Complete Solar Setup - Low Cost To Run Air Conditioner On Solar
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- All the gear is listed on our website at familyrvliving.com/RV-Gear/So...
Creating a reliable off-grid power system for an RV requires selecting high-quality but affordable components that work efficiently together. The Renogy 40A MPPT charge controller, Eco-Worthy 280Ah battery, Victron IP22 charger, Ampeak 1200-watt pure sine inverter, and Eco-Worthy 500-watts of solar panels can collectively provide robust power for running an air conditioner and a variety of other appliances in an RV.
Renogy 40A MPPT Charge Controller: This charge controller maximizes the energy harvested from the solar panels. By using Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technology, it ensures that the solar panels operate at their peak performance, especially in varying sunlight conditions. It efficiently regulates the charge going into the Eco-Worthy 280Ah battery, prolonging battery life and improving system reliability.
Eco-Worthy 280Ah Battery: This high-capacity battery stores substantial amounts of energy, which is essential for running power-hungry appliances like an air conditioner. With 280Ah of capacity, it can provide extended power usage even when solar generation is low, ensuring consistent energy availability for your needs.
Victron IP22 Charger: The Victron IP22 is a versatile battery charger that can charge the battery from an AC or generator power source when available. It’s useful when you have access to shore power or a generator, providing a reliable backup to keep your battery fully charged and ready to use.
1200-Watt Pure Sine Inverter: The pure sine inverter is crucial for converting the DC power stored in the battery into AC power, which is required by most household appliances, including a window air conditioner. A 1200-watt inverter can handle the surge power required to start the air conditioner and then continue running it efficiently, along with other electronics.
Eco-Worthy 500-Watts Solar Panels: With 500 watts of solar power, you can generate a significant amount of electricity during sunny days. This setup ensures that your battery gets recharged throughout the day, providing a sustainable and renewable power source for your RV.
System Integration: The synergy between these components creates a resilient power system. During the day, solar panels charge the battery via the MPPT charge controller, while the inverter provides AC power to your air conditioner and other devices. When solar power is insufficient, the battery's large capacity ensures extended operation time, and the Victron charger can top up the battery when external power is available.
By combining these components, you achieve a versatile and reliable off-grid power system capable of running a window air conditioner and almost any other appliance in your RV, ensuring comfort and convenience wherever your adventures take you. 
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It's cool that you can run your A/C on such a minimal, inexpensive system. Kudos! We built a very capable solar system on the cheap (relatively speaking) too. My wife and I are retired and live FT in an older motorhome, boondocking most of the time. In fact, we boondocked for 10 months last year. We're designed and built our off-grid electrical system ourselves, on a limited budget. It took us 5 years to gather the resources to finally complete the project. We're living this lifestyle off of a limited retirement income so had to take the low budget route, foregoing name brand components like Victron and Battleborn for more affordable options.
We started by building a 620-watt liftable solar array on the side of our 1999 National Tropical MH. Our side array makes a nice bedroom window awning too, practically lifting itself with a couple gas struts, and it's easy to clean, standing safely on the ground. Next, we built a 12v, 560ah LiFePo-4 battery (basically 2 of yours) using 8, 280ah prismatic cells and a Heltec 330amp (1,200a surge) BMS with a 5a active balancer. These cells fit perfectly under the steps of our MH where our old pair of golf cart batteries used to reside. We insulated the battery compartment, cut a small hole in our step risers and installed a tiny computer CPU fan to keep this space at close to room temperature, so we don't have to worry about the BMS shutting down charging due to low temperature - or their life reduced from getting too hot. Our 12v system uses an 80A LFP converter/charger, a 1,000w Renogy inverter, a 50a Epever MPPT charge controller and a Lnex battery monitor. All this cost us under $3,500 and meets all our off-grid electrical needs except for our air conditioning and microwave. This first phase has already paid for itself several times as we boondock so much.
