Portable Solar Panel

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

...We've seen over 110 watts many times in Feb/March in Arizona with a max of 119 watts. I doubt you'll ever see that kind of production with the controller mounted to the panel (the lower the voltage the higher the line loss).
Perry

Well, I didn't realize it was a competition but, okay. Our 10amp PWM controller does just fine. Usually pulls in 9+amps on a sunny day so I believe that equates to a 100+ watts.

I did wire in a controller by-pass so I can plug into the Zamp port if needed.

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Would the Renogy panel with their controller connected to the battery work fine or would it be best get the Renogy panel without the controller and wire through a separate Victron then to the battery?

Best practice is to have the panel deliver the juice to the camper before it hits the controller to keep the volts up and the losses minimal. So buy the panel alone and install a controller in your camper, as close to the battery as possible to reduce your line loss.

Remember, a “Zamp” solar port is color coded backwards. I just reversed the wires rather than need to make sure your reverser is still connected to the cable.

Enjoy,

Perry

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

Best practice is to have the panel deliver the juice to the camper before it hits the controller to keep the volts up and the losses minimal. So buy the panel alone and install a controller in your camper, as close to the battery as possible to reduce your line loss.

Remember, a “Zamp” solar port is color coded backwards. I just reversed the wires rather than need to make sure your reverser is still connected to the cable.

Enjoy,

Perry

Thanks Perry!

[Sean Murry]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Perry and SRS,

Would the Renogy panel with their controller connected to the battery work fine or would it be best get the Renogy panel without the controller and wire through a separate Victron then to the battery?

Not sure if it is still the same today, but the controller that came with the portable Renogy panels in the past were not water proof. Bit of a pain if you plan on leaving your panels out in the rain. Another reason to get them without the controller and plug them into a separate controller.

[Sean Murry]

Originally Posted by SRS

If you're adding a portable solar panel consider what your adding it for. If you're going to use it to supplement you roof solar when parked in shade, you'll be better off using a separate controller on the portable and wire your zamp port directly to the batteries. If your batteries are easily accessible you can just use clips directly on the batteries. If you set it up the portable to share the roof solar controller (parallel connection) and one of the panels is in shade, it will degrade the output of all the panels. How do I know this? My trailer came with the zamp port wired directly to batteries so I decided to do a test. I rewired the zamp port to go through the Victron controller and and covered most of the 190W roof panel. My 100W Renogy produced very little power. Got a separate controller for the Renogy and rewired the zamp port back to feeding the batteries directly. With the roof solar covered, the Renogy panel produced lots of power. If you have lithium batteries as I do, make sure the controller you use supports lithium charging. The one WillyB is looking at does. It's the same one I have, same panel as well.

Good point about some of the panels being in the shade and sharing the same controller. I have decided to have my solar panels operate independantly of the onboard controller. Our trailer is often in the shade so would compromise the effectiveness of the portable panels

[WillyB]

I ordered the Renogy 100 W Foldable Panel with the controller. They say the controller is waterproof.

I'm going to wire an SAE plug through the battery vents at the rear of our 21C.

Where we park our camper on our daughters property it is in the shade so this will help with power, especially in cold weather with the heater running at night.

Hopefully this will turn out to be a good product to have.

[Sunnyone]

Originally Posted by WillyB

I'm going to wire an SAE plug through the battery vents at the rear of our 21C.

I also have the 100W Renogy suitcase with controller, and would like to be able to plug into the battery rather than use the alligator clips. Could you share how to do that? I’m not sure what plugs and/or adapters i would need.

[SRS]

Originally Posted by Sunnyone

I also have the 100W Renogy suitcase with controller, and would like to be able to plug into the battery rather than use the alligator clips. Could you share how to do that? I’m not sure what plugs and/or adapters i would need.

Below is an link to the SAE connector WillyB is talking about. On Escapes, it's mounted on the outside of the fiberglass shell. Depending on your situation, you could just add ring connectors and connect directly to the battery posts without drilling a hole in the shell. IMO it's more convenient to have the connector available from outside the trailer.
https://www.amazon.com/ELECTOP-Conne...24&sr=8-5&th=1
Another option for an exterior SAE port is this link. Zamp ports are also available. Don't go with a wire size smaller than 10AWG.
https://www.amazon.com/Xaugiry-Weath...44&sr=8-3&th=1

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by Sunnyone

I also have the 100W Renogy suitcase with controller, and would like to be able to plug into the battery rather than use the alligator clips. Could you share how to do that? I’m not sure what plugs and/or adapters i would need.

The GoPower we have came with Anderson plug connectors. I attached the 3ft pigtail to the battery bank, so when I need to connect, all I have to do is open my rear hatch and connect. May not be the best option for bugs and critters, but we haven't had any issues. At night, we unplug and button up the hatch until the next day. Easy peasy.

[Bayner]

I also have the Renogy 100W suitcase panel and it's been great. I have no complaints. It has good output for it's size, especially if you keep it well oriented during the day. Mine is wired through the factory solar controller (along with the rooftop panel).

[thoer]

Originally Posted by Bayner

I also have the Renogy 100W suitcase panel and it's been great. I have no complaints. It has good output for it's size, especially if you keep it well oriented during the day. Mine is wired through the factory solar controller (along with the rooftop panel).

Same here.

