Help With Solar

We are picking up our 560 in September and need some guidance with solar. The rooftop solar option is temporarily unavailable and we’re looking for a briefcase solar option for our 560. The Renogy 200watt suitcase is on our radar. I found this one on Amazon. I’m open to any guidance, input, or suggestions. Thank you in advance.
Renogy 200 Watt 12 Volt Portable Solar Panel, Foldable 100W Solar Panel Suitcase, Solar Charger, 1 Pair 20' 12 Gauge Red and Black https://a.co/d/aYgX8b4

 

Renogy 100w hard case has worked well for me last four years. Monocrystaline made by SunPower.
Renogy seems to have a good rep online, Amazon.

You'll need to make up a pigtail connector with the MC4s on one end and a Marinco plug on the other if that's the one still used by Campinn on side panel; just ask Cary to include the plug.

IMHO 200w is about right to recharge a 72ah lead acid like in CampInn in 6 hrs or less in good sun, from 50% discharged. And recharge a typical 1000w Jackery or similar sogen in 8hrs. All depends on angle of sun, quality of panel, connectors and cable run resistance. Shorter the better.

Get yourself a pre-made solar extension cord with MC4's on both ends so you can set the panel in the sun while charging the battery in the trailer in the shade. Takes longer but you wont cook in the spam can.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09GV7RG3L?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Longer the cord and higher the gauge# the more the resistance, less power to the battery so just start small and experiment some is my advice.

 

Thank you Kevin. A big thank you to JohnC also, who I spoke on the phone last night for approximately 2hrs. We are getting the lithium battery option on our 560 and with a solar panel we should be able to off grind for a number of days. Delivery is scheduled for September 26th and off to the Camp-Inn gathering before making our way back to Florida.

 

Keep in mind that if you ordered a built-in solar controller on the camper it will need to be bypassed if you purchase a panel with its own controller (most foldable panels will come with their own controller). Cary can advise on how to deactivate the factory controller.

Randy

 

You shoudln't need to modify the trailer in any way whatsoever. I have a 220 watt panel which works beautifully. I simply wired the MC4 off the panel into the 'twist lock' connector and plugged in in. Making sure the polarity was correct of course.

I cheated a little bit --- and I'm sure safety sallies will jump all over me but I wired the MC4 connectors to a female 110 volt receiptcle, so I can plug in the male end of any extension cord. From the trailer side, I wired a 110 volt socket to the twist lock. The orientation is correct to protect the camper --- i could never accidentally run 110 into the charge controller this way. I could the solar panel but that would be much less catastrophic....

The reason I use the "extension cord" method is simply to allow me to run as much or as little wire as I need from the sonar panel to the camper, without having to carry another separate dedicate cable...

Looks something like this:

View attachment upload_2023-8-24_13-35-36.png

 

I purchased a solar panel W/O a controller per Cary’s and JohnC’s recommendation. Bringing it to the nest for them to attach their connector to my solar cable. Taking delivery on September 26th. Planning on being at the gathering at the end of September.

 

Thanks for the pic. I ordered a 20ft and an extra 10ft solar cable. Both are 10AWG. Cary is going to wire his connector on when we take delivery. Cary said they are planning on offering the rooftop solar option as a kit for those who can’t get it now, and who purchased the CTEK.

 

The point is that only one charge controller should be in the circuit. Rather than changing the wiring in the trailer to temporarily use a portable solar panel, buy a portable either without a controller or with a controller that is easily bypassed. It’s very handy to have a controller on a portable panel… I recommend a panel with a controller that can be bypassed.

Safety Sally here! Your install is not to code! However, code exists to idiot-proof electricity, and Sweeney is pretty smart about not plugging his solar panel connection into shore power.

I love the idea of breaking the chokehold of household solar hardware on those of us who need temp systems at relatively low overall capacity, those d*** wires they sell just aren’t made for road use. They don’t coil. They don’t lay flat, that’s unsafe. You don’t get two conductors in one cable. You have to pair them yourself, not to mention terminating with weird connectors. And, they are expensive.

It’s just copper and insulation! Why not a 14, 12, or even 10ga extension cord?

On the other hand, those connections aren’t waterproof, and if you have a real soaker while you’re away from camp there could be trouble.

 

Clever!

 

Oh, it's up code....MY code A

its low voltage when "used properly" and I suspect if the solar panels ever did see 120 volt they would zap themselves to death with a shower of sparks in a matter of milliseconds.

One thing not clear here, is the ground wire is the 'key' that keeps you from plugggin the cord in backwards....whatever you use you've got to be sure the ground plug is oriented properly to prevent +/- inversion. Frankly, not sure what would happen if you did that --- but I'm in no hurry to find out. I mitigate this by never leaving the cord unplugged where some one might be tempted to plug it into the power pole.

Thank you.