OFF-GRID RV Solar System // THIS is Sustainable Living! ☀️

#1StrangeAdventure #offgridliving #tinyliving
Thank you to Signature Solar for sponsoring today's video.
In today's video we are partnering with Signature Solar to design and install a true off-grid power system for a 50 amp RV. This system has 1600 amp hours of capacity along with Victron components that provide more than enough power to help you enjoy off-grid living. This is tiny living at its finest! If you are wanting to gain the ability to live off of your batteries, look no further. Signature Solar can help you design the right system for you. See below for a list of components and accessories that went into this installation.
Signature Solar Products:
👉 EG4 12V Batteries - signaturesolar.com/eg4-ll-lit...
👉 Victron MultiPlus II - signaturesolar.com/victron-mu...
👉 Victron Lynx Distributor - signaturesolar.com/victron-en...
V👉 ictron Smart Shunt - signaturesolar.com/victhttps:...
👉 Victron SmartSolar MPPT 150/100-Tr VE.Can - signaturesolar.com/victron-sm...
Amazon Products:
👉 Hydraulic Crimping Tool - amzn.to/3yDxyhC
👉 Ferrule Crimping Tool - amzn.to/3yAevoi
👉 3x3in Cable Raceway - amzn.to/3VeNRdi
👉 4/0 Welding Battery Cable - amzn.to/3yC5CKY
👉 4/0 AWG 3/8" Battery Lugs - amzn.to/3yxofQf
👉 4/0 AWG 3/8" Shrink Wrap - amzn.to/3WXQDFk
In the next RV upgrade video we will be installing over 2,000 watts of solar on the roof. Be sure to subscribe and ring the bell so you are always up to date!
💚 Harold & Cindy
🚨 Disclaimer: Do not attempt electrical wiring unless you are a trained professional or have consulted with professionals. Electrical work can be dangerous and requires proper knowledge and expertise to ensure safety. Always prioritize safety and seek professional assistance for any electrical projects. This video is not intended to be instructions on how to install an RV power system.
Music provided by Epidemic Sound.
1StrangeAdventure LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

[@jdnunnery1082]

Nice and clean layout, Harold. "Harold Strange, Signature Solar Master RV installation tech" You're pretty dang good at that stuff.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Thank you sir. I definitely had some help! 😉

[@MatthewYBarbo]

If that's not the cleanest looking system I've ever seen! Great content as always, you guys. Thoroughly enjoyed it!!

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Much appreciated!

[@FindUsCamping]

Setup looks amazing. Enjoy all that time off grid

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Can’t wait! We have some friends who also like to boon dock so we’re hoping to hang out with them a bit more. 😉

[@FindUsCamping]

@@1StrangeAdventure we hope you can meet up with them soon!!

[@johnnyfroneberger5566]

Great looking system. I know you had a good time installing it.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

It took a while but loving it!

[@timr6290]

Looks like a very capable system your getting set up Harold and Cindy!! Really awesome!!

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Thank you so much. We are very excited about it!

[@terryl.6490]

Nice set up, very clean! Interested in what load testing will show and the endurance. Good luck!

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Yes! We can’t wait to get the solar on the roof and do some testing!

[@ptwhd]

Thanks for sharing 😊😊😊

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Thanks for watching!

[@WillBelden]

Oh, one other thing. You might want to consider a support beam under the bottom edge of the batteries. I'm a little concerned that ever-present travel shake is going to wiggle those screws quite a bit and start to loosen them. I suspect this because you don't have a metal frame. Metal strips, anchored to the wooden frame and then the rack mount screws into that metal strip might be a very useful solution, if you start to have that issue. (Of the screws walking out or beating up on the surrounding wood.)

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Great suggestion! Thank you!

[@daydreamer0923]

Thank you. I don't have a rig yet so I'm not sure about weight on the frame. Could you have a frame failure from the extra weight? I have to say I admire you for your knowledge and abilities. ✌️😊 💯🌈

[@CoddiwompleTravelers]

Very cool! That is a bunch of batteries 😂 Great job on the install, looks great

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Lots of battery!

[@CoddiwompleTravelers]

@@1StrangeAdventure More batteries will be our next step.

[@rickhill909]

Great job as usual Those batteries are nice ! What a system , you can boondock in florida and run your ac all day.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

That’s the goal!! ☺️

[@rickhill909]

@@1StrangeAdventure Did you put soft starts on the ac units ? The new 18000 Furrion that runs like a mini split would be awesome

[@gorvyourself]

Dude amazing job! You should be very proud; we did a similar setup but paid for it and didn't have the .... to do it ourselves.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Definitely understand. It's a lot to learn and consider and by no means have I mastered any of this. Still learning everyday!

[@MatthewSerta1]

Could you make a more nerdy video about this? I didn’t know you could even use 2 inverters to keep a split phase. This is very interesting. I am looking into doing something similar with my RV soon, and my plan was one of those inverters, but now I’ll have to look into how they work when running 2, and the batteries are way cheaper than what I was originally going to use. Will you get the Victron Cerbo and display for inside the camper to monitor all this?

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Haha, guilty as charged! Absolutely! I have it already and will be installing soon.

[@TDub_ADV]

This is exactly what i have planned for mine when i do my next upgrades. Only difference is im going 48v on my setup.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

That will help keep wire cost down some. ☺️

[@TDub_ADV]

@@1StrangeAdventure sure will but hving to buy a 48-12v steep down converter will eat some of that up. For me its more about being able to run a bigger inverter with a lower current coming off the batteries. I'm planning on 2 5000VA Quatros.

