Testing the electrical system

Its slow going learning how to use this system (must be Oldtimer’s Disease). The system seems to be working OK with the default setting’s set up by Chris. I’m learning to pay attention to what the LCD screens are trying to tell me. I hope I can learn this stuff before I fry something or ruin my batteries.

I have been experimenting with different situations like dropping shore power to simulate dry camping, running the refrigerator on inverter 120 all night to see what that load does, turning off the inverter to see how well the solar system charges the batteries, etc.

Unfortunately, I am parked under pine trees that shade the solar panels most of the day. They only get direct sunlight for about one hour a day so it is difficult to determine how well the solar array will function in full sunlight. So full testing will have to wait until I move the rig somewhere out of the shade. All in all, my impression is that the system will be adequate for my needs; it better be for the amount of money I have invested. Even in the shade, the system seems to cover the amount of power I normally consume (Vaio notebook, satellite modem, DirecTV receiver, wireless router and cell phone charger) and also charge the batteries. But in the shade, the battery voltage does not rise high enough to trigger absorb and float stages using just the solar array. I have to use shore power and the charger function of the inverter/charger to top off the batteries.

One thing I think that I would like to implement is some kind of warning system that will alert me when the batteries have dropped below a certain level. The inverter and the charge controller both allow for activating an auxiliary output circuit when certain conditions exist. It seems to me that a small LED light and/or buzzer could be turned on when the battery’s voltage reaches a certain point while dry camping without an automatic generator or access to grid power. I would think that I should be able to find something that will work at Radio Shack. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions?

I just learned that the some of the LEDs on the inverter charger indicate the status of the batteries according to the following:

Green LED indicates the voltage of the batteries is 12.5 or higher. Yellow LED indicates the voltage is 11.5 to 12.5. Red LED indicates 11.5 or lower. This is better than nothing but it means I have to get off my butt and go look at the inverter which is probably a good thing to get some exercise.