Solar questions

[Belize]

I am finally getting around to installing solar on my 2006 E350 SMB. I have 3 160W panels and a Blue Sky controller. I have diagrammed out my current electrical the best I could (see below) and have a few questions:

1. Do I connect the Blue Sky SB3000i directly to the Sure Power 1315-200A Battery Separator? The posts are already short, so not sure if I will have to install a terminal strip.

2. The Battery Separator already gets a bit hot (too hot to touch) when plugged into shore power, is this something I should be worried about when adding 480 Watts of solar?

3. I want to add another 100AH house battery, can I mix a new lithium with the current AGM 100Ah battery?

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

[asgard]

I would not mix lithium and AGM.

I would also think wiring the controller directly to the battery would be correct. I placed an online breaker to the solar input and a isolator switch between the battery and the controller. It allows for full isolation .
I have an MPPT controller and always power the battery first then activate the solar. If you park up undercover, say storage you can isolator so you have no parasitic losses.
I don't have a SMB build and used BlueSea ACR it allows for two directional charging. When on solar it charged house then when that voltage is attained connect and charges the van battery.
Don't know if this helps and may be contradicted by someone who knows your system better.

[eddyturn]

Get rid of your Sure Power unit and switch to a Blue Sea 7622. Solar goes to the battery with a 30 or 40 amp fuse depending on your system.

[1der]

Hi Belize- congrats on moving forward! Which 160w panels do you have?
1. The SB3000i is rated for 400w Max using 36 cell panels. So three x 160w will exceed its max. You also need to watch the Max Voltage from the panels. Max is 50vdc.

Re connections- the wires from your battery going to the separator hopefully are heavy gauge/ rated for current and length. Typical separators have only terminals for the positive connections. If you have the battery negative routed to a negative bus bar you can make the Solar Controller Output negative connection there and the Solar Controller Output positive connection to the Separator house battery terminal. A very clean install might have both positive and negative bus bars to handle the connections. As mentioned, protecting the positive wire with a fuse is critical. I like having a circuit breaker on the input from the panels to the SC so I can decouple the voltage from the panels when needed, especially at install time.

You could also connect to the terminals on the Converter although I would make + and - wired runs from Converter and not use the chassis as ground. Having a proper negative bus bar for all of these charging these connections is definitely preferred to chassis grounds at various locations.

My Solar Controller Outputs run via 10 ga wire to my Inverter's Battery Connection + / -terminals which have 4/0 cable runs to the House batteries. Works fine.

2. I would change to a Blue Sea 7622 unit as well. Is your 1316 covered under this recall??

Battery Separator RECALL Information ? North America

3. Your house batteries and engine batteries should all be the same type eg AGM. No mixing of Li w other batteries if on the same charging circuit. Preferably they should all be about the same age.

Your House multiple battery bank needs to be connected so as to optimize charging and draw through both batteries. This is done by connecting the positive supply to your loads/charging sources on one battery and the negative loads / charging to the second battery. If both batteries are 12v then you are connecting the two batteries in parallel configuration.

Hope that helps.

[Twoxentrix]

Belize, allow me to give you something else to consider:
That much Solar on your roof will only help you when you consciously park in the sun...when you're driving your alternator is charging your batteries, so roof Solar is really only beneficial while the Van isn't running.
if you choose to park "under cover" to take advantage of any shade then you'll be better served with some auxiliary suitcase panels on a long line providing the capability of positioning them in the sun (I have two panels with 20ft cord connected to the end of a 100ft cord - which goes to the controller, The two panels allow me to position one immediately in the sun and the other at an angle which the sun will hit later - provides a charge a good part of the day without having to tend the panels all day).
Just food for thought.

[REF]

I also went with a combination of roof mounted, 2-100W renogy panels, and a 100W renogy suitcase that plugs into a side port also run through the charge controller, it’s the best of both worlds, the suitcase panel is especially helpful in garnering as much solar gain as possible since you can better track the movement of the sun. As mentioned, you’ll be over on the recommended wattage on your controller, take a look at Victron, I just upgraded to their Bluetooth 100/30, rated up to 440W, the 100/50 is good for 700W, there’s also a 150/35 good for 500W