RV Solar Power: How to Install an Automatic Transfer Switch to a Solar Inverter 

Solar battery shore charging is covered at the very end of the video, but going by the comments, I need to clarify it here: No, do not charge your solar battery with the RV converter charger!! Hooking up a solar battery charger is covered at the end of this video. If your RV has a solar battery AND a house/coach battery, then the RV converter charger is great and there is no need to disable it. If you are using one battery for both, and you do not disable the RV converter battery charger, you are going to have a bad time! Think about it like this: if you have a battery, powering an inverter, charging itself with the converter charger, you are going to have problems! I figured that was implied, but going by some of the comments, people are not understanding that part of the system. Many people use separate solar batteries than their coach batteries, or want to run their RV from a goal zero or other solar generator. Or a gasoline generator. Which means wiring the ats as shown in this video is ideal. If your solar battery is also your coach battery, you need to wire up your own battery charger. Does that make sense? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Does off-grid solar confuse you? Check out my DIY friendly website for solar system packages and product recommendations, and so much more! www.mobile-solarpower.com Join our DIY solar community! #1 largest solar forum on the internet for beginners and professionals alike: www.diysolarforum.com Check out my best-selling, beginner-friendly 12V off-grid solar book (affiliate link): amzn.to/2Aj4dX4 If DIY is not for you, but you love solar and need an offgrid system, check out Tesla Solar. Low prices and great warranty, and they can take your entire house offgrid with their new Powerwalls: ts.la/william57509 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My solar equipment recommendations (Constantly updated! Check here first): 12V/48V Lithium Batteries: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-batteries.html Solar System Component Directory: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solarcomponents.html Plug-N-Play Systems: www.mobile-solarpower.com/full-size-systems.html Complete 48V System Kits: www.mobile-solarpower.com/complete-48v-solar-kits.html DIY Friendly Air Conditioner/ Heat Pumps: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-friendly-air-conditioners.html Complete 48V System Blueprint: www.mobile-solarpower.com/48v-complete-system-blueprint.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Favorite Online Stores for DIY Solar and Coupon Codes: -Current Connected: SOK, Victron and High Quality Components. Best prices and warranty around: currentconnected.com/?ref=wp -Signature Solar: Cheap Server Rack Batteries and Large Solar Panels: www.signaturesolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Ecoflow Delta Official Site: My favorite plug-n-play solar generator: us.ecoflow.com/?aff=7 -AmpereTime: Cheapest 12V batteries around: amperetime.com/products/ampere-time-12v-100ah-lithium-lifepo4-battery?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Rich Solar: Mega site and cheaper prices than renogy! Check them out: richsolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Shop Solar Kits: Huge site with every solar kit you can imagine! Check it out: shopsolarkits.com/?ref=will-p -Battery Hookup: Cheap cell deals bit.ly/2mIxSqt 10% off code: diysolar -Watts 24/7: Best deals on all-in-one solar power systems, with customer support and distribution here in the USA: watts247.com/?wpam_id=3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact Information: I am NOT available for personal solar system consult! If you wish to contact me, this is my direct email: williamprowsediysolar@gmail.com Join the forum at diysolarforum.com/ if you wish to hang out with myself and others and talk about solar FTC Disclosure Statement and Disclaimers: Every video includes some form of paid promotion or sponsorship. Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. My videos are for educational purposes only. Information is subject to change/update at any time. Electricity is DANGEROUS and can kill. Be smart and use common sense :) DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

As a licensed electrician the video was helpful and straightforward. The only thing I'd be careful about is the use of those butt connectors. Many of them are really used only for automotive and low voltage use. In this application you would need them to be rated for 125v or higher. If it was be using this box I would use yellow or red wirenuts. As a commercial electrician this is a Square D Emergency Relay found in many schools and hospitals in use with lighting circuits with Normal and Emergency Circuits with the relay. The lighting circuit is used to pull in the coil and when that power is dropped out it closes over to the Normally Closed position to feed with the Emergency Lighting Circuit. 👍

Great video Will. Watched you for years and you’re the first channel I searched for install info on the TS-30 switch. Easy peasy!

Perfect video for my ‘question of the day’ as I progress on designing the solar upgrade to my travel trailer. As always, your videos are clear, concise and provide heat examples thanks for the great work, Will.

