Adding Solar to a Magestic 28A

[radiojeffrv]

All set to add 400W of solar to my 28A. My family likes to do a lot of boondocking and adding solar plus an extra battery will really help.

Has anyone done this? Any advise on routing wires from the roof to the dinette would be appreciated 🙂

[bobndot]

radiojeffrv wrote:
I started with 200W based on my current power usage... I have plenty of roof space and can always add more. Just felt this was a good starting point and now that all the hard work is done, if I need to add a few more panels, it will be fairly easy.

Many people carry along a portable genny as a back-up charging source.
I already have 3 generators and feel I need to use at least one of them :B, so im using only 100w which works a lot of the time because of my use.
I think 200w is its a good amount of solar to start. As you said, you can always add more, it's nice that you have that option but depending on all the previously mentioned factors, you might not have to.

You have to do things on an as needed basis otherwise we will all spend a fortune on all this neat rv stuff and some of it might not be necessary. Baby steps :C

[radiojeffrv]

I started with 200W based on my current power usage... I have plenty of roof space and can always add more. Just felt this was a good starting point and now that all the hard work is done, if I need to add a few more panels, it will be fairly easy.

[Skrunner]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

200 watts will not cut it. Sorry.

Depends on usage, length of time 'off grid,' battery bank. Too many factors at play for such a blanket statement.

I've had solar setups from 100w to 300w and all worked wonderfully because they were sized for the purpose.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

200 watts will not cut it. Sorry.

[radiojeffrv]

Thanks for the advice! I did the install over the weekend 🙂 Installed 2 100W HQST Solar panels on the roof... found the ribs and some Dicor and I feel they are very secure! I routed the cable down the refrigerator vent and was able to put the cable in a flexible conduit to run it under the rv to the battery bank. I have the HQST 30A controller hooked up to two AGM house batteries.

Now lets see how it works 🙂 We do a lot of boondocking, so hopeful that this will keep the house batteries topped off.

My electrical system now consists of a transfer switch, that switches between shore/generator power and a 1500W Windy Nation inverter. With 2 AGM 125Ah batteries.

[PSW]

I added solar to our Phoenix Cruiser a few years ago and love it. First, I put 100 watt Renogy panel from Amazon on the roof using a mounting kit. It was hard finding the ribs and to make sure I used Dicor on the mounting kit where it met the roof to help glue it down. Next season, I added another 100 watt but I used a flexible solar panel and attached it with 3M industrial mounting tape (same as used to attach car exterior mirrors). The next year, I added another 100 watt panel but this time I built a frame for it and use fifty feet of cord to move it around so I can put it in the sun if I am camped in the shade. That works great and really gooses the system.

I used a simple Renogy controller that came in a kit with the first panel I installed and simply hooked the next two panels into the wiring going to it. I made a plug for the portable panel so I can unplug it and carry it in the toad when moving around.

We often boondock for a couple of weeks at a time and find this system keeps our batteries well charged. We have two 6v lead acid golf cart batteries for the coach. Even with the two hundred watts on the roof, we will get some pretty surprising amounts of charging on a cloudy day or under broken shade.

If I were doing it again, I would buy three flexible panels. They only weigh 7 pounds as I recall. The 3M tape is amazing and you can put Dicor around the edge of those panels if you so desire for safety. I check the panels and the roof in general pretty often and have never had a problem. Now, some folks say the flex panels are inferior but mine measures the same output as the rigid panel. The panels cost about $150 each on Amazon, the controller was less than $30 and the wire was ????

As to routing...........that would vary from rig to rig but the vent mentioned is a common solution from what I have read. Solar isn't rocket science, just a panel or two, some wire, a controller and hook it all up. I did a very simple system and it meets my needs. By the way, I also bought a digital voltmeter on Amazon with a nice large read out of volts and I hooked that into the system so I can monitor the batteries, the controller etc.

[Harvey51]

X2 on the fridge vent. I was amazed at how easy that is. The vent is quite large so the cables don’t need to touch the pipe venting the propane flame.

Biggest problem is securing the panels on the roof unless you have thick plywood in the roof. It is difficult to locate roof ribs - look in cupboards and any ceiling openings for lights, speakers, etc.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Have you chosen a charge controller yet?

Route the wires through the fridge vent (chimney).

radiojeffrv wrote:
All set to add 400W of solar to my 28A. My family likes to do a lot of boondocking and adding solar plus an extra battery will really help.

Has anyone done this? Any advise on routing wires from the roof to the dinette would be appreciated 🙂

[bobndot]

Roof-top system: It's fine as long you don't park in shady places.
When I boondock, I like shade so I bought a portable system that I can move around the campsite as needed.
100w system works for me because I don't use a lot of 12v power. If I spent a lot time away sightseeing, then I would also have a panel secured to the roof and pack away the portable panels.

I can get away using less solar because I have toggle switches installed on all my parasitic draws. Radio/clock, TV, gas detectors (I use a portable detector) anything that uses an LED indicator light will draw power. Therefore I use a portable 12v volt-meter to view my battery condition.
The only draw I have is my fridge while running on gas. The circuit board draws about .35 amps on a 6 cf fridge.
Be advised, some power roof vent models do have a power draw when turned off.


If you desire a nice volt meter with other functions, look into using a Trimetric TM-2030-A Battery Monitor approx. $150.



If interested,
INFO from the website Trimetric :

The TM 2030 is intended to help maintain battery systems for 12V to 48V deep cycle batteries, such as ones found in RV's or off grid homes, which are regularly charged and discharged. It measures the rate of energy going in or out of your batteries so you can check your charging systems and see how much energy each of your appliances use. This is a big help when you're trying to conserve energy. The Trimetric will help you keep track of how charged or discharged your batteries are. It will let you discover if your charging systems are charging to the proper voltage, which is important for maximizing your battery life. The monitor will also tell you the number of days since the main battery system was fully charged, so if it hasn't been charged recently you can perform extra charging if necessary to help maintain the capacity of your batteries. The TM-2030 also can measure the voltage only of a second battery set, such as the starting battery, or solar voltage input to a charge controller.

The main difference between this model and the older TM-2025-A is that the TM-2030-A is capable of working in tandem with the new Bogart Engineering SC-2030 PWM solar charge controller. When the two units are used together, it increases the performance of the charge controller and can adjust the output to a level that is better suited to your batteries current state of charge.

3 year warranty