Solar- Connections- Battery (Please Make It Simple, Thanks)

Cheaha

As a old dirt / backpacker camper learning about rubber tire camping I need simple info I can understand.
We have a 2019 5x8 Tag and most of our camping is dry camping. I have a Rock Pal 100 watt solar folding panel and solar battery / generator. I am wanting a simple plug and play setup for the solar panel to feed the on board battery Looking to upgrade to a AGM battery or a better suggestion. ( Lithium is too expensive for us) I am having a connection port installed on the Tag. Looking for some input on running the solar panel to the solar port, a mounted weatherproof controller and then to the battery. Looking for some simple feedback and component brand recommendations for my simple mind.

Sharon_is_SAM

AGM makes for low maintenance, faster charging and a higher discharge capacity compared to regular lead acid. I would suggest the Renogy Voyager PWM 20 amp controller- weatherproof. You can mount it to the top of the battery box using some heavy duty Dual Lock velcro. You will need x 2 - 20-30 feet of a flexible marine grade cable plus some extra for pigtails that come off the installed port to connect to the panel outlets of the controller and for the length from the controller to the battery. You will need to fuse the positive battery lead and I think the positive panel lead. I recommend the pigtails because the connections for the controller are not ideal. We used MC4 connections between pigtails and extensions. Renogy was very easy to work with.

JamesDow

Solar panel - Solar charge controller - Battery.

Everything in between are just connectors.

Why a second connection port. Could jave just gotten an adapter connector.

I have all Renogy products. Solar suitcase with charge controller plugs into the existing solar SAE plug already on my 2018 T@G. Had to buy one adapter and reverse the wires from the SAE port to the battery.

Would always suggest getting a charge controller which can accommodate an update or another solar panel in the future. Suggest 20amp vs 10 amp controller. I have a 20amp Voyager which is waterproof. Renogy currently has a sale running through March 30th 2021.

The distance between solar panel and battery can be an issue and require a lower gage wire. Keep distance to say 15 feet and you should have little issues with most extension products on the market.

As for charge controllers the Voyager is a PWM type. PWM is not as good as MPPT, but it is more cost effective. I would suggest going with a PWM type controller for the cost.

Keep in mind that most systems needs to be hooked up to a battery to properly work.

Solar is not complicated. The need for an expert is not required. Research on this forum and on the web. Most all of your questions and answers are there.

Good luck.

beaky

many portable solar panels have the charge controller on the back, for small watt setups you really have to go with a PWM

Cheaha

Very helpful information for this newbie. Big time thanks!

Fourman110

I made a home-made solar suitcase and provided a little writeup here: https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/1082/my-homemade-solar-suitcase. While you have your own panel and don't need the solar suitcase instructions, it shows where I put the controller. I picked a Renogy Voyager waterproof controller that I mounted into the tongue box. As it was in the tongue box, I really wanted it to be waterproof. Also, I like having disconnects, so put a cut-off switch between the controller and battery.

Wiring wise it's simple. Run the red and black wires to the controller, then run red and black wires from controller to battery. Again in my case I put a cutoff switch between the controller and battery (again just one red and one black wire. In my old setup, I had a two wired plug that went directly into the controller and I looped that wire behind the tub. In my new setup I added a connector to the tub with wires then leading to the controller (see the pictures in my writeup).

If you're using solar, you really need to keep in mind how much power you consume. Based on how much you consume, you need the right size solar panel to provide enough juice to charge the right size battery to hold enough juice to meet your needs. For me, I went with two 6V golf cart batteries wired in series, making it a 12 V installation. This type of battery is designed to be charged and discharged a lot more cycles than many other batteries (can't speak to AGM).