Once again, I've been looking all over RU-vid to learn this and in just 15 minutes, you've taught me how. Thank You.

You really saved me when it comes to understanding solar. Currently renovating a Winnebago and I’m not sure how far I would be without your help. Truly appreciated, warm thanks.

Wow you are a very clear speaker! No errors in your terminology! Very impressive.

Cool. I bought and installed one of these for my home sump pump system early this spring. Already saved my a$$ this spring. Neighbors were scrambling with buckets and looking for generators after a storm took out the power. I was 1000 miles away, and resting happy as this automatically switched over to my inverted and marine battery array!

Will…I can’t thank you enough for clarifying the converter charger connection at the end of the video. I have been wrestling with the best way to “hot wire” the charger to the transfer switch for 2 weeks and you clarified it in mere moments. Thanks again…for yet another outstanding video!

I have been waiting for this kind of video. This was the missing piece for me to begin thinking about Solar for my RV. Thanks. Oh, congrats on the new place! Oh, I was an electrician on helos in the Navy, Your work looked fine!

Your videos are by far the best for RV solar instruction. We are planning on doing an install of the classic 400 watt system detailed in your book in our year old Coachmen Freedom Express. Thank you for all the info, this would have been scary to do without the info you provide.

the first person to explain this clearly and succinctly. many thanks!

Amazing how doing videos from your house makes you look so happy, clean, and refreshed. Another great video.

I'd been hoping that you'd do an instructional on an ATS! Terrific, and thank you. Also, congrats on the first instructional video from the new place. When I saw your update about getting the house, I was really happy for you.

The first auto transfer switch, I thought of for solar, was the one you had on before, the funny thing is, I had one on the shelf. I hooked it up on 2-24v 750 AH highlow batteries. The dam thing works flawlessly. Even though my inverter is a inverter charger and totally controllable and programmable. I watch the transfer switch the most. I built a high end array, to show for potential sales. I run all shed lights off it, 110 tools even 220 equipment (ie plasma cutter) 200 amp Mig and Tig welder. I can’t use them long due too only having 1500 AH worth of batteries. I should have 4 batteries to run comfortably that would be minimum, at that point I will switch to 48v. Like I have said in the past you make electronics interesting. I tell all my Off Grid costumers to watch your videos and help support you. So they get a understanding of renewable.

Will, what can I say. You are the BEST👍. I am ready to install my TS thanks to you. Been following you from your Rv street days. Remember your video on how to find an industrial park to spend the night😁

You inspired me to install my PV grid tie Solar system, the right way. I used "Solar Design Tool" to help me with the power company and permit paperwork. Work in progress.

Watched more than 10 videos but you went straight into how to seperate inverter power from the cgarge converter. Thanks. Great vid, keep em comin.😊

this is soooo detailed and love your presentation and the way you speak to your audience!

Thank you! I’m just about to install 4-600w of solar to my vintage Airstream and was wondering how to connect everything to my converter, so I appreciate your explanation 👏

What good timing! I was just looking at this model of ATS today for my RV. (Trying to talk my wife into letting me install one of your lithium battery builds.) After watching this I'm going to add the lithium battery charger to my parts list. Thanks!!

Will, got to hand it to ya. Looks like you have enough material for book part two. And congrats on living the dream with your own home. Thanks for your Inspiration. Living in Vegas, the fast lane.

Thank you, Will! I always look forward to learning something new from your videos!

Good stuff Will. Some of us need 50 AMP shore power. I also feel better if the boxes are metal. Thanks for branching out.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is what was missing in all the challenges that I have overcome in my project. I went to an electrical supply store and they wanted to sell me a $350.00 circuit breaker box with a transfer switch. I converted a 26 ft. commercial box truck into a tiny house. I have two 100 Ah Battle Born Batteries and 720 watts of solar panels, 60 amp Outback charge controller. and a Semlex 3000-watt converter., I am totally off-grid. I use a generator at times and want to use the generator as my "shore" power. It looks like this transfer switch would do the trick. You are the best, love your vids, btw, I bought your book.

Always good information Will! I look forward to continuing watching your channel.

This is great. It answers the exact challenge I was facing for my stationary RV setup. Thanks.

