I recently purchased an early model 2015 Leisure Travel Van, Unity MB model that did not have the solar option. This turned out to be a plus as I was able to over double the factory wattage and hopefully wire it more efficiently. Although new at this, I had tremendous help and mentoring from "Klipstr" on the Sprinter UnityForum and thought I might share the installation and what I learned in the process.
Disclaimer: I'm new at this. Use the information at your own risk. I researched what I could find and asked questions. Hopefully this will be another helpful resource for others wanting to do it themselves.
The "factory solar pre-wire" consisted of a pair of 8AWG wires and a single 12AWG wire running for the control cabinet above the entry door directly to the battery box. The issue with the factory pre-wiring was the wires sizes were too small and didn't allow for the proper installation of a charge controller close enough to the battery box to prevent voltage loss without installing heaver wire.
Factory pre-wire in the control cabinet:
With the help of Kelly Lipp, I decided to start over. I was able to install 4 Suaoki 100W 18V 12V Solar Panels on my Unity. I would have preferred to have installed 5 panels but due to a previous installation of a satellite TV cable, I only had room for 4 panels without re-routing the satellite cable to another location. Important: Cut out rectangles of cardboard from the solar panel shipping boxes and temporarily tape them to the solar cells to prevent electrical shock when doing the installation. Leave enough room around the edges of the panels and the RV roof to clean with acetone prior to applying the eternabond tape. Attach your panels as far away as you can from other roof items to prevent shadows on the panels. Even a very small shadow on just a small part of the panel will drastically reduce to current output.
4 panel installation:
I attached the panels, combiner box, and secured the wires with Eternabond 2" tape. I've used Eternabond on my previous class A with great success to seal seams. Once it sticks, it's there for good. It made it a good looking, streamline installation too. (Important: Before ordering any flexible panels, make sure they haven't been subject to a recall.)
2" Eternabond tape securing the panels:
I ran all my solar panel wires to a combiner box (buss bars purchased at Lowe's) that was attached with eternabond tape to eliminate extra holes thru my roof. I needed to extend some of my solar panel cables to the combiner box. You can make your own cables with extra MC4 panel connectors and a crimping tool, however, it was easier for me to purchase a pair of 8AWG, 10' & 3' pre-made cables with connectors and cut them to the correct length to reach the combiner box utilizing the attached connector. Never used my extra connectors or crimpers.
Combiner box:
Continued on Part #2
Disclaimer: I'm new at this. Use the information at your own risk. I researched what I could find and asked questions. Hopefully this will be another helpful resource for others wanting to do it themselves.
The "factory solar pre-wire" consisted of a pair of 8AWG wires and a single 12AWG wire running for the control cabinet above the entry door directly to the battery box. The issue with the factory pre-wiring was the wires sizes were too small and didn't allow for the proper installation of a charge controller close enough to the battery box to prevent voltage loss without installing heaver wire.
Factory pre-wire in the control cabinet:
With the help of Kelly Lipp, I decided to start over. I was able to install 4 Suaoki 100W 18V 12V Solar Panels on my Unity. I would have preferred to have installed 5 panels but due to a previous installation of a satellite TV cable, I only had room for 4 panels without re-routing the satellite cable to another location. Important: Cut out rectangles of cardboard from the solar panel shipping boxes and temporarily tape them to the solar cells to prevent electrical shock when doing the installation. Leave enough room around the edges of the panels and the RV roof to clean with acetone prior to applying the eternabond tape. Attach your panels as far away as you can from other roof items to prevent shadows on the panels. Even a very small shadow on just a small part of the panel will drastically reduce to current output.
4 panel installation:
I attached the panels, combiner box, and secured the wires with Eternabond 2" tape. I've used Eternabond on my previous class A with great success to seal seams. Once it sticks, it's there for good. It made it a good looking, streamline installation too. (Important: Before ordering any flexible panels, make sure they haven't been subject to a recall.)
2" Eternabond tape securing the panels:
I ran all my solar panel wires to a combiner box (buss bars purchased at Lowe's) that was attached with eternabond tape to eliminate extra holes thru my roof. I needed to extend some of my solar panel cables to the combiner box. You can make your own cables with extra MC4 panel connectors and a crimping tool, however, it was easier for me to purchase a pair of 8AWG, 10' & 3' pre-made cables with connectors and cut them to the correct length to reach the combiner box utilizing the attached connector. Never used my extra connectors or crimpers.
Combiner box:
Continued on Part #2
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