Solar

[Nhector]

I'm looking to help out my battery's a bit. I have a 2016 jayflight 26bhs with 2 12 volt battery's, what size solar panel can I plug into the solar ready port that is factory wired? Sales person said I could use a 150 watt.

[sebring96hbg]

You will also need a solar charge controller.

To answer the question, what is the amp hour rating on both batteries?

[Nhector]

I am a brand new to the whole trailer living, so please excuse my dumb questions. Where would I find out the AH of my batteries?

[BrentB]

Originally Posted by Nhector

I am a brand new to the whole trailer living, so please excuse my dumb questions. Where would I find out the AH of my batteries?

Sometimes it will be printed somewhere on the battery. Other times it will just have a model number, which you can use to look up the information on the manufacturer's web site.

You might want to look at this web site and "Handy Bob's" website (link at bottom of page) for more info about RV solar systems.

The Truth About Solar Power for Your RV

[Subaru297]

What is your budget and how much power do you need?

Your daily usage will determine how much solar power you need. And your group 27 batteries are probably 90-100 Ah each giving you around 200 Ah of power. 100 Ah available.

A rough rule of thumb is 1Ah of battery capacity will need 1 watt of solar. So you would be looking at 200 Watts of solar.

You could get two 100 watt "12 volt" panels (wired in parallel) with a good PWM controller. This would be your least expensive option.

Or you can use the same two 100 watt panels wired in series to a MPPT charge controller. This will be a bit more money but would probably benefit you as the prewired units don't use heavy gauge wire. So you would get less voltage loss by running high voltage to the controller.

Or you could get a single high voltage panel (around 260 watts) and an MPPT controller. These panels are large though so measure and make sure you have enough clean roof real estate to mount it.

Lots of different options!

https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/

Direct link to Handy Bob.

Edit...BentB's link is actually a good summary of HandyBob's main points without all the extra ranting! Cheers

[Fire_Instructor]

The small side-mount solar port is designed to take a small 12v system (Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, or many other vendor) with a built-in controller. If you are talking about the roof connections and bigger panels, it gets complicated, but very worth it, if you do a lot of boondocking or dry camping.....

[Jmooney]

Nhector.

There is a bunch of stuff on solar here on JOF. My advice it to do some research about all the types of Solar, and just as importantly, the other topics that come along with it ( more battery, inverters, converting to LEDs, power consumption and management ......... )

Your type of camping and power consumption habits will dictate that type of solar to consider.

I personally, have 200 watts of Renogy solar panels (2 panels ) which is a very cost competitive product. I am very pleased with my set up.

Some have more, some have less..... All based on their intended outcome.

[Nhector]

Wow, thanks. I will do some more research, figure out my batteries ah and check out all the great sites recommended. I was wondering if I could get away with a panel that I could pull out and plug in when needed, but it sounds like I need to learn a bit more about how solar works and how fast or slow it will charge the batteries.

[Nhector]

What's the best way to search this site? Is there a way to look up certain topics? I have been just scrolling through page after page trying to find what I am looking for.

[Jmooney]

Link to solar social group:

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/gr...ith+solar.html

Also use the search feature for batteries, LEDs, Inverters

[Subaru297]

Google works too. Just type what you want to search for and then add...
"site:www.jaycoowners.com"

Or click below for a better example.

http://bfy.tw/4wTt

[Jmooney]

Pretty slick!

[Seann45]

The first questions you have to ask (and tell us the answer) is what do you want the solar to do? Keep the battery topped up while in storage? The occasional night Wal-marting? or full on camping without hookups? Once you have answered this we can start to help you with what you need..