Solar hardware recommendations needed

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Darkyputz

Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2024
Posts
11
Location
New Jersey
Hello everyone...

We are overhauling our 2001 Coachmen santara and with the new roof i want to get 1-3 panels up there, depending on the space i will find.
So my questions are:
- Whats the best way to leak free mount them.
- What charge controller/inverter/transfer switch system should i get to have 120v while on solar/batteries (no crazy wattage needed)
Right now i only have a Magnatek 940 charge controller and NO 120V when geni is off and not hooked up to something
On top i have 2x 100ah lead acids under the stairs and so far lights and water pump run on 12 volt.
So it would be awesome to have a off grid hybrid inverter/charger with transfer switch included...
But i am a total noob on that.
PV and electric wise i am knowledgeable.

thx for any thoughts...i dont mind cheaper end suggestions :)
 
It's such an open-ended question I (and probably others) hardly know where to start. Any inverter will do, but you need to come up with an estimate of what 120v items you need to run and thus how much amperage or watts will be required. But I'll caution that your 2 x 100ah batteries aren't going to provide a lot of watt-hours, so don't be thinking high demand appliances (heaters, microwaves) or lengthy run-times. Unless you add more battery capacity, for practical reasons you are probably limited to the 1200-1800 watt range.

That Magnetek 940 is ancient technology, so you may as well get a combo inverter/charger to both replace the Magnetek and do the inverting. I also suggest one with a built-in auto-transfer switch to keep the wiring of inverter & shore power simple.

For charging 2 x 100ah batteries, I'm thinking 200-300 watts of solar panels and an MPPT controller capable of handling around 40A, but there are numerous configuration variations. Again, the energy budget is the crucial parameter - how much power (battery amp-hours) do you need to replace every day and how much sun is available to do that. If you need a lot of amp-hours and only get a couple hours/day of direct sun, you will want more panels to capitalize on the sunlight. But if you camp in a desert and get many hours of sun, maybe 100W of panel is enough.

I'm not the expert here, so this is just some initial thought to get you started and thinking about what you want.
 
Darkyputz said:
Hello everyone...

We are overhauling our 2001 Coachmen santara and with the new roof i want to get 1-3 panels up there, depending on the space i will find.
So my questions are:
- Whats the best way to leak free mount them.
- What charge controller/inverter/transfer switch system should i get to have 120v while on solar/batteries (no crazy wattage needed)
Right now i only have a Magnatek 940 charge controller and NO 120V when geni is off and not hooked up to something
On top i have 2x 100ah lead acids under the stairs and so far lights and water pump run on 12 volt.
So it would be awesome to have a off grid hybrid inverter/charger with transfer switch included...
But i am a total noob on that.
PV and electric wise i am knowledgeable.

thx for any thoughts...i dont mind cheaper end suggestions :)
Click to expand...

as Gary says, it's an open ended question..

The first thing I would ask you is what are your anticpated loads ?
If you can't answer that then you don't know what you want, and neither do we..
there is no magic formula for this, you have to do some ground work up front..

having said that, how does one begin with solar ?
welll the first and foremost detail is "Know your loads"
this is one aspect of solar design that many don't seem to understand
and that's were it can go south very quickly.

What we can do to get an estimate of your loads ? here are a few questions:

1. what is your camping style.. do you intend to be off grid for a week or two, or just a day or two ?
2. Do you expect to use high wattage loads such as microwave ovens, coffee makers or toasters ?

those are the heavy hitters, everything else is small.
please provide us with a little more info so we can better help you.
 
Hello and thx for the many answers.
And sorry that my question was so open ended. Totally unintended.
So goal is to charge/run notebook and get eventually a kitchen mixer and cofe grinder to work.
I am not planning to run e heaters or any intense power for any reason.
Budget is another subject. I have no idea what what costs, so the less the better.
I like the idea with solar charger/inverter with ats. Are those expensive?
500-1000 watt would be alot for me to draw.
Thx alot again for any answers. And please let me know if i can/should provide more info.
I am sitting on 20 175 w panels which i can use, might be able to get 3-4 on the roof
 
You need to estimate both peak wattage and time between charges. A 1000W (1 KW) power source isn't very practical if it can only provide that amount of power for 2-3 minutes. Or if it takes many hours to recharge between uses. The size of the inverter dictates the max power available, but the time is a matter of battery capacity. And the longer between charges, the more battery you need to last.

