I installed a starter Renogy 400W system on my Reflection about 2 months ago (2 Battleborn batteries) and for the most part, all is going well. I'm staying in a location in Arizona where I'm getting plenty of daytime solar to satisfy my needs (most days). I can monitor my solar panels and batteries and as expected, during the day, the batteries get fully charged and at night, they drain down somewhat. I can power my needs with the exception of air conditioning and refrigeration most days. I handle the refrigeration with propane so I'm mostly content. At some point, I may want to add more panels and batteries to be able to handle refrigeration also but that's for a later date.
The problem is that we have occasional rain days where the batteries don't get fully charged and then can't make it through the night. We also sometimes watch too much TV or use the microwave a bit too much. This can (and has) caused the batteries to run out. This only happens about once every two weeks. We have shore power available but not turned on unless we get into one of these situations or it gets really hot and I need air conditioning.
What I'd like to do is set up the system so that I get an automatic boost from shore power when I'm about to deplete the batteries but only when we're getting into trouble. How can I set that sort of thing up?
My system is set up with a transfer switch that accepts either the inverter or shore power as input and powers the rest of the trailer from there. This means that I'm essentially running either from solar/battery/inverter or shore power. The converter is configured so it's only used when shore power is on.
What I'd like to see is my converter engage and put a bit more into the batteries when we're running low (but only then). The way I'm configured now, if I turn on shore power, I'm going to fully charge my batteries and then there is no where for the solar power to go during the day. I'd like to be able to do this so that the converter will engage when needed but not until then. Once the converter engages, I'd also like it to turn off before the batteries are completely charged so that the following day, the solar panels will do something meaningful.
Is there some way to set up my shore power connection to automatically become active before the system reached a battery depleted shut down and then have it deactivate at some threshold so that I essentially switch back to solar/battery/inverter mode? Once again, this isn't needed daily, just occasionally.
The problem is that we have occasional rain days where the batteries don't get fully charged and then can't make it through the night. We also sometimes watch too much TV or use the microwave a bit too much. This can (and has) caused the batteries to run out. This only happens about once every two weeks. We have shore power available but not turned on unless we get into one of these situations or it gets really hot and I need air conditioning.
What I'd like to do is set up the system so that I get an automatic boost from shore power when I'm about to deplete the batteries but only when we're getting into trouble. How can I set that sort of thing up?
My system is set up with a transfer switch that accepts either the inverter or shore power as input and powers the rest of the trailer from there. This means that I'm essentially running either from solar/battery/inverter or shore power. The converter is configured so it's only used when shore power is on.
What I'd like to see is my converter engage and put a bit more into the batteries when we're running low (but only then). The way I'm configured now, if I turn on shore power, I'm going to fully charge my batteries and then there is no where for the solar power to go during the day. I'd like to be able to do this so that the converter will engage when needed but not until then. Once the converter engages, I'd also like it to turn off before the batteries are completely charged so that the following day, the solar panels will do something meaningful.
Is there some way to set up my shore power connection to automatically become active before the system reached a battery depleted shut down and then have it deactivate at some threshold so that I essentially switch back to solar/battery/inverter mode? Once again, this isn't needed daily, just occasionally.
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