It actually went above 70°F today for the first time since we’ve been here. It’s been another uneventful day which included a trip into Fort Mojave for groceries, and sitting in the pool for a while. A couple of other RVers had asked about the solar and DC setup as they saw me up on the roof installing the new panel. I gave them the tour but mostly emphasized what I thought was important. Heavy wire (low resistance), include a battery monitor, full sine wave inverter with a transfer switch, and have the charge controller as close to the batteries as you can. And if you use flooded batteries, make sure the box vented to the outside.
One of the guys mentioned that he had a “solar expert” look at his motorhome. They recommended 300 watt panels designed for a grid-tied system (that’s probably what they had in stock), mounting the MPPT charge controller above the refrigerator and simply tying the output of the charge controller into the 12 VDC panel below the refrigerator. The batteries were around 20 feet away with probably only a 6 AWG run from the DC panel. All this for the bargain price of $2k plus batteries. I suggested that he run away as fast as possible from that “solar expert”. The RVer was a retired electrician and thought that some of the information sounded off to him but he never dealt with DC so he didn’t feel comfortable doing it himself. He liked the look of my installation and took notes. The “solar expert” also recommended mounting the solar panels next to the refrigerator roof vent to simplify running the cables ignoring the fact that it would be shaded by the TV antenna and the air conditioner. So do your research and don’t believe someone just because they claim to be the “experts”.
One of the guys mentioned that he had a “solar expert” look at his motorhome. They recommended 300 watt panels designed for a grid-tied system (that’s probably what they had in stock), mounting the MPPT charge controller above the refrigerator and simply tying the output of the charge controller into the 12 VDC panel below the refrigerator. The batteries were around 20 feet away with probably only a 6 AWG run from the DC panel. All this for the bargain price of $2k plus batteries. I suggested that he run away as fast as possible from that “solar expert”. The RVer was a retired electrician and thought that some of the information sounded off to him but he never dealt with DC so he didn’t feel comfortable doing it himself. He liked the look of my installation and took notes. The “solar expert” also recommended mounting the solar panels next to the refrigerator roof vent to simplify running the cables ignoring the fact that it would be shaded by the TV antenna and the air conditioner. So do your research and don’t believe someone just because they claim to be the “experts”.
I bet that RVer is going to be having words with the so called expert....or perhaps make sure the word gets out on him.
ReplyDeleteProbably not. He was at the Quartzsite RV show and the salesman came out to give him an estimate.
DeleteWe live in a world of many experts, fortunately there's often more than one. As you mention, "buyer beware".
ReplyDeleteEveryone is an expert with Google or “Hey Siri”.
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