I am investigating and designing a Solar 600 Watt system.  This is new to me but very interesting to research and configure.  I have seen two methods in Wiring to get power to the coach from the Solar System.

1. Plug the power cord used for shore power into the Inverter.  In this case I would have the adapter going from 50AMP down to a normal 120V plug and then into the inverter.  Pretty simple and no need for special wiring.  

2. Hard wire the coach power directly to the Panel from the Inverter.  

Are there any advantages or disadvantages/restrictions to either of these types of configurations that you know about?   

I have seen videos on both methods and I understand that you have to shut down your IN-Coach electrical controller before engaging the Inverter to power the coach.   

I am looking at going with the RENOGY Premium Solar Panel Kit  - 400W Polycrystalline - 4pc 100W Poly solar panels -  40A MPPT Charge Controller - RENOGY MT-5 Tracer Meter for MPPT Charge Controller - MicroSolar - 2000W (Peak 4000W) Pure Sine Wave Inverter

Batteries will be 6 - Trjoan T -105's .  I plan to expand this system later to 600 Watts which Renogy says I can do by just adding panels. 

I am planning to boondock with this system but use it only for computers, lights and some appliances such as a Microwave sparingly.  I will switch the refrigerator over to LP and Run the generator for air conditioning if needed.  I may boondock 1-3 days per week but I do not think we will boondock for weeks at a time. If I decided to go that route I can grow this to 800 Watts without much work just by adding panels.   

-- Edited by Big Mike on Monday 29th of February 2016 04:34:36 PM

I am adding an inverter. My motorhome in a 2002 PacevArrow.  It does have one battery currently that works just the minimum lights and a couple of outlets. 

IMO, this is a pure waste of money if you don't boondock 100% of times ! You already have a GEN, so just go ahead and use that damn GEN while you do boondock.

We are planning a solar setup also of similar size as the OP (or perhaps slightly larger) and are targeting 60-100 days per year of boondocking. MY calculations show the payback period of 3-5 years when counting the number of nights away from FHU CG's... definitely worth it to us. There are additional savings from not running the Genset  but those savings are less dramatic. Add in one other possible savings... in certain situations adding solar to your rig can be a tax savings with current incentives in place that really play into the hands to those of us that are/will be FTing. There are other benefits to having solar, chief among them are peace and quiet vs a running genny and having alternate power options should you have a problem with the genny.

"Waste of money if you don't boondock 100% of the time?"... not necessarily, IMHO.

This is one of those "not recommended" - but there is nothing electrically dangerous, as such, about plugging the coach into an inverter IF you know what your doing.  And most don't.  So I don't recommend it.

Obviously you must turn off all the breakers to devices not appropriate for the inverter - especially the battery charger / converter   If you don't it will trip the breaker feeding it anyway due to current runaway, to coin a term, as the charger tries to keep up with the inverter's current draw and "pop goes the breaker."

There can be another issue plugging the rig into an inverter.  Most newer inverters have a GFI outlet.  That outlet will probably trip the GFI protection because there is no ground. Yes, there is a ground wire, but no tie between the neutral and the ground because there is no pedestal or breaker box where ground and neutral are bonded per the NEC.  (Being general here. There are several ways to do this per code.)  One can have the same problem with a portable generator.  Another similar discussion for the same reason BTW.

Regardless, electrically there is nothing inherently wrong plugging a rig into an inverter electrically any more than a portable generator.  With the proper breakers turned off the rig's electrical cable is just "wire."  But if you don't know what you are doing it probably will not work and you will trip breakers.  But, I again, don't recommend it due to the necessary electrical knowledge to make it work.

FWIW

Sorry for mis-communicating this.  I am a first time RVer that will be going full time hopefully this fall.  So we are easing into this.  

The number of times boon docking that I mentioned will be a STARTING POINT, for us.  So this figure of a few times and not for weeks at a time is just for the beginning of our full time travels.  Longer term - (6-8 months) we plan on Boon docking for a week and even two weeks at a time in between camp ground stays.  So our Solar plans will be justified,  just not up front as we get used to our coach and all of the nuances of full time travel.  

