RV solar wiring question

scwatts · January 2014

Hello, I am looking at buying an older RV and adding solar to power small things such as LED or Fluorescent lighting, computer, cell phone charger, etc. The RV i am looking at is an older model (1977). I have seen lots of diagrams on how to set-up the solar system and it all seems pretty easy but it seems like nobody is discussing how to connect it to their RV's appliances. How would I go about this? I really don't know much about how these old RV's are wired. Would I just connect my battery bank to the main battery used for starting the vehicle? In other words how do I attach my appliances to my battery bank so that they receive power?

Cariboocoot · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

Welcome to the forum.

You're looking at it the wrong way; the solar doesn't run anything, it recharges the battery that runs things.

How the battery (or batteries) run things can be two ways (either or both): direct DC or AC through an inverter. You need to familiarize yourself with the particulars of your RV to know exactly what you are dealing with.

Normally the RV will have a charge source built in. Often it is a "converter"; a sort of heavy-duty DC power supply that provides battery charging and DC power when plug in to "shore power". It can also have a connection between the "house" battery and the "engine" battery, and there's more than one way of doing that as well.

As far as adding solar goes, it is as simple as connecting panels through a charge controller to the house battery. It is also as difficult as that, because there's lots of different panels and controllers and batteries and you want to get a good match between them to make it worthwhile. Putting 5 Amps to 220 Amp hours of battery won't accomplish much, for example.

scwatts · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

So am I just going to link the battery bank to the house battery if it there is one?

vtmaps · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

scwatts wrote: »

So am I just going to link the battery bank to the house battery if it there is one?

I think you're getting ahead of yourself... what do you have for an electrical system in the RV already? It's most certainly a bad idea to connect a new battery to your existing house battery... mismatched batteries will be an expensive mistake.

--vtMaps

westbranch · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

http://www.midnitesolar.com/pdfs/Kid_12V_2p_Par_DN.pdf

Here is a link to a MidNite Solar schematic for a KID Charge controller. It will show you the basics of what is needed for a PV power system. You can use it as a guide for any system. there are other components that can be used, so ask away.
You will have to figure out what your current system has, probably a power/fuse centre for lights, fans etc which may have both AC and DC in it.

scwatts · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

I don't own the RV yet so i'm not sure. I just want to know how much work its going to be to connect the solar system to the RV I am thinking of buying. I dont want to buy an RV and then find out its going to be a huge ordeal to hook up the solar system. So how would I connect the battery bank to the house battery? Would I need to replace the house battery with the same type of batteries that I am using in my battery bank? Sorry if I am completely misunderstanding this concept. I cant seem to find any good info on it anywhere.

Cariboocoot · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

Okay an RV usually has two batteries: the engine battery which is used for the motoring part and the house battery which runs everything else.

What you are looking at doing is adding solar panels to help keep the house battery charged. If the existing battery is adequate you will not be changing it. If it isn't you will be swapping it for more capacity, not adding another battery to it.

How big an ordeal it is will be mostly a matter of how familiar you are with standard wiring practices.

Before you buy any RV, look it over carefully. Ask questions. See if there is a manual with it. You're looking at plonking down some serious $$ here, so be certain of what you get for it.

scwatts · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

Dont most people have a couple 12v batteries wired together in parallel? Would one of the batteries in the battery bank be the house battery?

Cariboocoot · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

scwatts wrote: »

Dont most people have a couple 12v batteries wired together in parallel? Would one of the batteries in the battery bank be the house battery?

Depends on the particular RV. If were talking motorhome here, the engine battery is usually near the engine and the house battery located elsewhere. There could be two 12 Volt batteries in parallel for the house or there could be two 6 Volt batteries in series or there could be just one 12 Volt battery.

Chris · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

scwatts wrote: »

Dont most people have a couple 12v batteries wired together in parallel? Would one of the batteries in the battery bank be the house battery?

no, most people who are serious about boon docking (camping with out sure power) will run 2-4 6 volt batteries for the house power. So if this is somthing that you want to do with this unit and it only has 1 12 volt my first perchase would be at least one pair of "good" 6 volts.

westbranch · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

Sorry we have left one cautionary note off so far....Most batteries do not just die..... They are murdered.

That is why the recommendation here is to get a set of training batteries, 6V Golf Cart (GC2's) are a good choice...

BB. · January 2014

Re: RV solar wiring question

Handy Bob's website is all about solar and RV's--Some very good reading:

http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/

-Bill

RV solar wiring question

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