[@jeffsmart485]

You will regret fitting those 3000 watt inverters as l found they are only 2400 va for the little bit extra you should have installed the 5000s but you have a great install. JS

[@1StrangeAdventure]

We are enjoying them so far. Thanks for the heads up

[@evanmartin7809]

nice system, but I think you would have been better served with a 24V or 48V system. I'm planning to install a very similar system (24V) in my 5th wheel in the next few weeks.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

You can get this same system in 24V or 48V. The 12V is doing great although I realize I had to use much bigger cables for it. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those setups as long as you do your research and size things appropriately.

[@BryantBeers]

@@1StrangeAdventure You're also limited on your charge controllers with 12v. I believe in your case each charge controller on 12v can only do 1200w. 24v would get you 2400w, which then you have room to expand your solar capacity. We have 5300w of solar on our bus going into two 150/85 controllers on a 24v system.

[@veronicaoneal9480]

This is a great set up, very impressive. How long did it take for you to install all of this?

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Still working on the solar but I did this over the course of 3 weeks. Had to do between work days and when it was convenient to turn power off.

[@TallTexasGMan]

I like your install. Been designing a system with Signature Solar for a totally different purpose. But looking at options for my RV as well. However, I wanted to point out a small error in your math. You said full 50A service. A 50A RV circuit is two legs with 50A each. That is up to 100A at 120V power with standard of 2 Hots and Neutral or 50A at 240V (Hot to Hot). So for a standard RV that is 50A shoreline for simple math would be 12,000 Watts in other words four 3,000 watt inverters two per 50A circuit. Of course we don't draw full amount. So less can handle much of the load, but you need to watch your loads.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

🙂 Great clarification point! I’m still learning.

[@lxe1986]

@@1StrangeAdventure Interesting reply, thank you.

[@barrynelson440]

​@@1StrangeAdventureThe breaker at the pedestal is a double pole. That's 50 amps for each pole, so the previous reply is correct. I've pulled over 50 amps total between L1 and L2, verified it on my Power Watchdog, and not had a problem. You're capping yourself at 6K watts, well actually only 4.8K watts with Victron because they're rated in VA and not watts. But that might be plenty for your needs. Beautiful build, by the way, gorgeous.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Thanks for the clarification!

[@1StrangeAdventure]

I misspoke. Still learning.

[@joshsuperduty1270]

How’s the truck doing n have improved in mpg ? Great video

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Thanks! It’s about the same at this point.

[@SaltyStrikes]

On the MPPT controller the 150 is max volts going in to controller and the 100 is max amp output. You seemed to have suggested the solar array configuration in series had some bearing on the 100 amp out which it doesn’t. So it doesn’t matter series or parallel for input because that output will be 14.5v at 100amps, thats where the max solar array for a 12v system is 1,450 watts for that controller. On a 24v system that same controller can run 2,900 watts because the output amps would be half that of a 12v system. I can’t believe that solar company suggested for you to use a 12v system with that much battery and inverters. Thats a lot of amperage and heat really for no reason when a 24v or 48v would cut that in half or 1/4 of a 12v system. Definitely staying away from that company.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Thanks for the feedback. I’m not familiar with systems beyond 12V so I chose to stay there. 24 and 48 was an option.

[@SaltyStrikes]

@@1StrangeAdventure we also run the “Salty Trips” channel, we have a 24v build over there. This conversation gave me a great idea for a video, thanks 🙏🏻.

[@John5ive]

100% was going to say the same thing. Crazy to have that system be 12v. Awesome system nonetheless

[@WillBelden]

Great installation. Curious, as a fellow 399 owner, why you'd tied up so much of your only-bay space? What about the front bay area?

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Great question. I really only used up from the sewer pipe back since I cleared so much space by rerouting water lines. The bay is still pretty large. I decided to use that space for a couple of reasons. 1) That allowed me to get the weight a little further back out of the nose. 2) It gave me the space I needed for that many batteries. 3) I was able to center the batteries vs having them offset to the patio side, which is already the heavy side of our rigs. 4) This space is somewhat climate controlled so the batteries are less likely to be exposed to the extremes. Hope this helps! 🙂

[@WillBelden]

@@1StrangeAdventure Yep, good answers, some of it is what I suspected, esp. centering the weight. Good looking install!

[@kerryzahn908]

I hate being the bummer in the comments but, isn’t that a lot of weight in one area? And what would this cost the average Joe to install themselves? Thanks, it’s really cool

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Not a "bummer"... great question! It is a lot of weight which is why i built the frame to distribute it more and not having it sit on the plywood in one spot. I also designed it so that the batteries were mostly centered but skewed to the non-camp side in the RV vs being totally off to one side. Our rig is naturally heavy to the patio side so I wanted to offset that with the batteries.

[@imyour_huckleberry]

24V or 48V? at 400AH. Or did I miss that. I ran mine at 24V. much better power density and output over the life of the battery.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Hi there. I stayed with 12V

[@davidnoyes3373]

How much would a system like this cost?

[@1StrangeAdventure]

We are actually working on a package deal for this very system. More to come!

[@earlzeis35]

Nope, been done many times. I have a very similar system. I'm running 24v EG4 LL V2 batteries. 4 of them, likely end up with 5. Dual MP2 in parallel.

[@earlzeis35]

I didn't see any chassis grounds the batteries.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

The entire system is grounded to the chassis.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

That's awesome! Sounds like a great system.

[@earlzeis35]

@@1StrangeAdventure including the batteries? The battery case has no continuity to the negative terminal. That's why they give you a chassis ground on each battery.

[@Colin-rh9rr]

Great job with the battery/power install. Just do less shaking the camera whilst filming please.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

Will do. Thanks

[@BrianSmith-yn2zg]

Made in China, hope it last more than a few months for you.

[@1StrangeAdventure]

What isn’t made in China these days? It’s doing great!