Based on our longer plans of boon docking, It will be more than justified to avoid the expense of camp ground stays and to take advantage of some beautiful state parks and BLM land.  I am not interested in hearing the hum of a generator going all the time.  

Thank you Bill for your comments.  I am not a fan of plugging my coach into an Inverter either.  But it had me intrigued because I know someone that does. He does have a checklist of everything to shut off so he does not create a charging loop in his RV.  But I think that its a little hokie and would rather tie it directly into the RV Panel.  

There are many diagrams, videos and instructions on how to install Solar in your RV and since I am an avid DIYer I can handle all of this.  However, the missing piece for me is information on connecting it to your RV panel.  Today in my RV there is a single deep cycle battery that is connected to my RV panel.  I assume that is where I would connect my Solar system so that it has a direct connection to the panel.  Would I be correct in making this assumption?  How is everyone else connecting their solar system into their RV if you are not using an inverter or you want to power all outlets and lights in your RV? 

Some of my questions may be "oh duh" to some people but not being an experienced RV person I appreciate peoples patience and advice. 

Thanks.  I need to get over to storage and investigate this more and start going through my RV in detail.  Plowing through the manual  I found out that there is a small Solar panel that came stock with the 2002 model that provides a "trickle charge" to the battery.  It is on the roof. 

This is the text from the manual - Solar Panel (If Equipped) - Your new motor home may be equipped with an optional solar charger. The solar charging panel installed on the roof of your motor home is designed to "trickle-charge" your battery system. It is not intended to be a fast charger. It also cannot supply large amounts of current to operate 12-volt DC electrical equipment. When the sky is clear and under bright sun, the solar panel will help keep your batteries "topped-up". Do not try to operate 12-volt DC appliances with the output of the solar panel. A light on the air conditioner indicates when the solar panel is operating. The converter will automatically supply 12-volt DC power when your motor home is operating on 120-volt from the generator or a public utility. It also charges the coach battery.

So to your point all I would have to do is use this connection directly to the Solar system.  I am not sure exactly what you can operate and I have noticed that it does operate some of the lights but not all or any other area of the coach like the water pump or Microwave. Again, I have to plow into this and get to the fuse panel and other electrical to take a look.

No sign of an inverter though either on the wiring diagrams or any of the manual material. I will go around and test the outlets to verify power to any of them.  If no power to the outlets than maybe no inverter.  I will take a look around near all the electrical fuses and batteries (located under the step) to see if I see one. 

That panel is a trickle charger of no real value.......my suggestion , Pay a reputable repair service or dealer to come out and give you a full walk thru of your coach so you understand all the operations and can point and ask as you go along...(bring a notebook)....worth every dime spent.......the dealer or previous owner should have done this to make it easy for you to understand the systems......good Luck

Good suggestion. I did go through a full walk through but not detailed on the electrical system.  

Update

I got together with an avid RVer that my wife met as one of her dental patients.  He was nice enough to work with me and go through my RV and point out certain electrical systems.  Also I bounced off of him my solar system design and he helped tweek it so that it would meet all code restrictions and safety.  He is retired and has installed 800 watts of solar on his own RV.  So Case closed and I am ready to install my solar system this spring.

Case closed for the forum but you are way out on your "how to do it" !
Nice to have solar panels but where will you accumulate all of your 800 WATTS and on how many batteries and where will you install them ? Good luck my friend !

Big Mike,

When we purchased our 2014 Newmar King Aire with 570 watts of solar and added 2 panels to get to 800 watts we had thought we were done. The all electric King Aire has 16 batteries on a slide out tray and the 2 chassis batteries. Then we started reading in order of importance to us:

Technomadia's Lithium/Solar (http://www.technomadia.com/solar/)

The 12 Volt Side of Life Part ! & Part II (http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm & http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volta.htm) 2 months of reading everything here!

http://www.jackdanmayer.com/rv_electrical_and_solar.htm

RV Geeks on You Tube

We boon-dock for 30-35 days 5-8 times a year in the High Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas on our ranch where the summer temps reach 110 degrees in July and August.