Take a look at the Ecoflow website - they are a major retailer of the so-called solar generators. That will give you some idea about capacity & cost. And also typical power consumption by common devices or appliances. You can probably build your own system for less, if you have some basic skills, but a package like Ecoflow Delta makes it simple for those who aren't inclined to DIY.

Expensive? Sort of. An Ecoflow Delta Pro 2 is $1100, basically for a lithium battery, a 2000W inverter, and AC/DC charger. No solar panels - you supply your own or buy theirs as an option. See the specs at EcoFlow DELTA 2 Solar Generator (PV220W) - 1*220W + DELTA 2 - EcoFlow
 
Something to ponder is what kind of usage your inverter will have. If it's "as needed", where you turn the inverter on, use the AC device, then turn it back off again that can have a different size/efficiency goal than an inverter you intend to leave on all the time. Your stated power demands are pretty nominal, most folks going down this road want to run wash machines, microwave ovens, air conditioners and hair dryers. You have a number of readily achievable options, just depends on how thinly you want to slice up the problem.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
You need to estimate both peak wattage and time between charges. A 1000W (1 KW) power source isn't very practical if it can only provide that amount of power for 2-3 minutes. Or if it takes many hours to recharge between uses. The size of the inverter dictates the max power available, but the time is a matter of battery capacity. And the longer between charges, the more battery you need to last.

Take a look at the Ecoflow website - they are a major retailer of the so-called solar generators. That will give you some idea about capacity & cost. And also typical power consumption by common devices or appliances. You can probably build your own system for less, if you have some basic skills, but a package like Ecoflow Delta makes it simple for those who aren't inclined to DIY.

Expensive? Sort of. An Ecoflow Delta Pro 2 is $1100, basically for a lithium battery, a 2000W inverter, and AC/DC charger. No solar panels - you supply your own or buy theirs as an option. See the specs at EcoFlow DELTA 2 Solar Generator (PV220W) - 1*220W + DELTA 2 - EcoFlow
Click to expand...

Typical wattage for a food mixer is 500 to 750 Watts. Coffee grinder can be 300 Watts
Notebook might have a 100 Watt PSU. so max concurrent wattage would be in the order of 1100 Watts.
A 1500 Watt unit would suffice here.

From the Delta 2 spec, 11-60V, 15A, 500W max. it would appear to be designed for use with 60 cell panels ( 42Volts VOC ). Three of those 175 W panels in parallel would work just fine.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
More like 200-300 watts for a hand-held mixer, but a more powerful countertop model would be in the 500-750 range.
Click to expand...
I would agree Gary, I suggested those values as we don't actually know the real wattage, so best to err on the high side.
 
Darkyputz said:
PV and electric wise i am knowledgeable.
Click to expand...

If you are comfortable with DIY then I would suggest a Victron Multiplus 2000VA inverter charger ATS unit and add a Smart solar 100/50 MPPT for the PV array.
it's good gear, a bit high end for your application but well worth it in my experience.

The 100/50 will give you a 600 Watt capability on panels.
The multiplus will give you 1600W inverter, a 35 Amp transfer switch and a programmable 80 Amp charger.

total cost approx. $1200
 
solarman said:
MPP,That's a china special, they are known for high idle consumption and questionable reliability. I would advise not to buy.
Click to expand...
Maybe so, I chose that as an example of an AIO, the web page shows a short video of how simple a small AIO is to set-up and use
 
solarman said:
If you are comfortable with DIY then I would suggest a Victron Multiplus 2000VA inverter charger ATS unit and add a Smart solar 100/50 MPPT for the PV array.
it's good gear, a bit high end for your application but well worth it in my experience.

The 100/50 will give you a 600 Watt capability on panels.
The multiplus will give you 1600W inverter, a 35 Amp transfer switch and a programmable 80 Amp charger.

total cost approx. $1200
Click to expand...
Hello and thx for that reco, i looked into it and it might become my new best friend.
Looks like what i was looking for and the 2000va is def enough juice, could prob even rip the gas range out and put a induction in for this
 
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