I have that same ATS between my inverter and breaker panel in my shipping container. This way when I am charging my batteries the loads are being powered from the generator instead of the inverter. That lets all 60 amps from the charger go to the battery and not be spit with whatever the inverter needs. I ordered a 200 amp Lithium Iron Phosphate battery bank after watching your videos. My Outback Flexmax80 can be configured to charge LIfePO.

Thanks man, very helpful . Planning on adding solar to my 1989 class C and found nobody explaining this but You!

This is extremely helpful for my RV setup, thanks for the detailed walkthrough!

First time watching your channel. Subscribed immediately. You are GOOD! Well done and thank you.

This is WAY easier than running new wire to all the outlets! Appreciate it!!

You are so good, that I can even watch you at 1.5 speed. Nice house by the way :)

I would like to see you do one or more videos specifically on setting up solar for a grid-down situation in a sticks and bricks suburban home, although I believe you've already provided considerable information on RV setups that can be adapted. Thanks, and keep up the great work!

I was wondering if you sell any of your older equipment...I’d be interested in seeing a list of goodies if you do. Your RU-vid channel is by far the BEST on RV solar and RV electronics...we all owe you!

I’m always impressed by your knowledge and skills.

Hey Will.. thank you for all you do! This video is 3 years old, and still valid, but I'm hoping you could do a new version, using a 50 amp switch. I have installed 4x 200 watt panels on my 5th-wheel rig, along with 2 SOK 206aH batteries, and a 3000 watt inverter. I have purchased a 50amp automatic transfer switch, but not confident of the install without a bit of guidance. (and you are one of the few that I trust). Thx !

More videos on rv electrical, rv solar, converters/inverters etc agm battery charge settings (float/charge etc) great video

I'll repeat what deserves to be repeated; I'm pleased that you did an instructional on an ATS. Thank you.

great videos.was watching how to install ts-30,but you should do one showing how to install ts-30 with the automatic transfer switch that's in the power distribution box,like your rv has in this video.your videos are better explained than most.hope you can do one soon.keep up the good work.

This ATS is awesome! It now comes with a clear cover plate over the contactor and it has pre-installed wago 221 wire connectors!

No cringing over here. Pretty clean. Good move not zip tying the hots. I'm glad you covered the R.V. battery charger connection to the shore power circuit. Un-necessary on a solar set-up and more load on the inverter. Many people miss that.

Such an intelligent young man. Stay safe and enjoy your life

Been searching for 2 days for this . thank you.

it not only made dense, it was exactly what i needed, thanks as per usual

Excellent video ,will make my installation a lot easier.They now come with a plastic cover on the switch part so no chance of shorting anything out now

Thanks for the vid! I'm contemplating installing this but this will go a long way to helping me if I do.

Hi Will, Now that you've got space in your new house, maybe a white board so you can do some block diagrams would help? I know that sometimes it's easier for me to draw a simple block diagram to explain in simple terms what I'm trying to get across before I start with the "show and tell". Great vid! I never thought about an ATS in an RV as everything I've seen has had an AC-off-DC switch, but it makes perfect sense. Great vid!

Nice workshop, good lighting and sound. Oh and the video was informative as well, thanks

I think you did a good job and feel there is nothing unsafe . This will help the newbe as well as the fuxit guy like me. I can now hook up that transfer switch to my rig with confidence I have been struggling a little on this one since I am trying to go boondocking application Thanks for your time and efforts. Love you vids. I have learned alot.

We also have a second ats for the inverter with a sub panel, The converter power has a photo eye to disable it during daylight periods and only operates while connected to shore power or during generator operation.

Good job explaining everything, very well done. The only thing I would caution against is using those style crimp butt connectors, they have a tendency to over heat. I would have used the crimp cap style connectors so you have wire to wire contact and you're not depending on the barrel of the butt connector to carry any of the load, the crimp caps barrel is only used for clamping force and does not carry much, if any of the load. It would be interesting to see you do a test between the two different styles of connectors under extreme load. Back when I owned a stereo shop, I would see customers come in with melted 8-4 Gauge butt connectors on their main positive power wires, we would add a proper connector, usually we would install something better than a crimp cap but sometimes that's all that would fit,and they wouldn't have the problem again. This will probably never be an issue but I prefer the better safe than sorry method.

