Portable Solar Panel

[rinkside7]

I installed 4 Trojan 200AH AGM deep cycle batteries in my 2016 Pinnacle RSQS.
Eventually we will install a rooftop solar system. I have a portable 40 watt solar panel with mc4 connectors. Can I just plug the panel with these connectors into my rig without doing anything else? We are doing a few days of beach camping. We also have a generator installed.

[Seann45]

Yes you can but you also need a charge controller. Please be aware that 40 watts is not very much power. Also you will need to find a way to lock down your portable panels or they will walk away.

[SkiSmuggs]

The 40 watt panel may not require a solar charge controller as it will only provide a marginal charge to the battery bank. You really need about 400-600 watts of solar for that bank and understand that is in your future.

[Mustang65]

The problem with not using a charge controller with the low wattage panels is that most of these panels do not have a blocking diode installed in them, which means after they stop charging they turn in to a load due to the internal resistance of the panel. That will put a drain on your battery once the sun goes down, or the clouds enter the picture.

The other side of the coin is that if the batteries are at full charge even with a couple amps you can still over charge the expensive batteries. Some of those panels put out between 17 and 24VDV

Best to wire the system properly to avoid any discharging/overcharging problems with the batteries. Without a SOLAR Charge Controller, I would go with the generator.

Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR