Adding solar AND inverter while keeping your generator

Electrical issues, both 12 volt and 120 volt
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taitecklund
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Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2021 6:39 am

Adding solar AND inverter while keeping your generator

Post by taitecklund »

So I wanted to start this thread to help people out with adding an inverter. There are a lot of threads on adding solar but none on adding an inverter (even though lots of people say they've added an inverter) so I wanted to share my experience.

So I added solar and an inverter. If you want to know about adding solar, there are other detailed threads in this forum for that. I'm just going to detail how I then included an inverter.

I wanted an inverter that would work seamlessly. Just flip a switch and everything in the van would work. Outlets, microwave, air conditioner, etc. I wanted this because firing up the generator for a 5 minute use of electricity is a pain and it's also ridiculous to turn on a generator to, say, charge a laptop. It's also hard on the generator. As well, many campgrounds don't allow generator use so an inverter is awesome.

So I went with a 1,000 watt inverter. This is not enough to run the Air Conditioner or electric hot water heater, but I don't have enough battery power for that anyways. It IS enough to run the microwave and whatever other small appliances I plug into an outlet.

So here's how I did it. Along with an inverter you will also need to buy another automatic transfer switch (if your van already has an existing generator) Connect the house battery to the inverter. Run a 20 amp rated A/C electrical line to the converter/fuse box under the couch. From there follow the wiring diagram that I included. But essentially you are adding in a second ATS. You'll need to disconnect the generator from the original ATS. Wire the generator and inverter into the new ATS and then the wiring from the new ATS takes the generator's spot on the original ATS.

Once you've done all that you are done. HOWEVER, this is not a completely fool-proof method and I have not seen another solution to this in my searching, so if anyone has better info, please share as I'd love to know. When the inverter is running you will have to turn OFF the breaker to the converter. The converter's job is the charge the house batteries when the generator or shore power is running. Since the inverter's power supply is said shore batteries, this creates a downward spiral loop that drains your house batteries. Luckily the inverter I bought gives a warning signal if I don't flip the converter to off. You'll just have to remember to turn the converter back on if you are going to plug into shore or run your generator. So there's an extra step.
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1999 B-190. Owner since 2021
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skater
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Re: Adding solar AND inverter while keeping your generator

Post by skater »

Yeah, there's no "3 way" transfer switch that I've ever heard of, so I don't know how else you'd do what you're trying to do. The only other options might be to wire up special outlets for the inverter, but that has its own problems. Some inverters have a transfer switch installed (such as the one in our trailer), but electrically, that's effectively the same thing as what you're doing.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

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taitecklund
Weekend Camper
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2021 6:39 am

Re: Adding solar AND inverter while keeping your generator

Post by taitecklund »

skater wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 9:07 pm
Yeah, there's no "3 way" transfer switch that I've ever heard of, so I don't know how else you'd do what you're trying to do. The only other options might be to wire up special outlets for the inverter, but that has its own problems. Some inverters have a transfer switch installed (such as the one in our trailer), but electrically, that's effectively the same thing as what you're doing.
Yeah, it was difficult doing research on this because it seems everyone has their own way of hard wiring in inverters and they all seemed "messy" or dangerous to me, or would be a pain to turn on the inverter. For instance some people run a plug from the inverter to the shore power inlet of the van, which I guess works but would be a pain to setup every time you want to turn on the inverter. Or some people skipped the second ATS and back fed the inverter to an empty breaker spot in their power panel, which seemed dangerous. Wiring up a special outlet for the inverter is hard work and then only gives you one outlet. I couldn't find the "perfect" solution, which would be to not have to turn off the converter as an extra step, but what I did is about as good as I could find.
1999 B-190. Owner since 2021
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