Roof solar panels on 29MV "C"

[RobieMo]

OK I thought I'd share what I did. I went with two 12v Lithium Ion Batteries. I added a wood slat tray in the compartment next to the house battery and put the second battery there. I also added a solar charge controller in that compartment. As for the solar panel I went with a 100w flexible panel.

On our first trip out I couldn't have been happier. Certianly there is a learning curve on where the best place to put your solar panel for the best sun, but everything worked great. We wanted to put them to the test so we used power like crazy. We used the vacuum, toaster, blow dryer, charged phones, watched TV's... you name it we used it. All that and we made it into our third day before we had to charge everything up with the generator. Clearly that's not the best way to go about things but we wanted to know what worst case would be.

I know Lithium Ion batteries are expensive but I do not regret my purchase at all. I have battled deep cycle batteries for years and was tired of dealing with them.

I hope to add one more 100w solar panel and I still need to get a charge indicator so I can see the status of my batteries. Right now I can read the voltage but being Lithium Ion they stay pretty consistent until right before they die.

[RobieMo]

Originally Posted by Rvorbust

I will be adding LiFePO4 batteries somewhere on the inside of the Coach. Candidate locations are under the dinette seats (close to current battery) or at the rear of the coach in the box on the floor to the left of the bed (close to most of electrical system under bed). I’m looking at Battle Born or LifeBlue batteries. Anyone have any experience with these? Solar panels to come after that.

Frank

Rvorbust,

I went with Battle Born and I am very satisfied. Something to remember is you will need to switch your charge controller also. I hadn't figured that into my budget when I started and it was a nice surprise to learn I need it a few days before a our trip. Battle Born has great customer service and we love the batteries!!!!

[Rvorbust]

Originally Posted by RobieMo

Rvorbust,

I went with Battle Born and I am very satisfied. Something to remember is you will need to switch your charge controller also. I hadn't figured that into my budget when I started and it was a nice surprise to learn I need it a few days before a our trip. Battle Born has great customer service and we love the batteries!!!!

Thanks RobieMo. I like BattleBorn’s too, but they told me they needed to be mounted inside the coach to avoid temperature extremes. Are you going to remove yours in extreme weather conditions?

I know about the charge controller, but how did you handle charging via the engine alternator? My ‘18 29MV charges the house battery when the engine is running. BattleBorn told me it was possible but a battery isolator needed to be added?

Regarding putting the 2nd battery in the compartment next to the existing battery, you mentioned using a wood tray. Did you use any reinforcing to that underneath, or just the tray to distribute the weight a bit? Any photos of this installation would be GREATLY appreciated. Also, what brand/type (PWM or MPPT) of solar charge controller are you using?

Thanks!

[Rvorbust]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaRV

I put 6 flex panels (100w each) taped down on the roof with eternabond. Have a 40 amp MPPT controller and replace the original house lead acid battery with 3 AGM 12v 155 ah gel cell batteries. Been using this configuration for almost a year now and love it!

GeorgiaRV, where did you mount the three batteries? Assuming it was in the compartment next to the existing battery, how did you support them?
Thanks!

[RobieMo]

Rvorbust,

I had not heard of the extreme weather concern. I live in Southern California and extreme weather to me is when it gets below 50 degrees I hope that's not what they meant. As for the charge controller I went with the Victron BlueSolar 100/30.

I built the wood slat rack out of 3/4" cherry (left over flooring) and it's just to distribute the weight. My good friend build me a stainless steel tray for the battery.

I hope this works because on the preview the pictures is upside down and I can't figure it out. Hope this helps you....

Rob

Attachment 43464

[GeorgiaRV]

Originally Posted by Rvorbust

GeorgiaRV, where did you mount the three batteries? Assuming it was in the compartment next to the existing battery, how did you support them?
Thanks!

Since I used maintenance free AGM batteries, I removed the slide out battery tray for the existing house battery. This allowed for one of the larger AGM batteries to fit in that compartment. I put two more of the AGMs in the storage compartment next to the original battery box. I re-enforced the storage compartment with steel and then lined it with 3/4 plywood

[Rvorbust]

Thanks RobieMo, it’s very helpful.

[Rvorbust]

Thanks GeorgiaRV, your pics illustrate it well

[bababooey]

Can you post a few more pics and details on how you mounted the unistrut?

[GeorgiaRV]

Originally Posted by bababooey

Can you post a few more pics and details on how you mounted the unistrut?

Sorry I don't have any other pictures. I uses threaded rod to go up thru the floor and bolts and fender washers washers. The threaded rods come up thru the floor under the dinette slide out. On the 29MV there is enough clearance under the dinette slide for the threaded rod and bolt.

[LI-Camper]

I have two solar panels that I want to permanently attach to the roof of my 2016 29MV Greyhawk. Does anyone have any experience with using screws to attach brackets to the roof? I specifically need to know the length of any screw and types of screws used. Also if a particular technique was used, that would be helpful. Thanks.

[TriumphRider]

I put two 265w panels on our '17 29 MV. Would have loved to go with newer battery tech, but due to cost decided to go with 4 Trojan 6v flooded batteries in series/parallel.

I also used the compartment next to the previous battery location and used nearly the same method of support for the ~250lbs(!) of batteries as shown in the previous photos.


To mount the panels I used "Jack Nuts" to provide for what I hope is a more robust connection to the roof. (I saw one video where a panel got blown off of an RV while going down the road. Fortunately it went off to the side of the road and not back into traffic, but it could have been really bad.)

Here is a video of jack nut installation: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...DC&FORM=VDQVAP I didn't have the nice tool, but it isn't really necessary...

So far we are really happy with the install.

TriumphRider

[Rvorbust]

Originally Posted by TriumphRider

I put two 265w panels on our '17 29 MV. Would have loved to go with newer battery tech, but due to cost decided to go with 4 Trojan 6v flooded batteries in series/parallel.

I also used the compartment next to the previous battery location and used nearly the same method of support for the ~250lbs(!) of batteries as shown in the previous photos.


To mount the panels I used "Jack Nuts" to provide for what I hope is a more robust connection to the roof. (I saw one video where a panel got blown off of an RV while going down the road. Fortunately it went off to the side of the road and not back into traffic, but it could have been really bad.)

Here is a video of jack nut installation: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...DC&FORM=VDQVAP I didn't have the nice tool, but it isn't really necessary...

So far we are really happy with the install.

TriumphRider

Thanks TriumphRider. Let’s us know how the panel mounts hold up.

[WeRJuliian]

Personally, I only use a small panel, as a "battery tender" for those times when we're not plugged in. (We don't boondock, so a good example would be when the guys come to mow the yard, and I forget to plug back into the side of the house for a week or two)... but I think my point will still apply:

if you mount the panels on the roof, their position and orientation is fixed. Most sources seem to agree that you should angle the panels to catch the most sun... but if you've bolted them to the roof, they'll be pretty close to flat. Not effective unless you camp close to the Equator... :-)

A free standing panel can easily be tilted, or moved as the sun goes around during the day... and you can park your unit in the shade, while leaving the panel out in the sun to cook :-)

[MontanaBBQ]

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ing-57231.html