RV Solar System - Phase 1
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- This is not an instructional video. Improperly designed electrical systems can cause major damage, fire, injury or even loss of life. I am not a professional certified electrician, you must validate your solar usage and design with a professional. My design may not meet NEC or marine electrical standards. Do not copy my system as wire gages and fuse size is for my particular use. Additionally, my designs have evolved over time; therefore, original videos do not depict final designs.
This video in my initial install of my solar system on a 2000 Itasca Suncruser G37 motorhome. This is the first phase of the effort, which includes 8 ea RICH solar panels rated at 100 watts each in a 4S2P configuration, Victron 150/85 charge controller, Victron Lynx distributor, Victron 25 amp battery charger and 3 ea 100 Ah LiFePO4 batteries. Phase 2 will be months down the road, which will include a Victron 3000vA inverter charger and 2 more lithium batteries.
Don't forget to always disconnect the PV supply with your HT5 prior to full disconnect with you red rotary master switch. If the red switch is disconnected first the solar charge controller will be surged and can be damaged. Dont ask how i know. Thanks for the great vid.
Interesting, everything I thought I knew, was the opposite. For example turn on battery switch, program the charge controller, then turn on PV. I’ll have to look into it more, thank you.
@@coryhanes yes that’s right just a breaker in the plus from ph will do the job .
The connection order is the opposite of the shut down order.
I've been doing research on 'RV Solar Systems' and this is a very 'clean' setup inside a compartment which I was looking for since my cables from the prep solar also are in the compartment. You stated that you have 8 solar panels but I don't think my RV roof has the space for it so I'm looking to do the same but with 4 panels @ 100 watts connected in Parallel. Very nice setup and I'll use your config inside your compartment. Love the idea of using the Lynx distributor. Best one I have found...I was trying to locate the links for the items that you used but didn't see one. I was wondering if you could add the links ?? Thank You sir..
I purchased everything from Amazon, I do not have the links to share. I just searched until I found the correct part I needed.
Great install, question? Why the disconnect on the positive side? I see installers are doing this and battery manufacturers recommended on the negative side. Also, will the BMS in the batteries allow for you use them to jump start your engine batteries?
Solar systems I’ve seen always put the main disconnect on the positive side. For my system I put it on the positive. It may not matter which side you put it on as long as you achieve a complete disconnect. I have multiple grounds in my system so it was easier for me to install it on the positive side. You may need to check with an electrician to validate your design. As for jump starting my engine battery with my coach / solar batteries… my design could safely do this as I believe each battery BMS had a 100 Amp rating and they are connected in parallel providing a 300 amp capability. Bottom line, it depends on your battery/ies BMS capability. Most BMS’ have an over-current shut off, but I would never want to rely on that. Again, check with an electrician and your product specifications. Note, I no longer use that original design, it was short term. I now have six batteries in parallel… see my other videos.
Nice electrical system. Looks very clean. I had just finished watching some of the camper electrical installation videos on the Explorist Life channel and totally recognized your configuration. I'm about to start a similar (but smaller) electrical build-out on my trailer, and it's nice to see what others have done.
Explorist Life was key on much of my learning along with a couple others
we make fuse and fuseholder
Can you add a larger-scale blueprint of your system showing the components that are tied together in your solar system such as the battery connections the buzz bar your battery Bank your inverter excetera where to be a little more clearer thank you
I do not have a schematic that I can share.
Beautiful !!!!!......Brand busbar ????....
Thank you
VictronEnergy Lynx Distributor 1000
Nice install. I prefer to build small partition walls to avoid mounting things on the floor of a space (except batteries 🙂). That will still give you a little space for small junk😄
PV = "PhotoVoltaic"
Love it..! VERY well explained. New subscriber.. I bought 30' 4ga to run from my recently connected Multiplus II 12v 3000 120.. to the batteries (4 100Ah BB lithium's). The arrays are:3x290w and 6x200w on a dual axis tracker. (video on my channel) So I tried saving money when I bought the wire.. (MYBAD) it does work.. WHEN I am not running\using the desktop pc and the nicehash software to mine (GPU\CPU) with..5 or 600w but they will run off the batteries, but it can't handle the surge when I switch the MPII from on to invert or invert to on (shore power) so I went and bought 60' of 1 Ott wire yesterday. All they had was Black. So it'll be cut in half and tape up the ends with red tape for the positive cable. I am using my laptop now just to save a bit of of the shore power; (my conservation program) current loads are 206w and PV is: 145w.. I use Victron controllers 150\70's, BMV 712 smart, Lynx distributor and their CERBO with touch 50. Gotta LOVE the Victron connect app.
