Need advice for solar install on 2011 Roadtrek SS Agile

[GaryG-ClassB]

Hi All

I have a 2011 Roadtrek SS Agile that I would like to install one or two small solar panels on. I can figure out roof mounting and cable routing. I just need to know how this would work with my current system. The house electrical system involves two series wired 6 volt deep discharge lead acid batteries and a Tripp-Lite inverter charger with a standard shore power connection and alternator charging. There does not seem to be any connections on the inverter for solar power as per the manual. Would I connect directly to the batteries? Does anyone have any experience with this or can direct me to some guidance and/or recommendations for the best solar panel brands/sellers? Thanks

 

[booster]

Hi All

I have a 2011 Roadtrek SS Agile that I would like to install one or two small solar panels on. I can figure out roof mounting and cable routing. I just need to know how this would work with my current system. The house electrical system involves two series wired 6 volt deep discharge lead acid batteries and a Tripp-Lite inverter charger with a standard shore power connection and alternator charging. There does not seem to be any connections on the inverter for solar power as per the manual. Would I connect directly to the batteries? Does anyone have any experience with this or can direct me to some guidance and/or recommendations for the best solar panel brands/sellers? Thanks

You have the long used "standard" power system Roadtrek put in many vans. Our 07 C190P Chevy chassis had the same thing with wet cells (yours are likely AGMs).

You don't mention a generator, but the shouldn't change anything either way as it does it's charging through the Tipplite inverter/charger.

So you have basically two inputs to your batteries for charging, the 45amp Tripplite charger or the alternator that probably has 80 or less amp circuit breakers to limit it to that amount. The don't really interfere with each other, and neither should they interfere with some add on solar.

For solar you need the panels, all the wiring and fusing needed to have safe connections, and a charge controller to take the solar panel output and change it to correct profile for battery charging. You can't hook up the panels directly to the batteries.

Very many systems like you want have been done and documented on here and other places for education purposes, and with you being a novice I think you may want to get a whole solar "package" from one of the manufacturers or dealers like Go Power or Renogy. They will give you well matched components to do what you need at tech level to fit your budget. They usually have decent instructions and help lines to use. Much easier and error free than trying to source, buy, and figure out how to hook up components.

You do need to figure out how much solar energy you need to generate so everyone can know how big the panels and controller need to be. 100-200 watts is a typical small system these days.

 

[GaryG-ClassB]

You have the long used "standard" power system Roadtrek put in many vans. Our 07 C190P Chevy chassis had the same thing with wet cells (yours are likely AGMs).

You don't mention a generator, but the shouldn't change anything either way as it does it's charging through the Tipplite inverter/charger.

So you have basically two inputs to your batteries for charging, the 45amp Tripplite charger or the alternator that probably has 80 or less amp circuit breakers to limit it to that amount. The don't really interfere with each other, and neither should they interfere with some add on solar.

For solar you need the panels, all the wiring and fusing needed to have safe connections, and a charge controller to take the solar panel output and change it to correct profile for battery charging. You can't hook up the panels directly to the batteries.

Very many systems like you want have been done and documented on here and other places for education purposes, and with you being a novice I think you may want to get a whole solar "package" from one of the manufacturers or dealers like Go Power or Renogy. They will give you well matched components to do what you need at tech level to fit your budget. They usually have decent instructions and help lines to use. Much easier and error free than trying to source, buy, and figure out how to hook up components.

You do need to figure out how much solar energy you need to generate so everyone can know how big the panels and controller need to be. 100-200 watts is a typical small system these days.

Thank you. I ordered an "Eco-Worthy" 200 watt complete system for $149.00. I plan to wire through the roof using a marine grade entry seal, wire directly to the batteries and hide the controller attached with velcro in the breaker cabinet. Should work out well, be invisible and offer a short term emergency power source for critical devices in my home as well.

 

[booster]

As with most anything related to solar power generation for RVs, don't believe the recovery amount you will get. They say 800wh in 4 hours but that would be in perfect sun, at the panels, no wiring or controller. Many panels can't even do that as there as some losses. Although the reviews are generally very positive, almost all the negatives came do to not getting as much power as they expected.

In general, it is a pretty good estimate of about 30ah per day per 100 watt panel in very good sun. We sometimes see a bit more in the south when the sun is right overhead and they have good wiring and an MPPT controller. We also have seen many with less that that. The 30ah per day at 14.3v charge would give a little over 400wh for the day.

If you have a propane frig 200 watts should take care of you unless you use the inverter a lot or have some high drain items and aren't in clouds or shade a lot. On a cloudy rainy day, that 30ah might be well be under 5ah. We did that with two wet cell batteries for several years early on.

Be sure to come back and let us all know how it all turns out and what you are seeing for recovery. Does the controller keep track of daily output for you? Or, if you have a battery monitor you can see it there pretty well.

 

[GeorgeRad]

...................wire directly to the batteries .........................

When solar panels are not charging their controller will likely draw some energy from batteries so it is a good idea to install a controller disconnect switch for nights or storage.

 

[GaryG-ClassB]

As with most anything related to solar power generation for RVs, don't believe the recovery amount you will get. They say 800wh in 4 hours but that would be in perfect sun, at the panels, no wiring or controller. Many panels can't even do that as there as some losses. Although the reviews are generally very positive, almost all the negatives came do to not getting as much power as they expected.

