My first few mods

[WNC_Camper]

Purchased our 2019 224BH about a month ago and since then I have been making small changes to the camper.

The campground we visit the most has no hook ups so I purchased a 100w solar panel and charge controller (Renogy). I plan on eventually placing the panel on the roof and possibly adding a second one. I wasn't sure how the "solar ready" port was wired into the camper but I wanted to use it for its convenience, so here's what I did......

Mounted the charge controller under the queen bed right inside the passengers side access, ran one pair of 10ga marine grade wire from controller to the battery and another to the back side of the "solar ready" port.

I made an extension cable for the panel and can plug it into the port on the camper. This year the solar panel will probably just be set out on a stand till I have time to mount and wire it onto the roof (newborn child occupies a lot of free time).

The other small mod I did was add two USB charging ports in the cabinet next to the factory radio.

[Duke4857]

I was told to put fuses on both sides of the charge controller. 1 fuse from the solar panel(s) side and 1 fuse going to the battery(s)
I have a 30 amp charge controller so I used 30 amp fuses.

You did a nice job.

[oldmanAZ]

Very nice. Thanks for posting it.

[WNC_Camper]

Originally Posted by Duke4857

I was told to put fuses on both sides of the charge controller. 1 fuse from the solar panel(s) side and 1 fuse going to the battery(s)
I have a 30 amp charge controller so I used 30 amp fuses.

You did a nice job.

I also put fuses on both sides, can never hurt to have them. Also all connections are made with heat shrink crimp connectors.

[Screwby]

Nice work, welcome to the solar addiction! Once you start realizing you can camp anywhere you want with a better battery bank and a few more panels it opens up a whole new world.

[mharrison]

I bought a 100 watt kit from Home Depot and plan to mount it perminate sometime. For now I have the cables and the controller mounted in a battery box next to the one on the tongue and connected to the battery.

Home Depot has a pretty good price right now.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Renogy-1...WD30/302260739

[BabyBear]

Looks great, nice clean install, can you provide a link to the usb ports you used and was this mod very difficult?

Thanks in Advance.

Cheers

[WNC_Camper]

Originally Posted by BabyBear

Looks great, nice clean install, can you provide a link to the usb ports you used and was this mod very difficult?



Thanks in Advance.



Cheers

Cheap $7 USB 12volt “outlet” on eBay. Took the radio out and drilled hole with a hole saw then wired it into the power wires. Took all of about 15 minutes

[WNC_Camper]

Originally Posted by mharrison

I bought a 100 watt kit from Home Depot and plan to mount it perminate sometime. For now I have the cables and the controller mounted in a battery box next to the one on the tongue and connected to the battery.



Home Depot has a pretty good price right now.



https://www.homedepot.com/p/Renogy-1...WD30/302260739

Same kit I bought, I got it off Amazon for the same price. I’m glad to know Home Depot has the same panels, might pick up another one next time I’m near a Home Depot.

[Screwby]

30amp controller on that kit will handle another 3 panels....wink...wink...
What’s your plan for the batteries? A pair of 6v golf cart batteries?

[WNC_Camper]

Originally Posted by Screwby

Nice work, welcome to the solar addiction! Once you start realizing you can camp anywhere you want with a better battery bank and a few more panels it opens up a whole new world.

Thank you, have any recommendations on the best batteries....that won’t brake he bank??

I’ve tried to decide if I wanted to stick with one 12v or use two 6v.

Right now just going to use it to keep the fridge and water heater going, as well as lights. Might have plans of adding a small inverter in a few years.

[mharrison]

Originally Posted by WNC_Camper

Same kit I bought, I got it off Amazon for the same price. I’m glad to know Home Depot has the same panels, might pick up another one next time I’m near a Home Depot.

I felt safer buying at Home Depot just in case it was damaged it would be easy to return. I hope to get my controller mounted inside like yours and add a second battery sometime. I'm still nervous about drilling holes on a new camper, especially roof. I hate to do anything that could void the warranty but waiting 2 years for upgrades too long.

[Screwby]

Originally Posted by WNC_Camper

Thank you, have any recommendations on the best batteries....that won’t brake he bank??

I’ve tried to decide if I wanted to stick with one 12v or use two 6v.

Right now just going to use it to keep the fridge and water heater going, as well as lights. Might have plans of adding a small inverter in a few years.

Costco or Sams Club or Batteries+ type places are your best bet in my experience for batteries. I picked some Duracell 6v golf cart batteries that have 215 amp hours each. They were right around $100 each so your in a couple hundred for the pair but they are far superior to a 12v battery. Thicker plates and much more durable being a true deep cycle battery. You never want to take a flooded battery past half it’s available power so at 215 amp hours you can use 107.5 amp hours (50%) of the batteries power before you hurt it. I’ve ended up with 400w of panels (4-100w Renogy) and 4 Duracell 6v batteries. That gave me lots of battery storage, fed by lots of solar. Added to that is my 1000w pure sine wave inverter that allows me to power my trailers 120v needs easily.
Sit down one day, figure out what you’ll use in the camper. Figure out how many hours you’ll use each thing each day. Figure out how many amps each thing draws and multiply that by how long your going to use it per day (total hours used). Add together all your devices amp usage (listed somewhere on the devices label or manual or look it up) and you’ll have a good idea how many amp hours you need your battery bank to be to stay above 50% of its capacity. Now that you know how big of a battery bank you need (amp hours) you’ll know how much solar power you’ll need to keep those batteries fed 100w, 200w, 300w, or 400w).
It seems complicated but it’s really not once you get a grasp on it. You basically need enough solar to feed a big enough battery bank to keep you gear running without killing your batteries.

[Leedillion]

Although I went with a Renogy system, there is a nice solar power calculator at https://gpelectric.com/wp-content/up...-Worksheet.pdf that was nice to use.

[Seann45]

Solar panels have a habit of "walking off" so make sure yours are chained down AND fasten them down so they cant blow over. That is the 2 biggest problems with non roof mounted panels.

[TomTom]

Looks good!I ordered a USB plug with voltage display from Amazon and will be installing it beside the stereo in my 29 RKS.I installed one in our Wildwood when we had it.

[BabyBear]

WNC_Camper, liked your USB mod so much bought the part from Amazon as well and mine is now done!

[F250dieseldad]

Thanks, for the post. I have both solar on my home and an electric car, but have not yet pulled the trigger on our Jay Flight. I sense a project is near.

[Screwby]

Originally Posted by F250dieseldad

Thanks, for the post. I have both solar on my home and an electric car, but have not yet pulled the trigger on our Jay Flight. I sense a project is near.

Do it....do it....do it...
Seriously, it’s awesome if you’ll use it enough to justify the cost

[WNC_Camper]

Originally Posted by BabyBear

WNC_Camper, liked your USB mod so much bought the part from Amazon as well and mine is now done!



Attachment 51512

I’m a little jealous of the voltage read out, might have to change mine out now......thanks