With the lynx distributor and the Victron 25a battery charger hooked to it (as it appears you have) , can you send solar and shore power to the battery at the same time? I was curious about this. Thanks.
Yes
@@coryhanes bonus 🎉. Definitely adding to my build.
Great job. Did you buy or make the bars that connect distributor and shunt to cutoff switch?
Some I got from explorests.life and I also bought raw copper stock from Amazon and fabricated the bar I needed.
Very informative.
But why do you refer to your inverter as a inverter/charger. And then have a separate battery charger,?
I may have misspoke… in this phase one, I installed the solar charge controller and a battery charger. The solar charge controller only charges the batteries when there is sun light and the charger allows charging with 120 VAC (generator or shore power). Having these two options allows charging when solar isn’t enough, like on a cloudy day. As for the inverter/charger I installed that in phase two. Before installing the inverter charger I removed the charger as both are not required.
Excellent! This was really helpful! I am definitely overwhelmed with the electrical part of my van... I built a teardrop trailer so I have some ideas. But the van system is definitely going to additional elements. Thank you! Subscribed!
Thank you
Are you getting a Victron MultiPlus II?
No, not at this time. Mine is just the Multi-plus 3kVA
Thank you so much for this clear explanations.
For a "phase 1", your work is clean, no need to straighten any of that wiring out...kudos for paying attention to detail...
Nice system! I’m upgrading to Victron from Renogy and am impressed with Victron’s engineering. After several videos it is clear using the Lynx distribution system actually makes practical and financial sense as well as giving a super clean and safe install.
Agreed. The engineering (capabilities) of VictronEnergy products are amazing. Being able to program all the different features is great. Soon I’ll be implementing phase 3 of my install, which will be adding another 800 watts of solar panels (8ea 100-watt panels) and adding another 300Ah of batteries in a separate compartment. I’ll post a video when I do that.
Nice inspiring work, and enjoyed the comments.
Thank you…
Where to ge the red ON Off switch that fit the lynx?
Amazon
Very nice job on your cables. Very clean and well shrink tubed.
Great Video, Cory! nice system and very well done. Great design, nice neat work. When you get the Victron MultiPlus 3000, suggest you get the MultiPlus II, not because of the added features, although they are quite valuable, but because it is newer technology and has more memory for current and future updates, where the older version of the MultiPlus is just about maxed out when it comes to accepting updates. I'm not an expert, but I have heard this and it's likely the newer technology in the MultiPlus II is worth the added cost. Thank you for the great video! Both the system and the video are very nicely done.
Thank you
Two types of victron bus bars:
Lynx “distributor” has leds and includes bolts/nuts to connect fuses
Lynx “power-in” does not have leds (and does not include bolts/nuts hardware for attaching fuses)
That is correct. I’m using the Lynx Distributor. But keep in mind the LEDs do not function unless you plug in a device to the status port (RJ11) such as the Cerbo GX or the shunt designed for this system. I cheated and provided the 5VDC to the RJ11 to get the LEDs to function. Not really necessary but I like the the quick glance feature to see if any fuses are blown.
Thank you for sharing. This system is similar to what I've been working on for our RV build. It's good to see that I'm on the right track and, for the most part, seem to be doing things the right way. :)
Thank you. There is a phase 2 video as well, the addition of the 3KVA inverter charger. I’m work on phase 3 which is adding more panels.
Was 4/0 necessary? I am doing pretty much the same and got 2/0
Check with the manufacturer of your equipment for recommended wire gauge size per the applied use of what you are doing. Every system can be different. Also, you can find webpages that provide the ampacity of the wire to help you size it correctly. There are many things to take into consideration, wire gauge, wire type, insulation type, heat in which the wire lives in, conduit or no conduit, etc.
Also you should check out Explorest.Life UA-cam channel he has much on calculating wire size.
Maybe I missed something, but why the extra battery charger if youre installing an inverter/charger?
It was temporary until I installed the inverter charger months later.
@@coryhanes Ahhh ok awesome!
@@coryhanes Thanks for the video, so hard to find videos like this adding these components to existing RV systems. Everything is either massive 50A split phase systems on class A's or New install/vans.
Check out Explorist Life, he has many videos on solar systems. I learned a lot from his page.
ua-cam.com/users/EXPLORISTlife
Where did you get the flat copper bar that connects the shunt to the lynx? Is it the same thing connecting your switch?
Both bus bars are the same. I purchased them pre-cut and drilled from Explorest.Life UA-cam channel. He has a lot of information on solar. Or you can buy the copper bar from Amazon, cut and drill yourself, which I did in my later phases when I added a ground bus.
