Wire Gauge AWG
These gauges are good up to 25 feet. 25 to 50 feet you need to drop the gauge down to a lower gauge. The lower the gauge the heavier the wire. So, if you’re ONLY pulling 5 amps, 18 gauge is good to 50 feet because 18 gauge can pull 7 amps up to 25 feet. If you were pulling 10 amps at 35 feet then you would need 14 gauge. Because 16 gauge can only pull 10 amp up to 25 feet. As the wire gets longer, pulling the same amperage, the wire will need to be a heavier gauge.
You can use a Kilo-watt tool to figure out how much wattage any 110v item uses. Check the unit label for amps used. In general, most things at 110v, using 2000 watts or less, use 15 amps or less. An 1100-1800w microwave uses 15 amps. An 110v, 2000 watt AC unit uses 15 amps. They may use 12 to 13 amps but always figure higher to eliminate the risk of fire.
Websites for wire, solar videos, batteries, inverters and MPPT chargers:
Convert Amp Hours into Watts:
https://www.convert-formula.com/ah-wh/
12 volt Solar setup video on my Rumble channel:
https://rumble.com/v1otta4-new-solar-system-lithium-agm-24-solar-panel-bus-bars.html
- Solar Panels:
“Monocrystalline” panels produce the most power but need direct sun light. More “cells” equal more power. Higher cell count is always better.
- Connector Types:
MC4 - most common for solar, more costly, water proof.
SAE – common in automotive, rv’s most 12volt systems. Much cheaper wire, splitters, connectors. But you need to wrap the connections to be water proof.
- Solar Panels:
Harbor Freight - 100 watt “Monocrystalline” panels are great. Rated 100 watts @5 amps and they produce 105 to 107 watts and 5 to 7.5 amps.
- Ebay:
$57.59 ebay seller “eco-worthy-us”
ECO-WORTHY - 100W WATT 12V Monocrystalline Solar Panel 12BB Cell For Home RV.
$47.85 ebay seller “goodscity2010”
100W WATT Flexible Solar Panel 12V Mono Home RV Rooftop Camping Off-Grid Power.
$467.99 (1000 watts $46.71 per 100 watts) ebay seller “dokio1985”
Dokio 100w 200w 400w 1000w Semi-flexible Solar Panel For RV/Boat/Home/Battery
$138.99 $34.75 per 100 watts. ebay seller “sdgoods23”
(buy four or more $125.09 $31.25 per 100 watts) Best price per watt.
400W Watt 12V Mono Solar Panel Charging Battery Power RV Home Boat Camp Off-Grid
- Inverters, MPPT Charge Controllers:
MPPT chargers you use 100% of your charging watts/amp.
PWM chargers use only what you have in voltage.
12 volts = 120 watts (2 x 100 watts you waste 80 watts)
13 volts =130 watts (3 x 100 watts you waste 70 watts)
24 volts = 240 watts (3 x 100 watts you waste 60 watts)
26 volts = 260 watts (3 x 100 watts you waste 40 watts)
$46.59 ebay seller “tjw688”
New 100A MPPT Solar Charge Controller 12V/24V/36V/48V Auto PV Solar Panel Charge.
No UPS (uninterruptible power supply), no auto switch between grid/gen or batteries. Adjustable charge. You need to make sure at what maximum amperage you can charge your batteries.
Maximum input power of photovoltaic panels: 1000W (12V), 2000W (24V), 3000W (36V), 4000W (48V). Mine can do 110 amps at 1200 watts at 12 volt. I needed 12 volt for the camper. This one is cheaper than the one I use in my camper. It has lower watts at 12 volts. But it's good at 48 volts. (Higher volts equal less amps but give you the same Ah to Watts)
$509 ebay seller “luckymall88”
Solar Inverter Pure Sine Wave w/ 80A MPPT Charge Controller 24V 3000W US Stock. Inverter, MPPT charger, grid/gen, batteries, UPS.
My guess, its maximum solar is 2000-2400 watts.
$669.99 (Pro Parallel Connection) ebay seller “eco-worthy-us”
600W 1000W 2000W 3000W 5KW 10KW Solar Hybrid Inverter Off Grid Mppt Controller.
This can take power from solar, the grid, generator or batteries with builtin UPS. (UPS power back-up during power switching)
I like this one “5000 watt 48volt Pro (Parallel Connection) hook up to six of them together for 30,000 watts. And it’s UPS (I paid $119 for a separate UPS) MPPT charge controller (I paid $365 for my MPPT charge controller) and 5000 watt inverter. (I paid $379 for my 5000 watt inverter) Has auto-switch to grid/gen, solar or batteries. (I paid $93 for a sub-panel, breakers and I must switch it manually)
My guess maximum solar 5000 watts.
My cost for the same setup, but manually switching, was $956.00. This was not available when I did mine and I’m running on 12 volt.
https://vevor.com
$379.00 (5000 to 10,000 watt burst) This is the 12 volt inverter I use, it can power all the 110v in the camper even the AC and microwave at the same time. But of course you need enough battery power to do so.
VEVOR Pure Sine Wave Inverter, 5000 Watt, Power Inverter, DC 12V to AC 120V Car Inverter, with LCD Display, USB Port and Remote Controller, Power Converter for Car RV Truck Solar System Travel Camping.
Has wire lugs for high wattage items. Anything over 1500 watts should be wired to the lugs. Go from lugs to a 50 amp breaker, then to (3) 15 amp breakers or (2) 20 amp breakers. MAX Amps 56.
- Batteries:
Lithium Life PO4 are the best bang for the buck because you can use 99% of the batteries power without damaging the battery.
12V 200 Ah lithium you can use 197 Amp Hours of the battery.
$569.00
Price per usable amp hour = $2.88 per Ah (Amp Hour)
Weight 48 lbs. Average life span 8 to 10 years. Cost per year at 10 years $56 per year.
12V 200 Ah Acid/AGM battery you can safely use 95 Amp Hours.
$435.00
Price per usable amp hour = $4.57 per Ah (Amp Hour)
Weight 136 lbs. Average life span 3 to 5 years. Cost per year at 5 years $87 per year.
Power Queen are the best Lithium batteries out there. You want the “Plus Life PO4” batteries. They charge the fastest, hold power the longest, discharge the slowest and have a 10+ year life time.
https://www.ebay.com/str/powerqueennewenergy
