1) You've already replaced the previous house battery bank with the new. Just connect them to the existing 12v power center like they were before. One thing that you'll have to verify is the charging voltages from your existing battery charger/converter. It was probably set up for flooded cell batteries, and your new Gel batteries might require different voltage levels for charging. You'll either need the manual for your existing charger/converter or a multi-meter to test the output manually. Consult the info from your new gel batteries to determine what charging voltage the manufacture recommends for the various stages of charging. Show 2) Shouldn't be affected by adding solar or changing batteries at all. 3) ATS (automatic transfer switch) usually is used to switch the 120v input from generator to shore power as required. Doesn't directly affect the 12v system, other than when there is 120v power available it will be used to power your battery charger/converter. If you are not getting battery charging from your current setup, you might check to see that the charger/converter is plugged in and that the proper circuit breaker is on. Now, about the solar... We added 560 watts of solar through a solar charge controller. The charge controller is connected to our house battery system parallel to the 120v charger/converter. In other words, we connected the positive output from the solar charge controller to the positive end of the battery bank, and we connected the negative output to the negative end of the battery bank. These are the same places that our 120v charger/converter connects. There is a manual-reset circuit breaker in between (in place of a fuse) which I can use to separate the systems if necessary by tripping the breaker. When solar is providing power, it piggy backs with the 120v charger/converter. The solar panels connect to our solar charge controller through a battery switch on the positive lead. This allows us to disconnect them from the charge controller for times we need to fully power down the system. Remember that the solar panels themselves do not turn off - if they are receiving light they are making power. You'll need to configure the output settings of the charge controller to provide the appropriate voltage levels for your gel batteries, just like with the 120v charger/converter. Manual should show you how. Couple of other notes... Don't skimp on wire size. The ability of a solar system to send power to the batteries is limited by the wiring being used. If you plan to add more solar later on, go ahead and install the wire size you'll need for the total that will be installed. Otherwise you'll have to run wiring to the roof again later on. The 12v wiring size between the panels and the charge controller will depend on the amperage being carried more than the voltage. We have 6 panels total, which are configured in a parallel/series configuration so that we have higher voltage but lower amperage. Allowed for smaller wiring. However, the wiring between our charge controller and the battery bank is quite heavy, since it needs to carry 30+ amps DC. We installed a 2000w inverter when I did the install. Initially I connected it to three dedicated outlets inside the coach so that we could have 120v available when dry camping. Since then I've done some expansion of that with additional connections as I've seen need. You only have 200 Ah of house batteries right now, which doesn't give you much capacity for using that 2000w inverter. That said, you might as well at least get it mounted and installed near the batteries while you're in there working. You can add to that later on, but at least you'll have the outlets on the inverter available to plug into when needed. Hope all this helps. Feel free to ask more questions if you need. Share this postLink to postShare on other siteswildebill308 kaypsmith
Posted June 10, 2019 I believe the OP said that he had now replaced his original house batteries with gell cells, not AGM, which is good since the solar system batteries are also gel cell. Please make sure that the inverter/charger is programmed for gel cell batteries. These batteries will all be charged by whatever is charging them now, only difference is now that you will have the additional 200 watts of solar power to help maintain charge on the now 4 battery bank, + the ability to use that 200 watts in the presence of sunlight when no other outside source for charging them are present. What AH are the new gell cells that replaced the original flooded cell batteries and what AH for the new add ons? Share this postLink to postShare on other sitesrichard5933richard5933
Posted June 10, 2019
Thanks for pointing that out. My earlier post has been edited to reflect that. Share this postLink to postShare on other siteskpoinvillekpoinville
Posted June 11, 2019 I want to thank each of you for your response to my inquiry. This forum has been so incredibly helpful to me. The coach is at a local service center today some engine work, but I will continue the solar install this weekend. I am really looking forward to it! Thanks! Can you add extra solar panels to an existing system?Yes, it is possible to expand most solar energy systems, but it isn't always cost-effective for various reasons. In some cases, adding solar panels might be more complicated and expensive than it may seem, but it is typically feasible. Expanding might involve modifying or adjusting part of the original system setup.
Can I connect solar panel directly to RV battery?Don't connect a solar panel directly to a battery.
Doing so can damage the battery. Instead, connect both battery and solar panel to a solar charge controller.
Is it better to run solar panels in series or parallel for RV?Putting panels in series makes it so the voltage of the array increases. This is important, because a solar power system needs to operate at a certain voltage in order for the inverter to work properly. So, you connect your solar panels in series to meet the operating voltage window requirements of your inverter.
How do you add solar panels to an existing array?Differents ways to add more solar panels to your existing Solar system. Keep your inverter and add more panels. Option one is probably the most straightforward option listed here. ... . Replace your inverter with a larger one, then add more panels. ... . Install a new system separately from your existing solar system.. |
Adding solar panels to existing rv system
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