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Comments
T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
I will weigh in on the solar debate only to say that if you have permanent solar, be sure you are doing it for the right reasons. We added 200 watts of solar so that we could charge our batteries up between overnight dry camping on our drives up the coast from San Diego to Washington. We don't have an AC and rely heavily on our fantastic fan to provide enough cool air at night to sleep. That and running our fridge on 12V will deplete the battery pretty good. So, it's imperative that we have a fully charged battery when we get to our destination each night. This system works better in the summer than it does in the winter, even in the South West. On our reason trip to Tabazona driving the I-10 with clear sky's we were only able to generate about 350 watts of power compared to 850 watts during the summer sun angle.
When we camped at Joshua Tree after Thanksgiving we were unable to park for optimal sun and needed our 60 watt portable to help generate what we needed. Temps we're cool enough overnight that we didn't need to run the fan so we managed with less power.
We also, added 200AH of 12volt AGM batteries and 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter which allows for some flexibility in power usage.
2018 T@B Max S silver and black (aka TadT@B), Full-timing since July 2017
The things that don’t look quite right:
1. It’s mid morning with a clear blue sky and bright sun and the daytime/nighttime indicator shows nighttime. (That is all I’ve ever seen it show)
2. There are 18 different load working mode settings. When I bought it, it was set to 16 or ‘Debugging mode’. I’ve tried ‘17’ (Normal on mode) and ‘0’ (Pure light control mode) with no changes to the other indicators.
There is is an indicator that shows charging current from the panel to the battery, but I’ve never seen any current flowing. I do see current flowing on the output/consumption side.
Any thoughts are welcome. Thank you!
Greg
I do have the manual, and as mentioned above - it does a good job of defining what controls do and what a screen icon means, but doesn’t really go into how to operate it.
I have been giving the battery a good charge each evening from our generator. Currently at the end of the day we’re at 12.3.
Thanks for the comment.
It's the bane of all trailer batteries, flooded, agm, gel.... no matter the size. Sorta like a broken bone - they all take a minimum of 8-10 weeks to heal.
It's great that you are not going under 12.3V by morning! That shows how well you are currently using the juice you have.
This was just an FYI. Perhaps once a month, you can flip the battery off switch and just put a regular old battery charger on the thing to top it off. Doesn't matter if the solar is hooked up. The solar charger defers to the regular battery charger or converter.
Got out a volt meter and sure enough that was the case. Evidently about a foot from the the entry point on the roof, the black external wires connect to the internal pos/neg wires and they were connected backwards. (Hey you have a 50/50 chance right?) I could remove the roof fitting or remove the AC unit to gain access to the wiring for a permanent fix, but for now I just reversed them at the controller. (White to positive, red to negative)
The good news is, no damage to the controller and I’m getting a great charge in the direct sun.
Custom Colors & Custom Interior
We've slept in 34 states, 2 countries & counting
Custom Colors & Custom Interior
We've slept in 34 states, 2 countries & counting
"Fortunately, most modern panels have overcome this problem with devices called bypass diodes. Panels equipped with these devices experience fewer negative effects of solar panels in shaded areas and allow electricity to “flow around” any solar cells currently in the shade.
Thanks to this updated technology, the amount of shade eclipsing the solar panel is now directly proportional to the amount of energy production the solar panel loses. For example, if 20% of the panel is shaded at a certain time of day, the panel products 20% less energy than when it’s in full sun. This is obviously not the most ideal situation, but it’s certainly better than reducing production by almost 100%, a flaw old panels once experienced."
Custom Colors & Custom Interior
We've slept in 34 states, 2 countries & counting
I am thinking, seriously, of mounting a couple of Renogy 160w panels, next year and setting up the wiring so that I couple have a third out in full sun, if necessary.
In addition to shade inhibiting solar, you end up with a lot of sap on your trailer. But, a little shade goes a long way to keep your trailer cool.
2021 T@b 320 Boondock "Mattie Ross" | 2021 T@b Nights: 239 | Total nights in a T@b 455 | 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland | T@b owner since 2014
Richmond, MI
2019 T@B 320 S
Two Sunpower flexible panels - each panel had same number of cells. So characteristics likely close for the parallel confit - 100 or 110 watt plus a 50 watt. They are notched and together fit across center top of trailer.
#10 AWG wiring from External PV socket to PWM HP-2440-B (Bluetooth) controller. App did work on iOS.
Battery connection also #10, but I haven’t traced it and it could very well tap in on thicker cable. But my hope are not high.
The load-side was unconnected. Some efficiency could be gained by perhaps building 12V output for a lion/numb battery charger or fan direct off solar.
Basically a very low amps system except for the controller itself. 8.7 amps design or so.
No visible inline fuses. Will keep exploring.
Draco dormiens numquam titilandus.
A consistent charge of 8.7 amps for 8 hrs should be enough to keep the average moderate power user topped off.
2021 T@b 320 Boondock "Mattie Ross" | 2021 T@b Nights: 239 | Total nights in a T@b 455 | 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland | T@b owner since 2014
What I would like to do is to have both the rooftop panels and a portable panel that could be placed in the sun when the trailer is in shade. It appears that this can be done using two separate charge controllers. There are charge controllers that accomplish this via a communication buss (network) between controllers. On the other hand I have seen a video from one solar retailer which simply parallels two like controllers, I believe they were the MPPT variety, which did provide current to the battery which was approximately the sum of the currents of the two dissimilar solar arrays.
Has anyone tried this?
2021 T@b 320 Boondock "Mattie Ross" | 2021 T@b Nights: 239 | Total nights in a T@b 455 | 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland | T@b owner since 2014
Most solar panels have one positive and one negative input. So, you cannot just add them to the controller.
You can combine like panels with branch connectors and run those panels in parallel as long as the combined wattage does not exceed the max watt input of the controller. You would need to add MC4 connectors to the factory solar to do that, however. You could run into other issues if you do this, such as poor efficiency if some of cells are shaded, but that will depend on the panels and the charge controller.
You can also run them in series and in this case the voltage is additive, not the watts. So, if you had 2 like panels that were each 12v, and ran them in series you would be sending 24v to the controller. Some controllers can convert down to 12v, some cannot. Most Victron controllers can handle 24v ,for example. However, you would want to get a panel that is as much like the factory panel as your portable panel, as possible.
In both the case of series and parallel, you would likely need a long extension cable to get the portable array in the sun, again, introducing a loss in efficiency.
Personally, unless you will camp in the shade for 5 days, I think a larger battery capacity is generally a better way to go than adding the separate solar. Another thing you can do is a use a spare battery (I use a Goal Zero Yeto 1000) to top off the battery or a generator if you will not be in sun.
I have rarely been at a site that was not in sun, at least part of the day.
2021 T@b 320 Boondock "Mattie Ross" | 2021 T@b Nights: 239 | Total nights in a T@b 455 | 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland | T@b owner since 2014