Solar my 321RSTS

[rmorrison9773]

I have a 2020 321 RSTS and would like to add solar capability for dry camping in the winter in Florida. The unit is "prepped" for solar but other than that I am in the dark.

1. Can I build a system capable of running refrigerator, LED lights, fan etc. Not planning on even attempting to run AC (although it would be nice).

2. What have your experiences been in your units?

Thanks in advance for your assistance

[Nevr2late]

How long do you want to dry camp? Can you use your tow vehicle to generate voltage if the sun doesn’t cooperate? This will somewhat govern the size of batteries and # of solar panels. AC is pretty much a pipe dream unless you want to make some significant investments and modifications. In my Eagle with the 400w Overlander 2 option, unless I’m on shore power, AC is not an option. I’m not sure about the guys with the big solar upgrade which has 1200w of panels and 600 ah of batteries and a 3kw inverter. I think they can run their AC a bit. You will definitely need a lot more amp hour storage so a LiFePO4 addition is a must.

[rmorrison9773]

Would be 7 days. I don't expect to use air but would need to run fridge and lights. Have seen some 600W systems with charge controller & inverter. I would add 3 200 or 300 Amp/Hr batteries

[Learjet]

I added a third panel to my factory 380 watt system for a total now of 580 watts of solar.

Also, I put two of these 300ah Vatrer Bluetooth and Heated LiFePO4 batteries in for a total of 600ah. These are good quality and price...battery link below.

https://www.vatrerpower.com/products...es-2560w-power

Works great for me!


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[Nevr2late]

With 1200w of panels and 600ah of battery you might be able to manage a bit of AC provided you had at least a 3000w inverter. Not sure you could do 7 days of AC as that is totally temp and sun dependent. You could also invest in a small dual fuel quiet generator as an insurance policy when you start to run short of power. We have a 4000/3200w model that works well. Fits in the front storage area and I can lift it in and out. I think it would struggle to run both ACs simultaneously with everything else that is pulling power though.

[cariboocreek]

Going past the factory offerings will get pricey. My 460 amp Epoch lithium battery is a $2k touch alone. To do what you want well, you will likely need 1200 watts on the roof, 3000 watts of inverter power, and all the bits and pieces to make it work. We elected to isolate the truck and not bother with a dc to dc charger and just let the solar charge the battery. We do have a Champion 4500 dual fuel that we use to top up the battery, if needed. Our single Epoch battery will run one AC for about three hours on a cloudy day. Soft start on your AC’s will help. All in you are going to be north of $7k installed for an aftermarket system (your experience may differ). Cheaper if you can do the work yourself.

[Nevr2late]

I haven’t done anything to the truck/RV charging circuit and so far I’ve had zero issues with charging my 300ah Epoch while driving. BTW, the 460s are now down to $1,300 if you don’t care about the Victron comms port. Three hours of AC on a cloudy day is with multiple ACs running I hope otherwise that’s going to be really hard to get on top of without a generator. ACs run at about 500-700 watts from what I have read (YMMV), so that makes sense if you are running two for 3 hrs with all of the other stuff sucking power as well. My question is will the “solar ready” wiring or even the Overlander II system wiring support that kind of power transfer (north of 50 amps) given it comes with only an 1800W inverter.

[cariboocreek]

Originally Posted by Nevr2late

I haven’t done anything to the truck/RV charging circuit and so far I’ve had zero issues with charging my 300ah Epoch while driving. BTW, the 460s are now down to $1,300 if you don’t care about the Victron comms port. Three hours of AC on a cloudy day is with multiple ACs running I hope otherwise that’s going to be really hard to get on top of without a generator. ACs run at about 500-700 watts from what I have read (YMMV), so that makes sense if you are running two for 3 hrs with all of the other stuff sucking power as well. My question is will the “solar ready” wiring or even the Overlander II system wiring support that kind of power transfer (north of 50 amps) given it comes with only an 1800W inverter.

Short answer, likely no.

[Learjet]

Be aware Jayco puts a 120 amp breaker on that 1800 watt inverter, at least in my case. You can't get the full 1800 watts on 120 amp breaker. Safely you can pull about 1200 watts.

[DaveMac]

Originally Posted by rmorrison9773

I have a 2020 321 RSTS and would like to add solar capability for dry camping in the winter in Florida. The unit is "prepped" for solar but other than that I am in the dark.

1. Can I build a system capable of running refrigerator, LED lights, fan etc. Not planning on even attempting to run AC (although it would be nice).

2. What have your experiences been in your units?

Thanks in advance for your assistance

I have added 6 200 watt panels and 600AH of batteries to my Eagle HTX 26RLS. My unit is 5 feet shorter than yours and had plenty of room on the roof for those panels.

Your challenge is getting at the pre-wired solar. At the roof, the wires to the GOPower PV connector were laying loose in the ceiling. I carefully removed the roof mount PV connector module, hooked up the wires (good splice, soldered with heatshrink) and put that back together. Don't forget the Dicor. The next challenge is finding the wires inside an internal wall. There was an "install here" sticker when my unit shipped, but somebody had peeled it off. I used a wireless wire tracer to find out which wall, then opened it up and spliced those wires too. Batteries and electronics are installed in my front bay.