I know that on a full solar exposure days, that I would get more charge to the batteries with separate controllers since the panels are not identical sizes. But on full sun days I don't bother with pluging in the Renogy as we get plenty of charge with the rooftop alone. I use the Renogy when the rooftop is mostly shaded. I used trolling motor connectors as they are more designed for repeated usage.

[marsman]

Dank,

I know that the solar generators carry a small premium on price compared to upgrading the trailers power system, I eventually plan on doing so but for now I want to get my use out of the AGM batteries and controller that Escape installed; I paid for this system and so want to get some use out of it.

In the meantime Bluetti and Ecoflow have some really good Black Friday deals right now; example, Bluetti AC200 Max with 350 watt Bluetti folding solar panel for $3000 Cdn, all in delivered to my door. That's a 2048 wh system ( comparable to 170 amp hour battery at 12v) plus panels. Two 100 amp hour Battleborn batteries alone will currently cost me $2901 Cdn without any solar panels, controllers etc. The bonus is I have a generator for my cottage in the summer which experiences many outages and when I ever sell my trailer I get to keep that whole part of the solar system.

Alas, my question - I know that when plugging into a Honda generator there's an issue with the trailers power management system and the ground which you have to buy a part for. Does anyone know of a similar issue plugging into a solar generator? The one I'm considering has a 30amp RV style plugin. Thanks for the help

[Hawkeye Ed]

Do portable panels need their own separate controller? Here's some information.

Short answer:
If portable panels (in full sun) and rooftop panels (fully or partially shaded) have the same or similar Voc (open circuit voltage) and are connected in parallel to the same controller's input, the portable panel(s) in full sun will keep outputting at their full capacity. This is the advice I was given by Zamp, the manufacturer of both my roof and portable panels whose Voc varies by only about 1/2 volt. Folks who prefer a belt and suspenders approach could always put a switch in the connection between the roof panels and controller to disconnect the roof panels when they are in the shade.

Long Answer and Discussion:
Shading Solar Panels – Series Or Parallel?
Clever Solar Power - Solar Power Made Easy
https://cleversolarpower.com/shading-solar-panels/

[WillyB]

We are not heavy electric consumers except when running the furnace in cold weather.

I purchased the Renogy 100 watt with the controller to use when camping in the shade where my rooftop factory GoPower 190 watt panel is hiding. The Renogy will be connector to the battery and not the factory Victron controller.

Hopefully having the separate controllers won't be problematic for us. Electricity is not a concept well understood by me.

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by Sunnyone

I also have the 100W Renogy suitcase with controller, and would like to be able to plug into the battery rather than use the alligator clips. Could you share how to do that? I’m not sure what plugs and/or adapters i would need.

My thought it to use this. I'm sure I'll need to space it to fit through the little battery vent slots or maybe even remove some of the little fins on the vent.

https://www.amazon.com/Billion-wealt...25&sr=1-5&th=1

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by WillyB

My thought it to use this. I'm sure I'll need to space it to fit through the little battery vent slots or maybe even remove some of the little fins on the vent.

https://www.amazon.com/Billion-wealt...25&sr=1-5&th=1

If your portable has it's own controller have you thought about just using your trailers 7-pin connector? This would keep you from having to find a way into the trailer for the wiring or adding a solar port. GoPower makes one with an Anderson style connector and others have made their own to accommodate other connectors like MC4.

https://www.amazon.com/Go-Power-GP-P.../dp/B018TGBEHE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LONcDJpJYdA

[SRS]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

If your portable has it's own controller have you thought about just using your trailers 7-pin connector? This would keep you from having to find a way into the trailer for the wiring or adding a solar port. GoPower makes one with an Anderson style connector and others have made their own to accommodate other connectors like MC4.

https://www.amazon.com/Go-Power-GP-P.../dp/B018TGBEHE

Thanks for sharing Rubicon. Based on that video you could make all kinds of adapters. You could use it to make a 7 pin adapter to almost any connection type. Zamp, SAE, Anderson powerpole etc. Not sure I'd make one with an MC4 as he did. Sometimes there a little hard to separate particularly with old fingers or when it's cold.
How would that work if you have a DC-DC charge controller on that same line?

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by SRS

How would that work if you have a DC-DC charge controller on that same line?

Good question. I do not know how a solar controller in series with a DC-DC charger would behave.

[John in Santa Cruz]

the solar controller needs to see the battery voltage, which will be blocked if there's a DC-DC in between.

I put a trolling motor jack on the rear side of my E21 near the batteries, its wired directly to my battery with a 40A fuse and AWG8 wire. My Solar Suitcase has the onboard controller, but I cut off its battery clips and put on an Andersen PP15 connector, and I have a pigtail with the trolling motor plug and a PP45 (45 because its used for other things too). so I can plug the solar panel into this pigtail and plug that into the trailer, and directly charge the batteries if need be. I chose the Trolling motor jack and plug because I'd been led to believe they were waterproof... the socket is if either the cover is closed, or the plug is in place, but not otherwise, oh well. https://www.amazon.com/Power-2000-40.../dp/B002IVEFD2

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

If your portable has it's own controller have you thought about just using your trailers 7-pin connector? This would keep you from having to find a way into the trailer for the wiring or adding a solar port. GoPower makes one with an Anderson style connector and others have made their own to accommodate other connectors like MC4.

https://www.amazon.com/Go-Power-GP-P.../dp/B018TGBEHE

What a fantastic idea!

I'll be ordering this setup but with SAE extensions. As someone said my fingers are not what the where when I was 12.