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New to the forums and new to setting up proper battery banks for a RV configuration, but have been trying to do extensive research for all the information to properly setup a good battery bank system in this RV. This will be stationary, but can easily break-down if a "must move" situation occurs. Everything, except the solar panels, are designed within the RV itself.
Here is the configuration I have designed and have almost everything now, except the solar panels, which will eventually charge the battery banks. Looking at Solar World 235 watt Mono grade "A", 22 panel array (one pallet)
I began with getting 4 - 12v 100AH deep cycles. A mistake I found, but too late to change those. So these will be used in the engine compartment area aside the 12v engine battery. These 4 will be parallel and will be charged by the RV inverter that came with the RV and will run things like the interior light (which I have changed all interior lights to 12v LED's and added many extras, which only use 6 watts each). I also have an extra battery charger, which is fully automatic, with float and 12-6-2 amp modes.
I now have 16 Trojan T105-RE's, which will be divided in two 8 battery banks. They are 6v and will series them into 12v, then parallel. @ 225 AH, each of these banks will have 900AH. These will also be charged with battery charger. This is to test the bank system until I implement the solar panel array.
Each bank will have a 2000/4000 watt inverters, All battery connects are 2/0 wiring with 1/0 leads to inverters, which will be aprox 4 feet from battery bank to inverters for minimum distance, then run interior connections from there.
There will also be individual battery volt meters for each battery on internal monitor display to keep tabs on each battery to watch equalization charging/usage.
The two 8 battery banks fit perfectly in the two side storage bins. It is level, insulated, and ventilated as well. I live in the San Diego coastal area, so the basic year around temperature range is low of 50 in winter to high of 80 mid summer and typical temp range around 60-75 degrees all year around, which I read is very good operation range for these batteries. So, I believe I'm in the perfect area for both solar and good battery bank operation.
So I would appreciate any expert advise to see if I am on the right track, since this is my first attempt at such a project.
One main concern is making sure that the equalization factor is done correctly, since I have read that this is a very important factor, because with good maintenance, these batteries can last up to 10 years. Is there a good automation style system to do this (within a reasonable price)? I have done a lot of searching, but still a bit confused on this part of the application.
I want to make a very efficient battery system that will last for many years. I have changed out all interior lights to 6 watt LED's, removed the older Dometic refrig/freezer and replaced with a new 10 cu ft Frigidaire Energy Star unit (est $36/year rating), a 23 cu ft stand up freezer Energy Star ($54/year rating) (this enclosed outside the RV) and all new electronics (60" & 50" flat screen TV's, surround receivers, bluerays, etc.), microwave, etc. which all energy efficient and most used very little, but want to make sure I have the power to run everything as well.
Any and all expert advise will be greatly appreciated.
