TAB 360 Solar is Weak

I've been tracking down my solar situation as it deals with the recall of Sunflare panels. I think I am caught up in that and am waiting for approval of my claim.

I've been researching a possible upgrade of my panels when I have them replaced. In my research, I have come to some conclusions, and I am curious of others agree with what my conclusions.

1) the configuration of long thin panels from front to back is cool looking, but not a good pattern for real life. The only time that the rear-facing panels get good exposure is either in the morning when the rear of the camper if faced east or in the evening when it is facing west. During morning and evening, the rooftop doesn't get good exposure. Good exposure on the roof starts around midday. At midday the rear portion of the panels are operating sub optimally and averaging the roof panels down.
2) The panels are wired in series. This can be good in optimal situations, but when a part of any panel is shaded, then all the panels behind them have their amperage reduced to the lower number of the shady area. This is somewhat offset by the increase in voltage of being in series, but there are some complexities that make this tradeoff problematic. If you had more individual panels wired in parallel or seres/parallel, this problem would be reduced. 
3) The panels installed don't seem to have bypass diodes. The purpose of bypass diodes is to reduce the effect of shade on panels wired in series.  These would reduce the impact of everything above.

It would be much better to have the two long-thin panels made into four panels. There should be two wired in series on the roof and two on the rear wired separately in series. Those two series-pairs should be then wired to the controller in parallel. 

The battery is insanely inaccessible. In order to access it you will need to remove the entire belly pan. To remove the belly pan you will need to remove all four jacks AND the axle. YES. The belly pan is above the axle and the mounts for the jacks. Otherwise you could cut a hole in the plastic and then somehow close it back up.

There isn't an LCD display in the camper to tell you what is happening with the battery and solar. You are required to look at your phone to see the status. I don't want to look at my phone when I am camping. I'd also like to add a Victron MPPT Control Display. 

I am afraid that with what I have, I won't be able to power my refrigerator with solar, particularly if I'm not in full sun. I'm looking at replacing the current panels  Many of the panels are about 40"- 45", so we can fit two of those on each side as well as squeezing a 50 or 100 watt panel between the back window and roof vent. I've been trying to find panels with bypass diodes that will fit to the left or right of the rear window and roof vent. We've got about 22 inches to the left and right of the window (actually exactly 24.5, but I wouldn't want to go all the way to the edge) and I can't find high-end panels that will fit in that width. I haven't seen any that will fit in that width that also have bypass diodes. 



  
T@B 360 Black Canyon, 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee V6, Maryland
(previous 2018, T@B 320 Outback)

Comments

  • elbolillo
    elbolillo Member Posts: 560
    In the long run you would be better off investing in a portable suitcase panel to help keep your battery topped off. An external port connected to its own MPPT charger would allow you to have an external panel that can be positioned for optimal solar charging.

    As for having to look at your phone, I really don't see that as an issue. 

    _____________________________________________________
    Ken / 2023 Tab 400 “La Bolita” (39,000+ miles) / 2024 Toyota Sequoia

  • Sharon_is_SAM
    Sharon_is_SAM Member Posts: 10,061
    I guess I’m  kind of surprised that more owners have not mounted regular solar panels.  They’re probably a risk with hail, but it seems like the output would be better than the flexible panels.
    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
  • donmontalvo
    donmontalvo Member Posts: 187
    edited August 2025
    I have come to terms with the challenges of curved solar panels. My 2024 320S BBC has 2x190W panels on its curved roof. My 100W flat portable panel kicks it's @$$ on sunny days. The 2x190W have the edge over my 100W flat panel on cloudy days.

     Can't fight the curve. ;)
    Don Montalvo | Retired Veteran | Full time boondocker
    Camper: nuCamp T@B 320S BBC | 12V 2x100Ah LiFePO4 | 600W Solar
    Tow Vehicle: Jeep JLU Rubicon | 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 | 200W Solar
    https://revkit.com/donmontalvo/ | https://donmontalvo.com
  • jkjenn
    jkjenn Member Posts: 6,423
    I have been pretty happy with the rooftop solar.

    Last week, in hot weather, I left camper battery on with the fridge running and ran the fan (MaxxAir) on the lowest speed while I was at home for the week. The solar really did a nice job, even with a day of pretty much heavy cloud cover and I had plenty of battery left when I hit the road yesterday. I thought I would need to plug in because I knew the compressor would run a bit more with the camper nose facing due south and hotter weather.

    I don't expect a max solar yield all day because of the curve, but I also get solar longer because they are not on only one side of the camper. 

    Late last summer, even at late day, (almost 5:00 PM) I was pulling in over 200w.

    I am a heavy power user (due to remote work) when I camp so I also use a portable setup that allows me to track with the sun and supplement. 


    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

  • tphaggerty
    tphaggerty Member Posts: 79
    I have 2 renogy flexible 175w panels on my 400. They go across the roof, not down. One on the front, one on back. In series. I have never seen 350w of production, but have seen close to 300 when driving with the sun overhead. 

