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Why Do I Need an Inverter/Charger if I have Solar?

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pdaddy

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So I'm building an 800w solar panel system for my travel trailer. It already has an inverter (only 1000w so will probably upgrade to 2000w so the wife can run a few more things like her hair dryer, LOL". I have a 200ah LifePo4 battery.

I'm reading about inverter/chargers combos. But if I am connecting my MPPT controller directly to the battery, what would be the reason to ever purchase an inverter/charger combo unit? Seems like the inverter is all I need since the solar charges my batteries directly. Am I thinking about this the right way?
 
Will there always be enough sun? If yes, no charger needed. If a few trips prove you wrong, change the converter to a lithium converter and power the generator to charge.

I use a ac to dc converter for back up charging. Once a year i test it. Other than that, I don’t use it.
 
chrisski said:
Will there always be enough sun? If yes, no charger needed. If a few trips prove you wrong, change the converter to a lithium converter and power the generator to charge.

I use a ac to dc converter for back up charging. Once a year i test it. Other than that, I don’t use it.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Should have mentioned I do carry a 2000w gas portable generator as a back-up in case the sun disappears for a few days.
 
the inverter charger types are handy if your solar does not make enough power to charge your batteries other than that there is no advantage. you could use a normal battery charger in lieu of an inverter charger if your system is 12 volts.
 
an honestly if you have 800 watts of solar that goes a long way in a camper unless you are running your a/c or furnace off of it. Add another 200 amp hour battery and you should be able to go several days without solar at all.
 
The inverter-charger I chose, a 3000/9000-watt unit, can charge at up to 90 amps while the onboard converter is rated at an unrealistic 55 amps.
Our camper is equipped with four 190-watt panels on the roof connected to a 60-amp mppt controller. That setup does an admirable job of recharging our 800 ah lifepo4 bank, even in cloudy conditions.
The inverter-charger gives us the ability to charge batteries with two paralleled 2300-watt inverter-generators if;
We need to run the rooftop air during night time hours (like during the Oshkosh Air Show)
If we have several days of rain/clouds.
 
Daddy Tanuki said:
the inverter charger types are handy if your solar does not make enough power to charge your batteries other than that there is no advantage. you could use a normal battery charger in lieu of an inverter charger if your system is 12 volts.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I think my 800 watts going to the 200ah battery is plenty of power to recharge pretty quickly... especially when I'm using 90-100 Ah per day.
 
pdaddy said:
Thanks. Should have mentioned I do carry a 2000w gas portable generator as a back-up in case the sun disappears for a few days.
Click to expand...
The RV converter you have already may or may not charge your battery for those days. If its a constant voltage 13.6 like most RVs seem to be, will be fine. If the RV converter is a three stage, needs to be off at all times. The max charge voltage is around 14.6 volts for Lithium.

Just leave the RV converter off when not needed.
 
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