Igor's new electrical system is almost finished!

Because we like being self sufficient, solar electricity is a "must have" for us when it comes to RV'ing. And we've done it for so long now that we're aware of our electrical needs.

I had bought a 200 watt RV solar kit that includes two 100 watt solar panels, all the wiring, mounting brackets, and charge controller. It was on sale at the time.

This is the kit I bought...

200 Watt Solar Kit - U.S.

200 Watt Solar Kit - Canada.

I paid $219.90 CAD ($160.50 USD) plus tax, which was a great deal!

I covered the top of the panels with cardboard so they would not produce any electricity while I was installing and connecting them.

Airstream had already pre-wired the 1993 vans for solar. Which is quite amazing, given that RV solar was only just starting to catch on in the late 1990's. So Igor had this plastic box caulked to the roof, and when I removed it, I found two wires. Those wires run inside through the ceiling and down the wall to the converter box under the couch. Which is absolutely perfect, given that is where I wanted to install the charge controller, and it's also where the new batteries are installed.

The only minor problem is that they didn't make the wire size larger. They are suitable for the 200 watts that I have installed, but only just.

Installed, and waiting for some sunshine!

Yes, you can tell from the photo above that I need to finish scrubbing the roof! I had only washed the parts around where I was working.

It was after dinner by the time I finished, so haven't had a chance to test it out with full sunlight yet. Maximum input to the batteries should be about 11 amps, but that would be under optimum conditions.

Starting with fully charged batteries, it's doubtful that we would use 20% of the batteries capacity in one evening. But if we did, the solar panels would have them fully charged again in less than two hours of full sunlight the next morning.

Charge controller showing 13.2 volts.

And because it's cloudy when I took this photo, there is only 0.9 amps going into the batteries.

I also installed an 1100 watt inverter to change the 12 volts DC into 120 volts AC because we have a small electric kettle and a small electric toaster that each are rated at just under 1000 watts.

With that all done, I only have one more electrical component to install... the DC-DC charger. This is what enables the lithium batteries to be charged from the engine alternator while driving. 

Things are coming together!