In general, it is a pretty good estimate of about 30ah per day per 100 watt panel in very good sun. We sometimes see a bit more in the south when the sun is right overhead and they have good wiring and an MPPT controller. We also have seen many with less that that. The 30ah per day at 14.3v charge would give a little over 400wh for the day.

If you have a propane frig 200 watts should take care of you unless you use the inverter a lot or have some high drain items and aren't in clouds or shade a lot. On a cloudy rainy day, that 30ah might be well be under 5ah. We did that with two wet cell batteries for several years early on.

Be sure to come back and let us all know how it all turns out and what you are seeing for recovery. Does the controller keep track of daily output for you? Or, if you have a battery monitor you can see it there pretty well.

The controller is bluetooth to a phone app, so it may have some accurate battery data, but I haven't looked into it yet. I do have a 3 way fridge. Between a daily drive's alternator charging and the sun, I hope to be able to keep the fridge on battery as much as possible.

 

[booster]

The controller is bluetooth to a phone app, so it may have some accurate battery data, but I haven't looked into it yet. I do have a 3 way fridge. Between a daily drive's alternator charging and the sun, I hope to be able to keep the fridge on battery as much as possible.

The 3 way frigs use a lot power on DC, in the range of 10+ amps IIRC, and on DC they tend to run constantly and often not be able to keep up.

Many of us ran on DC when driving and for us it was OK unless it got near 80* outside, others have done better or worse. Why do you want to run on DC? Or are you wanting to not use the propane? It is pretty rare for those who don't use propane to keep a propane frig on DC as they use very little propane but lots of DC power.

 

[GaryG-ClassB]

We'll see how it goes. We've had pretty good luck with DC keeping up provided we keep the two computer ventilation fans running at all times. I installed a switch to bypass the thermo couple so the fans can run constantly which really makes a huge difference in the efficiency of the fridge and the fans use nearly zero electricity

 

[GaryG-ClassB]

When solar panels are not charging their controller will likely draw some energy from batteries so it is a good idea to install a controller disconnect switch for nights or storage.

That's a great idea. That would also be nice to have when replacing batteries to avoid a live line from the controller.

 

[booster]

That's a great idea. That would also be nice to have when replacing batteries to avoid a live line from the controller.

You have to be very careful with disconnects on the solar controllers in general. Like many/most charging equipment these days, they are not fixed voltage power supplies that can control voltage without a battery reference. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if the solar panels stay connected to the charger and start to put out power, they can put a voltage spike on the controller and possible damage it. Worst is if you have the disconnect engaged with van in the garage or deep shade, and you drive it out under full sun.

Many of us leave the controller connected to battery full time as the power loss is very small for most controllers. Many of us also have a disconnect on the panels so the their input into the controller can be shut down to stop charging. If I want it all dead or an disconnecting the batteries or changing them, I have a pullable fuse to the controller right next to switch for the panel turn off so I know the fuse is pulled and to not turn on the panels.

Perhaps the controllers are protected better now, but both of the controllers we have used had a warning about disconnects in the owner manual. The newest of them was nearly 10 years ago.

 

[engnrsrule]

Hi All

I have a 2011 Roadtrek SS Agile that I would like to install one or two small solar panels on. I can figure out roof mounting and cable routing. I just need to know how this would work with my current system. The house electrical system involves two series wired 6 volt deep discharge lead acid batteries and a Tripp-Lite inverter charger with a standard shore power connection and alternator charging. There does not seem to be any connections on the inverter for solar power as per the manual. Would I connect directly to the batteries? Does anyone have any experience with this or can direct me to some guidance and/or recommendations for the best solar panel brands/sellers? Thanks

Hi Gary. I have a 2006 Adventurous that was originally equipped with a Tripplite Inverter-charger. I have a couple of threads, one for broad electric upgrades and one adding 290w of solar. You need to think about your whole system. A few key points...
1. My Tripplite was modified sine wave and I changed to a separate pure sine wave inverter to support internet,TV, and other electronics upgrades.
2. Removing the Tripplite Inverter-charger meant I had to change to add a separate 120v charger.
3. Because the Tripplite I took out had its own integral transfer switch, I added a second ATS to support changing between shore tie, generator, and inverter, and also connect in a way that isolated the charger when operating on inverter.
4. I also modified my inverter output to feed the entire 120vac bus rather than just the few outlets fed from the Tripplite.
5. I wanted to add solar plus switch to lithium batteries and did so a few years after the initial upgrades.
6. Realize that battery types have different charging profiles. You should consider the compatibility of any future charger or solar controller with your existing LA batteries, as well as lithiums should you decide to go that route LAs don't last forever and next replacement is likely to be lithium.
7. Add a battery monitor if you don't already have one.

My solar controller charge output goes right to the battery. I rely on the controller to meter what it is sending to the battery if the engine alternator or 120v charger are charging the battery. Unlike many solar systems, I incorporated a way to turn the system off, with a sequenced relay that powers up controller first, then panels, and powers down panels first, then controller.

Lastly, Forum user Booster is one of the smartest guys out there and helped me a lot.

 

[engnrsrule]

We'll see how it goes. We've had pretty good luck with DC keeping up provided we keep the two computer ventilation fans running at all times. I installed a switch to bypass the thermo couple so the fans can run constantly which really makes a huge difference in the efficiency of the fridge and the fans use nearly zero electricity

I have external fans too and did same dual switch (thermostat or manual on).

Another change that really helped is an internal fin fan powered off 12v. Amazon.com