Help designing solar system for travel trailer

jrv8984
jrv8984 Registered Users Posts: 2
in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
I scored 4 sunpower E19 245w panels for around $1 a watt. I am in the process of doing a complete rehab on a 33 foot travel trailer. The panels will eventually be mounted on to roof. i am looking for suggestions and opinions on what is needed for installation, ie. charge controllers, inverters, batteries, etc.

We have a chest freezer that we will be using as a refrigerator, whatever outlets are in the trailer to run a laptop, water distiller, etc, and I am looking into recessed LED lighting.
Thanks

I just read that Sunpower PV panels use a positive ground, is there a charge controller that can accommodate positive ground pv panels and negatively grounded batteries.
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Help designing solar system for travel trailer

    As I mentioned in a PM, be sure of the origin of these Sun Power panels to determine if they re indeed positive ground panels. There have been (and are) many PV panels sold with some derivative of "Sun" in the branding.

    Tony

    PS. welcome to the forum.

    T
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Help designing solar system for travel trailer

    Specs on the Sunpower E19 show they have a Vmp of 40.5, so an MPPT type controller is a must.
    It took a bit of searching (including this forum) but it appears they are indeed positive ground. But another source http://gaiaenergysystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/SPR-245NE-WHT-D.pdf says "Grounding: Positive grounding not required". As this is a reference to Earth grounding and you will be using them on an RV this is probably not an issue.

    What you could expect from four 245 Watt panels and MPPT controller:
    980 Watts @ 77% efficiency on 12 VDC = 63 Amps peak charge current. (That's quite a lot; consider a 24 Volt system is this is to be AC only and there's no need for 12 VDC power.) About 2kW hours AC per day (based on 4 hours sun), over-all. Enough peak current for 630 Amp hours @ 12 Volt, or 315 @ 24.

    This could work.
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  • jrv8984
    jrv8984 Registered Users Posts: 2
    #4
    Re: Help designing solar system for travel trailer

    yes they are sunpower panels. Model SPR 245NE-WHT-D.
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