By mounting the solar array on the side of our coach, we left the roof free to rack 8, 550w solar panels down the length of our 35ft Class A, 15" off the roof, above our AC, vents, etc. It shades our entire roof, allowing plenty of cooling air underneath, increasing solar output and reducing the heat load on the air conditioners. Our 4,400w fixed array can run both our A/Cs, household appliances and charge our batteries from solar at the same time, even in winter. We mounted a Sungold Power all-in-one 48V, 5,000W Inverter/100A charge controller/battery charger, breakers and another Lnex battery monitor on the wall in our bedroom, saving us space as well as money compared to a system built with individual components. This all-in-one unit has the same 99% charging and 95% inverter efficiency as the high end Victron unit, though it lacks some of the bells and whistles to come in at only $764. We chose this particular unit because it supports up to 500 volts of solar power which was needed to accommodate our 400voc solar array. Our 48v battery uses 16, 320ah prismatic cells and a 200amp Heltec BMS to keep it safe. Together with our 560ah 12v bank, we have a total of 23.5 kwh of batteries onboard (the equivalent of 18, 100ah lithium batteries) - kept charged by 5,020 watts of solar. The price of Lithium prismatic cells has dropped quite a bit over the last few years. Our first 7.1kwh battery cost us $1,569 or $221/kwh, however the 16.4kwh we bought last November only cost $1,726 or $105/kwh. Of course, you'll need to add a $100-$150 BMS to keep things safe. Not only does building your own batteries save money, but your battery will have a much smaller footprint and be lighter than a factory assembled battery too.
We removed our old rooftop bedroom A/C and replaced it with an EG4 28.5 seer-2, 12k btu mini-split heat pump on the upper rear of our motorhome. It's super quiet and cools as well as our 14.5k btu soft start equipped Furrion we have up front, but only draws about 1/3rd the power. This second phase provides 24/7 off-grid air conditioning and heat from the heat pump reducing our propane usage too. Our total budget for both 12v and 48v systems was around $11,500, including the $1,500 high-efficiency heat pump. We have no need to hook-up to power pedestals anymore, as we run everything in our MH without it.
We travel around the country a lot, visiting National Parks, and doing the tourist thing, mostly boondock out west. We spent last winter in Yuma, AZ, but we're visiting our son in NC now where boondocking places are pretty rare. We found an RV park that is letting us camp in a spacious site without hook-ups for only $100/mo., saving us $500/mo. off their FHU rates. That's only $3.33/day, which is well within our budget and a no brainer for the convenience this park offers.
Wow, that's a great setup! Finding a campsite for $100 per month on the East Coast is incredibly rare. I understand how tough it can be to find affordable camping options there. I recommend checking out the website/app "thedyrt.com" for good deals on camping spots.
On a different note, I struggled to find a low-wattage cooking skillet. I finally found an 11-inch skillet that only uses up to 900 watts, and typically just 700 watts. It's almost as big as a standard skillet but much more energy-efficient. I'll leave the link below if you're interested. It's often out of stock, so keep an eye on it.
Thanks for the awesome comments, and happy camping!
Skillet Link - amzn.to/3VVR1TU
Nice tour of your system.
Thanks. My main goal was to design it so I wouldn't run over 1000 watt devices. This keeps me in check to make sure I don't over drain the battery. Some items are hard to keep below 1000 watts but I think I've found solutions to everything that I can plug into the system.
Consider/review a less expensive $706 all in one solution: 280AH, Pure sine inverter, charge controller from Licitti:
1000W AC Battery Box PRO New!!!
Strong ABS+PC with flame-retardant rating UL94 V-0
Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Easily see battery status with large digital display
Multiple port types allow you to connect a range of devices
Easily connect a DC/DC charger or solar panel to charge the battery, or use the VSR to charge directly from crank battery
Can be used to jump start vehicles (175A Anderson jumper cable set is an optional extra)
All ports are recessed into the body to reduce likelihood of damage
1 Years Warranty
Estimated delivery time within 3-5 working days
PACK
CLEAR
$906.00 Original price was: $906.00.$706.00
That is a really nice all in one solution. I'll definitely contact them to see if they want me to review it. It fits perfectly with my channel theme of low watts.
Wow…really nice system!
Thanks. I wanted to buy something affordable that wouldn't break easily. I don't have much money to spend, but I need it to work well. I used to have a smaller battery, but when Eco-Worthy released their 280 Ah battery at a much lower price, I had to get it.