Great detailed summary. Question, the larger ground in the lynx (under the MPPT ground in lynx), where does it go to?
All the grounds are connected together at the Lynx distributer (negative bus). The negative bus grounds to the chassis of the Motorhome. There are a few other Fidel’s on my channel that may illustrate this better.
Nice system !! The only thing that I can think of is if something would over heat or throw a spark you have cooked chicken.. I put mine in a fire proof box.
I think it’s pretty safe, you’ll see in later videos that I moved the batteries to a separate compartment to reduce the chance of over heating the them, and I added an automatic cooling fan that turns on when it gets warm in the electrics compartment.
this is fantastic - thanks for sharing! I know electrical and this is really clean, love the positive buss bar to disconnect to 400a fuse, well done.
Looks good, however you want to have the T fuse as close to the battery as possible. And POS and neg wires coming off the batteries, ideally those wires should be the same length, including the shunt.
The T fuse is as close to the battery that I could mount it, there is only about 18-in between the fuse and pos battery terminal, plus I added additional insulation over the pos wire. The pos and neg leads are within a few inches in length, the resistance is negligible at 4/0 wire gage and only about 2+ feet in length.
Nice job, looks really clean.
Would you happen to have the model and make of the compression crimper that you used?
TEMCo Lug Crimper Tool TH0012-8 AWG - 0000 AWG(4/0) DIELESS Indent Electrical Battery Terminal Cable Wire 5 YEAR WARRANTY www.amazon.com/dp/B00HJYVFSG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7D29E1WVCAFR2JRE57ZK
Hello, I just saw your Video, I am building my Victron setup now. I have a question regarding the Shunt, I see you have it between the battery and the Lynx, Is that the best place to put it to get the best readings? In my system I have the Shunt on the other side of the Lynx.
For accurate readings the shunt should only be installed between the negative terminal of the batteries and the negative bus bar (Lynx). This way all (100%) power usage will go through the shunt. This provides accurate data.
I think you did a top notch clean 🧼 Job there buddy 🎉
Thank you
Very clean installation!!!
Do you have the batterie reference ???
Thanks,
Pascal
I purchased the batteries on Amazon, CHINS 100Ah, 1280Wh, 12.8 VDC. You can find them for about $340, and they have a ten year warranty. The batteries I purchased meet the specifications as advertised. I tested through my Victron Energy system. The three batteries in parallel produced 304 Amp hours of energy and that was turning the load off at 11 VDC. I’m sure they would have produced a few more. V I’m pleased as they are inexpensive and good quality.
Love it....working in the the same layout for my boat right now. Just asking...did you have a full equipment list/purchase list you would be willing to share?
Thank you. I no longer have the list, sorry.
Hi very clean and need work . Something that I saw , the victron gear needed space to breathe and gets hot , a will ad an aluminum plate for the mppt and the Orion.
Very true, my is getting hot as well. I’m on the maiden voyage with this unit now, just left Lake Havasu area and it got hot, went into thermal shut down. I purchased an IP67 silent cooling fan and vents, I plan to program one of the switch outputs on the inverter-charger to turn on the fan at 105° +/- Will be installing this when I get home. For now I just prop the hatch door open.
why do you have a ground? you have no ground in dirt like ground rode
In the US "ground" is typically vernacular for "common." So vehicles are often referred to as "negative ground" which means only that the negative is connected to the chassis as the common connection point for most everything.
Having a common like that means there is a known 0 volt potential and overcurrent protection (fuse or circuit breaker) is only needed on the other (not common) power terminal. Otherwise both power leads need overcurrent protection because the first fault (i.e. a short circuit to the chassis) would not blow any fuse. If that was the positive and the second fault was a smaller negative short to the chassis you need the negative fused on the smaller wire to protect it. If the first fault was negative and the second fault was a smaller positive then the positive of the smaller needs fused to protect it. So either fuse both leads, or use a common and fuse the other. And we call common "ground" no matter whether it references actual "earth" or not. If it did, we'd call it "earthing" or "earth ground."
The chassis of the motor is the ground, much like the earth electrode ground rod. In the event of a short this ground will bring the power back to the distribution bus and thus blowing a fuse quickly, and safely removing the hazard… which then needs to be found and repaired.
Beautiful setup!
Very clean. Any covers for that buss bar and pass-thru lugs?
Yes, see the phase 2 video, it has the cover and the addition of the inverter-charger.
Very nicely done!
