New to Solar

[RFDGUY]

Well I finally pulled the trigger and got a solar setup for my expo trailer. I went with a Renogy 100w Mono panel and a Morningstar Prostar 15. Everything is connected via 10g Windy Nation 15ft cables. Got my first opportunity to use it on a recent trip and I am super impressed. The panel was putting out 19v and had my battery topped/floating at 14.3v the entire time. I am running a Odyssey group 31 battery that supports my Engel MT60 fridge. I used to worry about my battery status on anything more than 3 days, but now i pretty much have indefinite power.......as long as there is sunshine. I ended up just building a PVC stand to allow me to move the panel around to get the most out of the sun. Eventually I'll clean up the wiring with quick disconnects and a more permanent stand/roof mount.

If you worry about your battery at all, add solar. Easy system for around $250

 

[dwh]

Pics or it didn't happen.

Cheers.

 

[georgiadrifter]

RFDGUY....thanks for sharing. Can you post specifics such as fuse panels, USB outlets, etc. photos would be great!

Thx again.

 

[Bear in NM]

RFD,

I too am new at this, and while I did something more elaborate for a charge control "center", effectively I have a morningstar, a 135 watt panel I got from local solar place, and a measly 70 amp hours of battery. I picked up an ARB fridge on Friday, and tested over night on ac. I plugged the fridge into solar yesterday morning, and even with a very cloudy day yesterday, everything ran fine. I did a little stress test on the fridge by adding a 12 pack of warm bottled beer, late in the day, and dropped the temp by 5 degrees on the fridge. This morning, my batteries were sitting at 12.79 volts, and when plugging in my panel at 8:30 am, things went back to charging. This stuff is indeed very cool.

Next weekend will be the real test, but I think I should do fine, barring an electrical breakdown......

Craig

 

[RFDGUY]

Ill be sure to get some pics next week. Im prepping for a trip up to the Lee Vining area just outside of Yosemite and the trailer is stuffed into the back of my garage right now. Pics coming soon.

 

[joelbert]

missing or improvements?

So, I typically camp either long weekends or possibly a week. I don't use a lot of electronics (basically fridge and keeping my phone topped up).

On prior outings, I have had this running, but it was sketchy toward the last day or so or when it was really hot as to whether the battery would keep the fridge going.

=======prior========
ArkPak 730 Portable Power
Duracell Ultra Deep Cycle Marine & RV Battery (SLI31MDC)
Arb 50QT Capacity

So, rather than eat/drink all the cold stuff the day prior, I knew I needed to do something with solar. From reading here, I gathered that I needed something like the following which I have ordered and will be installing/testing once it arrives.

=======ordered/adding========
Renogy 100 Watts 12 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Panel (RNG-100D)
Morningstar Prostar PS-30M Solar Charge Controller / Regulator
Renogy One Pair of 10ft. 10AWG Adaptor Kit Solar Cable PV with MC4 Female and Male Connectors

Is there anything that I'm missing, suggestions, tips, improvements?

I need to look a little about the wiring between the Morningstar and the ArkPak, but I know it takes direct connections from solar so probably just need to get some proper gauge wire/connecters between them.

 

[Bear in NM]

Joel,

Thoughts from a rookie at this. I posted above about my 1st trial run over the 4th, and with my ARB 60 quart, 70 amp hour battery and 135 watt panel, I had zero issues.

What has really helped me with this, is having ways to measure volts and amps at various parts of the system, during real time running. I am not familiar with the arkpak, but if it has meters etc. to check things great. Otherwise, I have a meter wired into my portable pack that measure some things. As I had to fuse the parts anyway, I used the wire with the blade style fuse boxes for positive connections. I picked up one of the blade fuse style amp meters from, amazon so I can actually easily monitor amps flowing. I also placed one of these fuse holders in my solar panel extension line. This let me test the panel in various sun conditions, to get real numbers for the amp hour situation.

The batteries in my pack rest at about 13.7 volts, after a deep charge. I never woke to anything less than 13.2 volts on my batteries, with the fridge and portable small electronics plugged in.

Craig

 

[joelbert]

need to fuse?

Based on that, I should be ok with my 105AH battery. The ArkPak has a charge controller built in with a meter. However, once using the solar controller to charge, it bypasses the internal charge controlller, is my understanding. The solar controller that I bought has a meter built in so that should help and I can always turn off solar and compare with what the internal meter says.

How did you determine where you needed fuses and the appropriate size?

 

[1Louder]

Based on that, I should be ok with my 105AH battery. The ArkPak has a charge controller built in with a meter. However, once using the solar controller to charge, it bypasses the internal charge controlller, is my understanding. The solar controller that I bought has a meter built in so that should help and I can always turn off solar and compare with what the internal meter says.

How did you determine where you needed fuses and the appropriate size?

Answered on the ArkPak thread. I don't think you need anything. I use SAE plugs on everything. So I purchased a cable with ends for the battery posts on the ArkPak, left side, and an SAE connector on the other to go into my Renogy panel. I don't use the default cable from Renogy. You could use alligator clips but that seems less efficient.

Here's the cable, Battery Tender Quick Disconnect Harness
by Battery Tender
Link: https://amzn.com/B000NCOKZQ

It does have a fuse but I don't think that is critical. I use this same cable on my vehicle battery and trailer battery.