A/C weather LOL!!! 

We DO NOT want to hear no stinking genny even though we got a factory 12.5 Onan! We are out here to hear the animals and the wind and a genny would also mask the sound of any trespassers! 

Newmar denied our request for all LifePO4 Batteries so following the above referenced material I removed all 18 factory batteries and replaced them with LifePO4 batteries.

Our factory AGM batteries came in at 1152 pounds but our LifoPO4 are just 1000 pounds (in the RV), add in the extra components and wiring and is about even weight wise which was one of my goals. Nowhere close AH hour wise. The RV has 3400 AH : 2200 AH 48/60 volt, 500 AH  24 volts (our mod motor voltage), 500 AH 12 Volt, 200 AH mounted in the RV for security cameras, sat phone, and cell phone. The battery bay has heat strips added for winter and 4 fans for summer controlled by fan temp discs. (Technomadia recommendation) We have 2400 watts on the roof which will automatically adj/tilt depending on the sun but locked out when driving due to the height of our MH.  No more ladder to the roof!!! We have 800 watts on pvc like Tecnomadia showed. We pull a 32' stacker trailer behind which has an parked umbilical to the RV and 2200 watts solar which will track the sun like a naval gun turret and 2 800 watt setouts which will tilt like the roof units all do. Big difference the tilting vs setout unit outputs which we have been tracking. Another 3400 AH in the stacker's battery banks. We have total battery capacity of 6800 AH plus the chassis batteries and a combined 7000 watts of solar total.  That is a lot compared to the 570 from the factory solar option! We have a 4 burner induction cooktop with 2 burners @ 230V and 2 @ 110V. The W/D are 220Volt. Our slide pullout BBQ has the low burner on 110V and the High burner on 230V. We have 3 a/c plus the dash but  do not recall ever having more than 2 on simul. We do not hear no stinking genny but can listen to the animals and the wind at night! We are high elec user but by following and understanding the above info it works well even for a DIY. We do not stay out much more than a month because all 4 of our boys are just out of college and we need to visit them monthly. Out of sight, out of mind per DW. I calculated the battery payback at 36.5 months. (incl solar and tax credits) So a worthwhile investment IMHO. We had extra outlets placed on each side of the MB so we can independently control the bed temp on each side reducing A/C. I have already applied for 2 patents using my own ideas on items used here, have another at the attorney's, and 2 more need better write ups/work on them hence no pics till all the patent stuff is done and Govt approved.

Big Mike, I made 2 flow charts. One for Functional Use or what is supposed to do what when I want it to. And then a point by point wiring flow chart tying all 8 systems, voltages, and interlocks in. When it came time to wire it all together it was simple. It is a lot more than just hooking up a solar panel/s to batteries with a few wires but easy if you plan it out beforehand.

My Thanks to those listed above for the trail blazing they put out there for us following them to succeed. 

John

There are lots of battery choices from Lithium to just deep cycle 6volt. My friend that I mentioned has Lithium.  I have investigated many different choices and am working with him to do the proper sizing based on device needs and real world usage. 

Wow. Your example is pretty much an extreme example of total off grid dry camping.  I do not think I will get there.  I also do not think I will become the Technomadia people either.   I do recognize that its all about battery storage, capacity and which technology to choose.  Just having panels is only 25%of the solution. 

I do not plan on being in 90 or 100 degree temps but if I am the generator suits me fine. My plans for solar are to operate the bare minimum when boondocking.  I come from an avid tent camping back packing background and have hiked the Appalachian trail (all of it). So boondocking to me means camping to most people with the minimum, lights, computer and from time time a hot shower and if need be, running the generator if I need other services. 

Thanks to everyone for your advice and opinions. As per your comments this takes careful planning and selection.  I feel pretty confident with his help and resources from here, Renogy, and many you tube videos that I will get it right.