This was fantastic! Thank you so much; I'm learning a lot and appreciate how you cover it. Have you thought about starting a Patreon account?

Hey Will, your video made this install less intimidating now I have all outlets working with my inverter, only one hiccup in your video at the 12:41 mark you mention 2 little screws to connect the charger, those screws hold relay contact legs and should not be touched, instead connect charger and shore power together to same bigger screw. I had to take drill rivets to be able to reattach the contacts and re-secure the ATS to box. my 2cts. love your videos and reviews !!

A few years back my converter box died. Replaced it with a better one and installed the transfer switch at the same time. I was running mainly on solar, and ran generator when needed. It was ok.

Only thing different I'd so would be shrink tubing to help from the wires pulling out of the butt connectors, or use wire nuts but I love how straightforward this is 👍

yea new video. i'm so excited about new place, also cant w8 to see your new solar system .

wow. very informative and explained very clearly in detail. thank you very much for your time.

I'm installing one of these next week. Thanks for the help.

Nice vid! As an electrician I would recommend wire end ferrule for the ground wires. With that upon the threads the threads can't move afterwards anymore.

I'm getting me one of those automatic strippers. I got to use one last month. So nice.

As usual thorough and to the point

Thank you so much for this! I'm confident I can tackle this now.

Another well made educational video! Thanks Will✌️ Making it very clear and easy to understand seems to be your gift.

Thanks for the video it was a lot of help going to hook one up on my houseboat I'm building.

Dude, thank you so much. I had the exact question about the inverter connection.

Hi Will, big fan. Where does the converter/charger fit with this set up? I thought that my 30A shore line comes into the converter/ charger first. Thanks, enjoy Vegas

Very useful Will because I am adding an inverter and a new converter/charger for Lifepo4 battery to my trailer. Its a little confusing though for people that don't know how these things work. In your example you use cord with a male plug pigtail to representing the incoming shore power. Of course it would never look like that. The shore power cable would lead to a female socket on the side of the trailer. I hope your viewers weren't looking for a male plug end somwhere!

Its weird to see you in a house Will! 😯 lol

Hey Will love your videos and the information you present…. One question I see you use a combination of circuit breakers and fuses, why not just use circuit breakers for everything? With breakers you can always open up any part of the circuit for isolation or maintenance. Keep those videos coming…..

Excellent video you g man. Thanks.

Humm very nice your power big tank boxes. Good night. thanks for video.

Easy install, we are going to have to get one for our solar power system.

Nice video. Helpful info.

Great info! Thanks! Just a question. I’m looking at being able to expand. I’m new at this solar thing and was interested in installing an ATS first. My current set up is shore power cord and then a 30 amp EMS surge protector then my distribution panel. My question is can I install an ATS somewhere in line? Thanks!

Thank you this was on point I reccomend you to all my newbee solar ppl

Thanks I think I may need to learn this !

Will, may I ask a question the answer to which I've not been able to find? In the typical RV solar setup, I understand how to route in generator power, shore power, and solar power. But how - where - do I route in vehicle alternator power?

very informative thanks for the tips

Just watched your .2c discharge testing vid. Love the tools you used for gathering info. Thanks for the time it took to make that vid.. Question. Have you done anything on saltwater electrolyte batteries? Just curious. Lots of vids to catch up on. If you have, I will spend the time looking through your vids. Thanks. Keep up the great work.

I dig you channel, thank you!!

I just received my Go-Power T30 transfer switch (July 2022). They now come with a green plastic guard over the switch. The guard is great but it doesn't allow for the last segment of your video. There is no way to get the converter/charger connection to the small screw that you suggested. Besides, I think that screw is only intended to hold that connector to the terminal. I'd not recommend using that screw anyway because it's too small to make a decent contact. I just stacked my 2 connectors on that one, larger, screw and utilized the same slot in the green plastic guard. BTW...... I really enjoy your teaching style and recommend your videos to others.

The wiring diagram in the manual for that unit shows the inverter wires going to the lower wires not the middle ones. And the shore power cables wired to the middle wires

Great, more rv stuff, thanks

Will is a gangster. Nice tutorial man

Great video!!!

