KQ4HXX JOHN
What was supposed to have been a simple way to get a light over my loading bench and use an old, tired motorcycle battery has morphed into way more! Every time I upgraded a component, I found another device to add needing more power. I designed the system to carry expected loads for 3 days without sun and then had a 4-day stretch and a 5-day stretch without significant sun this winter. A real emergency system would need more battery and panels to recharge it. Still, I have a back-up system that will power cell phones, commercial, Amateur, GMRS and CB radios if we have a 'pocky'clypse. This is the two 120 watt panels on the south facing roof. They are mounted on hinged brackets to give them a better angle to the sun in different seasons. I started with a single 25 watt panel.
I am running two 100 A-H LIFePO4 batteries in parallel. I did not intend to run them in parallel, but my RV does not need a battery yet. The display shows battery bank voltage and net current flow to/from the batteries. Power to the inverter and radios comes directly from the battery bank. The charge controller is limited to 20A and the batteries can flow 200A.
Here is the switch/fuse box and charge controller (the blue box). The controller is a Victron MPPT 100V/20A, so I have some room to grow, again, but that also means I'll have to increase my wire gauge in the fuse box. By running both panels in series, I get a little more charge time and get to use smaller wire to the controller. Peak should be about 42V @ 5.7A on 12 ga wire from the panels. There is a handful of auto fuses in a block in the box.
Finally, the inverter. I'm considering a larger inverter that will start the garage 'fridge. The lesson here is go big. That would be cheaper that the several step upgrades I've done. The system also runs my antique receiver (from college) and internet radio "receiver". I plan to put the Yaesu 991A beside that Technics. I have 2 old, original Shure 55 mics and one will be mounted on a boom for my base station.
