can then use some nylon fishing line or a wire leader to "cut" between the foot and the body.

[wincrasher]

Well, I had an easy time removing the feet. Basically some twisting action I was able to pop the feet off. I take it since they were not on very long, they weren't fully cured. The Dicor came off easily with some gasoline and a rag.

I did have to regroup a bit though. The two 180 watt panels were just too big to fit on the narrow, curved roof of the Xplorer. It just looked goofy with the panels extending out over the roof, and I wasn't keen on how the feet were fitting either.

So I went ahead and ordered 3 more of their smaller, 100 watt panels. Those fit easily on the roof with room to spare. That will give me a total of 400 watts, all the same spec panel too. Should be good for 20 amps on a good sunny day I hope.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Well, after watching my system work for a couple weeks, and doing some more measuring, I've decided to expand with 2 more panels. It's kinda a shame to let such a sweet solar controller only have one panel attached to it.

I'm going to move my existing panel over and add another 180w, plus add a 100w up front. Total will be 460 watts. I'm thinking on a good day this will yield 20 amps.

Now I have to figure out how to remove the feet that were stuck down with VHB tape. I'm thinking some fishing line to cut thru between the bracket and the roof will do it, then use a solvent to remove the sticky goo. Thoughts?

As soon as I saw your photo, I said to myself you will not leave that alone for long.

LOL I did not expect you to modify it in less than a month.


Sorry I did not see this post earlier. To un-glue VHB tape, all you need is a squirt of denatured alcohol. AMSolar has a video on doing that.

I am glad you got the feet off, but I am not so glad that you got them off so easily.

[wincrasher]

Well, you can't get them off at all using uplift. You have to twist them.

So that tells me that it's not as strong in shear if you don't lock it in with caulk/dicor. If you do that, it would be nearly impossible to pry off.

I had cut the dicor away from the feet with a carpet knife first. Once that was broken, then some hard twisting and they came loose.