Perhaps another option, you can see where your shore power enters your RV, and splice it in there. Many newer converters have DC filters built in, so you don't have to disable anything on the DC side, and they auto charge the house battery with filtered power. I installed a shut off switch from my batteries to the DC side so I didn't have to disconnect battery cables each time I worked with my house battery. That actually might be a good option when going from a battery to an MPPT and doing hookup, so you don't have to remove the battery cable each time. Regardless, when I shut off the battery switch, I still have power to my DC side. When I shut off both...nothing. I did upgrade my converter and magnatek inverter or whatever it's called (changes 110 to 12V or vice versa not really sure). Regardless, mine seems to be combined through the AC side of the converter. My DC side has wires that run directly from a bus bar in the battery area to the DC side of my converter. Before, when I would shut off the DC side, I had nothing and the battery wasn't being charged either. Seemed defected. Based upon the idea that my new converter is "clean power," I believe I feel safe simply installing this device after the AC dongle, before the junction box, allowing the AC out to provide power to the AC panel, and the DC side to continue what its doing without disconnecting or modification. Reality is, the inverter is a pure sine which is supposed to be clean as well. So the power supplied to the DC side from the inverter, should be able to run through the AC to the DC, charge the house battery, and not have to be disconnected.

I need to add one of these but also figure out how to have the AC only run when on shore power. I guess I could add a small circuit breaker box before the transfer switch and have the AC connect there and remove it from the RV distribution circuit breaker. I might also connect the Electric Water heater there as well.

Hey Will. Question: What is the difference between using an automatic transfer switch to connect solar to my travel trailer VS. running a plug from my inverter and connecting a wall-30a adapter and just plugging in my rv?

Nice video thank you!!

Will your instruction are thorough and informative, thank you. Im trying figure this out myself. Have a camper with a Renogy dcc50s 12v dc-dc (no solar at this time) running from vehicle battery to house battery and 2000w inverter (with no transfer) going to house batteries and no charge converter. I'm wanting to keep the equipment I currently have and add 30amp shore power. I'm not sure if I should wire up shore power to transfer switch and then hard wire into inverter or add a 30 fuse panel. I'm really not sure what direction to go and would like to get shore power going soon. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks I tried using the forum and no luck yet.

Great video, thank you. What if you have a 50 amp coach and need to use a 50 amp transfer switch and your inverter output does not have 2 hot legs like the 50 amp does?

Man I love your videos. I'm looking to do a complete off grid setup on my camper. I want to use the battery bank to run the RV through the outlets, I want to still have the ability to run shore power when available and I will be adding solar later but charging with generator for now. Do you have a video that has a build like this?

Today is my lucky day! I've been looking everywhere for help with this and I bought that same transfer switch! Thanks Will!

Great job!!!

I have built a similar device but mine has a physically coupled extra set of contacts to disconnect the battery from the battery charger. This prevents small trickle back losses from the battery into the charger. Not a big loss but every bit saved can help.

You should do a video hooking up ECOFlow Delta pro with a transfer switch.

Will, been following your channel. I got a Thor Sanctuary 19P and a Anker 767 Powerhouse and can't get it to power the RV. Both the engineers at Thor and Anker blame each other and each has suggested to use a neutral ground plug (which I tried to). I think the problem is with my Southwire 41301 Automatic Transfer Switch(ATS) with Reverse Polarity, when I hook up the Anker 767 to it (no grounding plug) it shuts off) and I get a reverse polarity fault on the ATS and display, faulty power. Thor said it's Anker outpower is not wired right and I tested it with Anker engineered with an outlet tested and it passed. I believe it is the ATS that is blocking it since it is not sensing a ground. I can power everything else through the Anker but it won't transfer any power to the RV. I tried 30a, 15a, 12a. I talked to an engineer at Mastervolt (that is the type of battery system) and he suggest lowering the amps to 2 or 3 amps to a slow charge. Any help from any would be appreciated. Anker states it should charge an RV but I can't get it to work.

The location where my shore power comes in is several feet from my converter box on the opposite side. Do I have how to install the automatic transfer switch as close to the converter box as possible? Or can I install it closer to where the shore power comes in?

I'm putting the ATS to switch between generator and shore power. The output of the ATS goes to an EMS (elaborate surge protector) and the EMS output goes to the Victron Charger/Inverter, which drives the distribution panel. Didn't expect to find your ATS switching between the inverter and the shore power.