For a solar power installation in a van/RV, should the negative terminal of the house battery —the battery that is charged by the solar panel and used to power devices and appliances whether or not the vehicle engine is running— be grounded to the vehicle chassis? If there are multiple batteries (connected in parallel for a 12V system), should each battery be grounded to the vehicle chassis, or should only one (or none) of the batteries be grounded to the vehicle chassis? System capacity is fairly high, with inverters capable of putting out up to 300A @12VDC. There will be a connection to the house batteries from the vehicle alternator/batteries to allow them to be charged from that power source.
Electrical – Grounding house battery to vehicle chassis
12vbatteriesdcgrounding
Best Answer
possibly something like this.
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
the battery interconnection forms a diamond shape so that each battery sees the same load and charge voltage, the system is grounded so that the alternator can charge the batteries and so that low power 12V loads can use the chassis as return. a switch is fitted so that discharging of the engine battery can be prevented.