    The renogy panels have blocking diodes and definitely work when only one panel has sun. I also use a 100w portable panel sometimes. My goal is not to fully replenish the batteries every day, but to extend the time my 300ah of lifepo batteries run to meet my time at the campsite with maybe a day to spare without having to ration my use. Seems to work out. I think the key is having enough battery capacity. 

    2019 Honda Ridgeline RTL TV
    2018 T@B 400, 300Ah Renogy LiFePo batteries, 350W Renogy rooftop solar
    Poughquag, NY
  • ginsbuj
    ginsbuj Member Posts: 54
    360 parked in total shade for four days. Frig stayed cold and my batteries still at a quarter charge. I added a second 100 Battleborn just so the frig didn't deplete the juice. So far this 360 is working flawlessly. Love new camp
    TAB 360 Black Canyon
  • Trailpixie
    Trailpixie Member Posts: 191
    So it sounds like the TAB 360 isn't self-sustaining with its solar panels and refrigerator while boondocking. It may ran two or four days, but depending on the heat and sun and other energy use, you will run out if you only have on-board solar. 

    For me, spending lots of time in partial shade, I am definitely out of luck. With my TAB 320 and top-mounted parallel wired solar, I seemed to do better. 
    T@B 360 Black Canyon, 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee V6, Maryland
    (previous 2018, T@B 320 Outback)
  • jkjenn
    jkjenn Member Posts: 6,423
    So it sounds like the TAB 360 isn't self-sustaining with its solar panels and refrigerator while boondocking. It may ran two or four days, but depending on the heat and sun and other energy use, you will run out if you only have on-board solar. 

    For me, spending lots of time in partial shade, I am definitely out of luck. With my TAB 320 and top-mounted parallel wired solar, I seemed to do better. 
    My fridge ran on battery for a week while sitting at home recently in full hot sun. With partial shade at Yellowstine last year. I spent a long weekend and had plenty of battery left, too. 

    I am wondering if you are leaving your inverter on all of the time and that is leading to faster battery drain?

    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

  • bobctwin
    bobctwin Member Posts: 14
    edited June 12

    Like the 2025+ TAB 360 Black Canyon, the 2024+ Tab 320-S Black Canyon is equipped with dual 190W panels. Note that the geometry has significant shadowing front slope to back slope during the course of the day.

    @Trailpixie summed up the issue for his TAB 360 Black Canyon. The long series connected panels have too much shadowing. Given the 360's star gazing windows, his 4 panel solution with the forward slope panels in series, the rear slope panels in series (to result in a higher Open Circuit Voltage for improved MPPT efficiency) and the two sets in parallel (to remove front to back shadowing), would be a big improvement.

    A solution for the TAB 320-S would be two 200W panels, one on the front slope and one on the rear slope and wired in parallel.

    These long panels are part of a poor solar design that cannot keep up with the load of the DC frig and the fan on low even on sunny days as outlined in:

    2024 TAB 320-S Black Canyon Factory Solar: Best Yield and Configuration?

  • SavvyNurseCamper
    SavvyNurseCamper Member Posts: 44

    So I have a 2025 Tab 400 Black Canyon Boondock with 620 watts of solar. Was running only the refrigerator and had been instructed by the tech when I picked up the trailer to always turn on the inverter. In three days I ran the battery down with full sunshine. Granted the inverter was on not powering anything but idling. It took two days for the refrigerator to get down to 32 degrees !!! I even put frozen ice cube tray in the freezer to help it get to temp sooner. I dropped it off at Blue Compas RV in Henderson Nevada and really have not heard back from them since May the 29th when they were waiting on NuCamp to allow warranty work to be completed. Today is June 13th and still have not heard from them!!😥

    TV- Tundra Hybrid 2025, Tab 400 Boondock with Black Canyon 400 amp battery and 620 watt solar.

  • Marceline
    Marceline Member Posts: 1,756

    Was running only the refrigerator and had been instructed by the tech when I picked up the trailer to always turn on the inverter. 

    Sorry, you were given bad advice. The inverter consumes a fair amount of power even when you're not running a device off it. When you're not plugged into to shore power, you should be sure to keep the inverter off except when you actually need it to power a device.

    Do you have the VictronConnect app on your phone? It's the best way to monitory what's going on with your solar power. If you do a lot of off-the-grid camping, I also recommend that you install the Victron SmartShunt if your trailer didn't come with it already installed. If you take some time to learn how to read the app it will save you a lot of power headaches later.

    As for the fridge, I recommend cooling it down from ambient temperature to 40 degrees (not sure why you were aiming for 32) while on shore power. Especially when the ambient temp is very high, that initial cool down can require a fair amount of power. I don't have a way to plug my camper into shore power before a trip, so I actually throw a small chunk (<1 pound) of dry ice in the fridge to cool it down.

    San Francisco Bay Area
    2013 CS-S us@gi
    2015 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner Double Cab
  • ginsbuj
    ginsbuj Member Posts: 54

    My 360. has great recharging ability. Recently camped in full sunlight and only used about 12 % battery per day and it totally charged back up easily in a few hours next morning. I'm running 2 100 amp Battleborns and I'm in Arizona so yes we have way too much sun.

    TAB 360 Black Canyon