Hi Cory, I have the same Circuit Box you have in your timeline 0:18, I'll be installing the same box for three separate devices. On three separate circuit breakers. They will be a connection of 3 Phase wires. Hot, Neutral and, Gound. Do I need a small Bus Bar to connect, each Neutral wire for each device? I'm using a Victron Multiplus 3000.
Hello José, I’m not sure I understand the question. At 0:18 into the video is a 12 VDC Lynx distributor (DC bus bar with mega fuses). This is the 12 VDC distribution point for the system. Your question sounds more like something that pertains to AC voltage (hot, neutral, ground). When stating 3 Phase, this means you have 3 hot wires (L1, L2, and L3, each 120° out of Phase from each other. Along with a neutral and a ground wire). So a 3 phase circuit typically has 5 wires. I believe the VictronEnergy MultiPlus 3000 can be setup to provide 3 separate phases. You would need 3 MultiPlus units. But I don’t think that is what you’re asking. Can you clarify?
@@coryhanes First of all, Thank you for addressing my question. I’m sorry about all the confusion. When it comes to electrical, I get a little confused. Let me see if I can clear up my concern. I am using three Circuit Breakers for three separate Devices 120V. When it comes to 12V DC, I have No problem understanding the electrical. But when it comes to 120V AC, it becomes a little tricky for me. I am using a 3 in one, 14 Gauge wire. Black, White, and Green. I know this is going to my Victron AC line 1 out. If I was to use one Breaker and connect the Black wire (Hot) to that Breaker. Where would the White and Green wire go to? This is where I was asking if I need a Small Bus Bar, so that I may distribute the natural (white) wire and the Ground (Green) wire, through the Bus Bar. I am not sure if is this is how it works. I appreciate your info.
@@Salsadepr40 Okay I understand a little more, so first of all, not sure what your current draw is on that circuit, but keep in mind that the MltiPlus is capable of 3000VA (3000 watts) and Can provide more than 30 amps. So 14 gage wire is too small for your application. Again depending on what you’re doing, you would run a feeder from the MultiPlus to a main breaker in a sub panel, this breaker and wire needs to be sized properly. If you’re rusty with AC electrical I recommend that you get with an electrician to help size your breaker and wires properly.
Wiring up multiple AC breaker in a sub panel is typically like a house panel, there will be one common ground bus and one common neutral bus bar. The neutral is typically isolated from the ground. Again check with an electrician because the configuration can vary.
@@coryhanes Hi Cory, I see where you're coming from. And you are right about this. It is better to have a licensed electrician than me tying to DIY myself. I appreciate your info, Thank you.
Cory,
There is something that mess my mind.
You put 400A T fuse between battery bank and the rest of you system.
Fuse is to protect wire, so it should be smaller amperage than wire can handle.
Ampacity of the 4/0 wire is about 200A on 60 degrees Celsius (as I find on several pages on internet), so the T fuse should be under those 200A.
Definitely I misunderstand something, because you are not the only one who put that big T fuse for that purpose.
Please explain it to me and where I'm wrong.
Thanks in advance
I’m using 4/0 high strand count welding cable that has a 600-amp per 100 feet rating. If there is a catastrophic failure/short the 400 amp fuse will blow. There are time my system may draw over 300 amps from the batteries so I don’t want to randomly blow fuses.
@@coryhanes
So my understanding of principe is OK, but wrong information about ampacity of the cable.
@@dragankaldare2619 ya, I’m not sure if it’s correct or not. I did a lot of research and came up with this. The Victron Energy website and app have good information, too.
Thank you for this video
I am DIY'ing a system in my house to run my computer room
It's very confusing but I have found that using a VICTRON system makes things a bit easier to understand
Im still a bit confused on what size fuses I should be using on the LINX buss but I just wanted to say thank you for this video
Regads, Rick
Do a search for wire ampacities, the fuse is sized to protect the wire. In its simplest description, the chosen wire type and wire gage is sized for your maximum current draw at maximum temperature of operation. Once you figure out the maximum current draw and the maximum temperature and the wire type you are using you can look it up in an ampacity chart to determine the acceptable gage size. Then the chart illustrates the maximum ampacity of a given wire gage, this is typically the fuse size. You can search National Electrical Code (NEC) for a better description and charts. By the way check out this link… this will help you better ua-cam.com/video/5y-yDMEgV70/v-deo.html this gentleman has a lot on solar systems.
* * * C00L * * *
Please keep in mind that should you have an over volt condition driving into that Victron it's going to make lots of heat doing the job . Many fires started that way .
@@Nostrildomus Thank you for the info, the max open (no load) voltage from the solar panels (4 ea in series) is about 90 volts. So there’s plenty of margin.
