Newbie question for RV setup!

System
System Posts: 2,511 admin
in General Solar Power Topics #1
Man, this site is awesome and this solar thing is soo cool. I am just starting to dabble in the solar stuff with aspirations of someday getting a system for my home. But I am going to start small and I would just like opinions from the experts! :D

My wife and I (and our 4 boys) just bought an 18 foot toy hauler. It came with a microwave in the place of an oven. It does have a small cook top. The trailer came with an Interstate 100 amp/hr battery and I added another 140 amp/hr battery (yea, I know. I learned later that they are supposed to match! :confused: )

I want a solar system (probably just one panel) that will adequately charge the two batteries. My wife also wants to have limited use (about 10 minutes of use per day that we are out) of the microwave. The microwave is a 1100 watt (draws 1500 watts). Other electricity consuming devices we will be using will be water pump, furnace for cold nights and limited use of lights at night.

So here is what I put together.

1. One Kyocera 85 watt OR one Mitsubishi 120 watt panel.
2. One Morning Star SS-6 controller.
3. One Xentrex XPower 1500 inverter.
4. One 250 amp fuse for the inverter.

My questions are:
1. Will the 85 watt panel be enough for 3 day dry camping trips?
2. Who makes better panels, Kyocera or Mitsubishi?
3. The XPower 1500 is cheap (can get it for $120) but hey, it will only be used for the microwave. It has a 3000 watt surge capacity. Is it adequate?

Thanks for all your help. You have already been a big help by just reading all your posts!

Brian
· Share on Twitter

Comments

  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Newbie question for RV setup!
    sledboy wrote: »

    1. One Kyocera 85 watt OR one Mitsubishi 120 watt panel.
    2. One Morning Star SS-6 controller.
    3. One Xentrex XPower 1500 inverter.
    4. One 250 amp fuse for the inverter.

    My questions are:
    1. Will the 85 watt panel be enough for 3 day dry camping trips?
    2. Who makes better panels, Kyocera or Mitsubishi?
    3. The XPower 1500 is cheap (can get it for $120) but hey, it will only be used for the microwave. It has a 3000 watt surge capacity. Is it adequate?

    We need to know the power draw of the furnace. Most likely, you should leave it off at night and snuggle, and run it in the AM, when you get up, otherwise it's likely to wake you at night each time it fires up to drain your battery :) Make sure the walls and ceiling are insulated too !

    120W is likely too small, accounting for all your loads (lights, radio, pump, furnace)
    Just a quick guess, 5 hours of good charging light in the day, gives you 600W hours
    10 min of the microwave draw (@ 1800W pulled thru inverter) 300w h used right there, not counting for other system inefficiencies.

    inverter - XPower 1500 is likely a "modified sine wave" [ in reality a square wave ! ] and your microwave will not like it. I've heard that some of the newer microwaves, that have a "switching" power supply, fare better, than the original microwaves with a big transformer in them.

    I hope if my math is wrong - someone will correct me Mike
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

    · Share on Twitter
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    #3
    Re: Newbie question for RV setup!

    Thanks for the advise Mike. I will check the literature on the furnace when I get home tonight and let you know.
    · Share on Twitter
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Newbie question for RV setup!
    sledboy wrote: »
    I will check the literature on the furnace when I get home tonight and let you know.

    Is the furnace blower 120V ac or 12V dc ??
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

    · Share on Twitter
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    #5
    Re: Newbie question for RV setup!

    I just checked all the documentation that I have for the trailer and wouldn't you know it, the furnace is the only appliance that I don't have anything for. I simply don't have it.

    But I do know this. It is a small furnace that runs on batteries and it also runs when it is plugged into external power. So I guess it would be a 12 volt motor. Other than that, I don't have any more information and don't know how to get it other than pulling the unit and finding a label on it.

    Sorry but thanks again for your help.
    · Share on Twitter
  • crewzer
    crewzer Registered Users, Solar Expert Posts: 1,832 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Newbie question for RV setup!

    I suspect the furnace is either an Atwood or Suburban model commonly used in RV's. Unless it's one of the big models, then the fan is 12 V and draws ~4 A.

    HTH,
    Jim / crewzer
    · Share on Twitter

Categories