Solar Setup

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CLewis3

New member
Joined
Feb 3, 2025
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2
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Madison, MS
Hello everyone, I am new to the RV world and recently purchased a 2022 GD Imagine. It has a basic lead acid battery, but did come equipped with a solar panel and 30 amp solar controller. I included some pictures of the solar and power controller?

My goal is to be able to run the outside small fridge, inside fridge, microwave, and lights off of the battery when in transport, or the occasional boondocking night.

If I upgrade to a 200Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Battery, is it plug and play with the current power controller? Would this be sufficient for my goals or will I need to go bigger on the battery or 2 batteries? Thank you for any guidance you can give me!
 

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Per the google:

MODEL: GP-SB-PWM-30BT
  • 4 battery charging profiles: Sealed/Gel, AGM, Flooded and LiFePO4 (lithium)
What size panel? What happens if it's cloudy? You didn't put a time constraint or use profile for your operating goal. No one can estimate this until you have more data. Do you have any operating time with this setup yet?

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Per the google:

MODEL: GP-SB-PWM-30BT
  • 4 battery charging profiles: Sealed/Gel, AGM, Flooded and LiFePO4 (lithium)
What size panel? What happens if it's cloudy? You didn't put a time constraint or use profile for your operating goal. No one can estimate this until you have more data. Do you have any operating time with this setup yet?

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
All valid questions. The panel is a 200w. I am looking to invest in a setup that would allow at least the 2 fridge units to run for ~48 hours in cloudy conditions at most. The boondock situations would be one night while on the way to other campsites.

I guess I need to convert to a LifePO4 and then gather more data to see if another panel, and another battery, is needed.
 
Relaying what equipment you have can reveal some rough numbers to know how close you are to burning through 200Ah in 48 hours. Cloudy panel output is nominal 10% of rated, so while not zero, is limited at best. If the rough numbers indicate a huge overrun then how accurate that is becomes somewhat secondary, e.g. if it's estimated you need 300Ah then whether it's really 280 or 320 doesn't change you're adding more battery. Microwaves and fridges are among the highest loads you'll see in an RV, so it really comes down to how long and how often they're used. Another consideration is power while underway - typically the RV is supplied by the tow vehicle to some extent, so that would contribute some to your power budget.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Would this be sufficient for my goals or will I need to go bigger on the battery or 2 batteries?
Depends on many things, so the complete one-word answer is "maybe".

For what it is worth, I did this to this to Class A motorhome before my first long trip in it. Separate power system from stock for both AC & DC stuff. 300AH lifep04 battery with a 4KW pure sinewave inverter, along with its separate 60-amp converter. I can charge it also by generator as well as via solar on sunny days like this.

This motorhome came stock with a 1200-watt inverter. It will not power the MW oven and the kitchen outlets do NOT work when the inverter is on by design. I use the stock inverter and stock L-A batteries for the stock stuff where possible. I use my added system for everything else, such as MW oven, hair dryer, Keurig, toaster, etc. when I do not want to run the genny. I normally run the genny every morning until all my batteries are at 90% SOC and from there, the solar takes over and gets them all to 100% SOC well before dark. Solar only goes to the LA battery but I have a DC2DCC which will charge the Lifep04 battery as soon as the LA voltage gets high enough to turn on the DC2DCC and then charge my added 300 Lifepo4 battery. By before nighttime, every battery in this rig is at 100% SOC. I use 400 watts of solar here, but rarely do I get 400 watts from it all, but it is more than enough for my needs.

I use either my 5.5 KW Onan genny or my inverter with my added 300-AH Lifep04 battery for when I do not want to run the genny, such as late nights or during "quiet hours".

-Don- Quartzsite, AZ
 
I have a Go Power solar system as well. When I have questions, I contact the company. They are super helpful and have the correct information for your unit.
Happy Trails!
 
Have you measured the power draw of the stuff you want to run? If not anything else will be a guess. You will need a way to connect the inverter to the circuits with the stuff you want to run to the inverter. We installed a 2nd circuit box powered by our inverter to do that.

Would help if you posted more info about your current setup including what inverter is installed and what is wired to it
 
My goal is to be able to run the outside small fridge, inside fridge, microwave, and lights off of the battery when in transport, or the occasional boondocking night.

If I upgrade to a 200Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Battery, is it plug and play with the current power controller? Would this be sufficient for my goals or will I need to go bigger on the battery or 2 batteries? Thank you for any guidance you can give me!
First, your GoPower is a PWM (not MPPT) controller designed for 12V solar arrays. This means you can't use high voltage solar panels which is very limiting.

Second, fill your roof with as many high wattage solar panels that will fit. That will determine what size charge controller you'll need. Buy a Renogy or Victron (my choice) MPPT charge controller, not GoPower.

Third, for your power needs you'll need at least 400Ah of batteries.

Finally, all of the above is fine for your 12V power needs, but not for AC. For that you'll need an inverter.
 
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