I borrowed a cable lift and a neighbor and I started to install them at 9am. We were done by 11am. I wired 2 5 panel arrays in series, dropped the cables, and wired them in parallel. And then to the charger/inverter. I charged the batteries fully, wired them in series and ran the cables to 100 amp circuit breakers. I installed a battery balancer.
We wired an RV box to the output of the inverter and ran a 30 amp RV cord to the 50 amp RV supply. When plugged in, we have shore power 24/7. I installed a shunt and a battery monitor. Then I hooked up the cables to the inverter and switched it on. Success.
In Montana, in June and July, we were catching 1.5kw for a couple of hours a day. We can run our AC for 3-4 hours without depleting the batteries. We are in Utah right now. It is a very cloudy day. At 10:30am, we are getting 4 amps at 53.3v. We use a microwave, Nespresso, air fryer, blender, and other appliances. We replaced our propane refrigerator with a 120v Whirlpool 11.3 cu ft model. It draws 200 amps.
With only 30 amps, we can only run two energy hogs at once, but do not find that bothersome. We have been using our predominantly Eco-Worthy system for 2 years. Our panels and batteries have worked flawlessly. The only thing I wish I had done differently was to add 2 more panels on the roof. That extra 390 watts would come in handy in the desert. Next time we stop for long enough, I may order another pair and install them.
Since our panels are mounted flat, the Winter sun cannot hit them at an optimal angle. Our motorhome roof has a slight crown and we found that pointing N-S, the hour before and after solar noon is our best sun. Pointing E-W is not as efficient. The other drawback is dust. In Quartzsite, the LTVA campgrounds have a lot of dust. Last year, our first, I noticed my solar gain was down. It had sprinkled a token desert rain and it turned the dust into little mud craters. I washed the panels and my solar gain went up 15%. I now dust them regularly.
Why Eco-Worthy? I researched components, read reviews, asked friends, and looked for value. Eco-Worthy panels stood above the rest. As far as batteries, Will Prowse helped me make that decision. His YouTube channel is filled with advice. As I said, I would have installed an Eco-Worthy hybrid if the specs allowed. Our system allows us to boondock anywhere. We have a macerator pump to pump our waste tank into a 32 gallon portable tank to take it to dump. We also have a 60 gallon potable water bladder and a water pump to fill our fresh water tank. We stayed 4 months in the desert without moving our motorhome.
I used Adobe Illustrator to make a drawing of the system so anyone working on it could follow my logic. We have a Facebook page "America at a Mile a Minute", join us on our travels.