Cory, I am completing my install currently. MultiPlus II and I also am using a Victron Lynx Distributor. When I cabled the 4/0 to my inverter, I noted the the “nose” of the crimped lug interferes with the mega fuse I have installed on the Lynx for that supply. I started searching today to see if anyone commented on this and found your video. It appears that you have filed or ground the “nose” of the rounded end off of your lugs where they connect to the Lynx. Can you confirm that? I’m just relying on the video here and they it looks like I can see some exposed copper and the end of the lug looks flat to avoid squashing the mega fuse. Thanks in advance and nice video sir.
Yes, I had the same issue. I used my table disk sander to reduce the the size. Keep tuned as I’ll be upgrading to phase 3, adding 3 batteries and moving them to an adjacent compartment, adding thermal controlled cooling for the inverter-charger compartment, and hopefully installing 8 more solar panels.
@@coryhanes Thank you for the reply. I'll have to follow suit. Seems that only the 4/0 lugs have this issue. I'll stay tuned as I have concerns about heating and cooling of my battery compartment.
@@jimsjacob did you see the phase 2 video? It articulates the installation of the inverter-charger.
@@coryhanes Yes, I did. I just installed my Multi Plus II and went some of the same steps.
Where did you buy the busbar
Amazon. It’s a VictronEnergy Lynx Distributor 1000 Amp
Nice neat installation. If i were you I would devise some sort of protective cover for your bus bar. Just to keep the elements (dust, moisture, etc) away from the bus bar.
Thank you. The bus bar has a cover, I took it off for the video. If look for the Phase 2 video you’ll see the cover and the installation of the inverter-charger.
@@coryhanes Where did you buy your bus bar and how much?
@@carolinecrona2481 you can buy copper bar on Amazon 1” wide by 1/4” thick in various lengths. Then you can cut and drill them. Or you can buy precut and drilled from Explorist Life UA-cam page.
Good looking install! I’m starting on a very similar system.
Hope all goes well for you…
Those fuses on the busbar are probably not appropriate for this kind of lithium system. What is short circuit current of this entire battery bank? Fuses on busbar look like Littlefuse MEGA. If so, these are meant to be used only in systems with shortcircuit up to 2kA (see the datasheet of fuses), I estimate this battery bank is able to do higher short circuit currents (check the datasheet of the battery - internal resistance, then calculate/estimate short circuit current).
Thank you for your input, I’ll look into this. Keep in mind that the fuses are in place to protect the wires in the case of a catastrophic event. This bus bar is a VictronEnergy Lynx Distributor product. I’m using the recommended fuses for this application. As for your concern of short circuit current capability, I have installed a 400 Amp T-fuse as close as possible to the positive post of the battery bank… you can see this in the additional videos for this project. Lastly, the batteries have a built in protection in the BMS.
Where did you find the copper bus bars?
You can get copper bar stock on Amazon 3/4” x 1/4 x length, then cut and drill to your application. Or you can acquire them through ua-cam.com/users/EXPLORISTlife great RV DIY page.
@@coryhanes thank you
Good stuff…thanks
Thank you
Looking good 👍
Thank you
Love the build 🙌🏽
Thank you
Did you mount this stuff on carpet?
This is mounted in a motorhome basement storage compartment, the compartment floor is made of aluminum-foam-aluminum (about 1-in thick) and then indoor/outdoor carpet is glued to the aluminum. The items all mount to this carpet covered aluminum. Note that each item has an independent ground. There is a phase 2 video where I’ve added the inverter-charger, and soon a phase 3 video where I add three more battery’s and 8 more solar panels.
Do you need a separate ground for your batteries?
Not sure I understand the question; however, the negative lead from the battery goes through a shunt to monitor the “all”power consumption and charge level of the battery, the other side of the shunt (output) connects to the negative ground bus bar. This negative bus bar is the main ground point for all equipment and chassis grounds. As for the battery, 100% of its power will transverse through the shunt before connecting to ground. Hope that helps. One of these days I’ll create a good schematic of the system instead of my napkin drawings.
@@coryhanes
I was just wondering, as my home system has a ground wire on the negative side of the battery, that gos to a ground bus bar. This bus bar is connected to all grounds.
I’m just wondering why the batteries don’t get grounded like the charge controller or the inverter?
@@benjones8977 well the batteries are grounded but only after the shunt.
@@coryhanes 🤙
What kind of disconnect switch is that you have? HT-5? Where did you get it please?
Blue Sea Systems 300 Amp m-Series Battery Switches a.co/d/ezZeTlM