Snook, Solitude, and Solar

So this last week I took the Beast down to Snook, Texas to do the Solar work at my Uncle's farm. Since he was away on vacation, it was pretty much The Beast, some donkeys, a dog named Fritz, and myself.

First things first, I needed water. I didn't feel like driving the 200 miles with the extra 800 lbs of aqua in my tank.

Filling the 100 gallon tank up water

The front yard.

Since this was taking forever, I took some pictures of where I would be doing my working and sleeping the next few days.

Pretty sure I'm the first one to ever sleep in the workshop

Nestled in among the tractors and tools

Had to unfurl this mighty satellite one more time before removing it to make room.  As well as the HD antenna behind it and the fan vent to the back right.

Over the next few days, my cousin Jason and I got to work on the solar install. We managed to get most of the panels installed before the weekend hit and he had to run off to some fairs and such showing some old tractors. But we did finish the seven hardest to place ones, leaving just a few for me to finish.

First 4 panels on front glued and screwed on

Framework for 2 of the panels in the back right

I took to the road back to Plano Texas early Saturday morning and subjected the build to a 80 mph wind test on I-45. Happy to report that none of the panels blew off! I stopped and checked at a couple rest areas along the way to make sure nothing was amiss as well.

This Sunday I completed the Solar install, building a platform for one panel in which the cords all connect and go down into the electronics cabinet below. I also hooked up five of the panels to test out the supply to the batteries. They were putting in about 5 amps at 95+ volts.  Once I connect the second set, it should be up to about 10 amps. I may have to juggle this around a bit to optimize my amps to the batteries.
The OCD among you might want to just ignore the panel in the lower left...there was just no other way.

Late today some MC4 connectors I had ordered arrived which allowed me to create the cables I needed to connect the 2nd set of five panels. Unfortunately the sun had gone down so I had no way of testing if they were working as I planned or not. I have to wait until tomorrow. Once the test is complete I'll do the wire management and secure some of the hanging wires.

In other news, the interior of the RV got a bit of an upgrade. The uncomfortable leather got replaced, though we did save the old covers. Here's the transformation:

Prepping the Bug-Out Vehicle

Nothing like a death from Ebola and another potential patient being reported in the general area to give you a kick in the butt to get the Revcon ready to live off the grid and to get out of the Dallas area.

Over the last 2 months I've been doing some pretty substantial upgrades to some of the systems.  Primarily upgrading to an Air conditioner that can run on Solar power, Batteries, and/or 110 v of AC power.
The only one I could find after extensive searching was made by Kingtec.  After exchanging emails with the company, it seemed the best solution to my dilemmas. The dilemmas you ask?  Well: a) staying cool anywhere in the RV without the generator burning diesel or requiring an electrical hookup, and b) to keep the dogs alive and cool when we leave them in the Beast for extended periods of time.
So within a week after ordering, my Kingtec Solar K25DZ arrived.

After getting the local RV place to install it, we discovered it wasn't cooling and was showing an error on the thermostat.  A week later a replacement unit arrived, which worked like a charm.  So maybe the first got damaged in shipping or something, who knows.  But Kingtec quickly resolved the issue by sending a replacement.

Though I did take the precaution of hooking this one up and testing it before installing it just to be sure.

Next on the list of must haves was to have a battery bank large enough to run the a/c all night long if necessary.  So after hunting around a bit I found these batteries that seemed to be up to the task:
VMAX 6V AGM Battery, 225ah.  Which was conveniently sold in an 8 pack on Amazon.  Exactly what I needed.
Another few days later after ordering them, I had 8 batteries that I needed to find a home for in the Beast. After a bit of thought, I cleaned out the 2 cabinets that are under the seats of the dinette and discovered that the batteries fit almost perfectly in them. Plus all the weight of them on that side of the Beast would probably balance out the 100 gallon tank of water that's always on the other.  Maybe I won't be as lopsided going down the highway as in the past.

2 on the right, I thought I had more space here
until I realized that the gas tank fill-up goes
through this area

6 on the left, even a little space left
over for some pantry supplies

The final placement before I started creating wires and putting it all together

After I did the wiring, I had that moment of doubt wondering if the batteries would power the Air Conditioner.  I was feeling like Clark Griswold in that moment when he was trying to get his Christmas lights to come on after checking all 10,000 bulbs.  But it powered on just fine.  The thermostat itself pulls about 0.1 amp.  With just the fan running it pulls about 2 amps, and when the compressor kicks in, it takes about 16 amps.  With 225 amp hours of battery power, could theoretically get 15 hours or so continuous cooling without any other sources of electricity.

Step 3, the Solar.  I'm told the a/c will run off 1000 watts of power.  After a bit of research I ordered from Renogy.    They are 100 watt each, flexible and only weigh about 3 lbs each. The issue now is finding space for all 10 on top of the roof.  I am pretty sure I will have to yank the huge satellite for room.  I'm going to consult with my cousins and uncle and see if we can use some backwood's engineering and create some space for them.  I have a few ideas on the matter, but I lack the welding or metalworking skills to accomplish them.  One of the casualties of the install so far is the carpeting on the ceiling.  It was stained and in already drooping in many places(Thank you Texas heat):  So I made the decision to just start ripping it down and to later replace it. With the added wiring of the A/C and solar panels, the destruction was necessary in order to access the nooks and crannies where the wires can be run.

The current solar that keeps my 12v battery
charged, I believe it's around 80 watts

This is the area above the King size bed that I hope I can fit 4-6 of the panels

A partial picture of the satellite dish that I will
most likely have to take down, room
for 2-4 panels

Manufacturer's picture of the panel