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Old 06-28-2016, 05:11 PM   #1
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Solar panels.

I hope I'm thinking right.

If I'm getting a panel with a charge controller and alligator clips, all I have to do is undo my battery box and clip red and black to the positive and negative terminals, right?
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Old 06-28-2016, 05:39 PM   #2
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I hope I'm thinking right.

If I'm getting a panel with a charge controller and alligator clips, all I have to do is undo my battery box and clip red and black to the positive and negative terminals, right?
Welcome to the Forum.

What are you planning on doing with the solar panel? Just enough to keep the battery topped off? Use to recharge your battery everyday after running it down to 12VDC each night? Dry-camping? 50Watt? 100Watt...?

The problem with alligator clips is that the battery post may not be clean and you will not always get a good connection and it will not get all the available power from the SOLAR panel. Depending on the amount of power your SOLAR panel will be producing, I would look into installing a plug assembly between the SOLAR charge controller and the batteries.

Don

We have an RVing with SOLAR Social Group. There are examples of what some of the members have done with SOLAR. Some interesting reading also.
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Old 06-28-2016, 06:49 PM   #3
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I usually get 3 days dry camping out of my battery. I just run the water pump occasionally and the awning.

I just wanted a cheap way to top up everyday.



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Welcome to the Forum.

What are you planning on doing with the solar panel? Just enough to keep the battery topped off? Use to recharge your battery everyday after running it down to 12VDC each night? Dry-camping? 50Watt? 100Watt...?

The problem with alligator clips is that the battery post may not be clean and you will not always get a good connection and it will not get all the available power from the SOLAR panel. Depending on the amount of power your SOLAR panel will be producing, I would look into installing a plug assembly between the SOLAR charge controller and the batteries.

Don

We have an RVing with SOLAR Social Group. There are examples of what some of the members have done with SOLAR. Some interesting reading also.
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Old 06-29-2016, 02:15 PM   #4
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I usually get 3 days dry camping out of my battery. I just run the water pump occasionally and the awning.

I just wanted a cheap way to top up everyday.
I am interested in your RV Solar group. Where can I find it?
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Old 06-29-2016, 04:16 PM   #5
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I am interested in your RV Solar group. Where can I find it?
This link should take you there.

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/gr...ith+solar.html
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Old 06-29-2016, 07:01 PM   #6
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I usually get 3 days dry camping out of my battery. I just run the water pump occasionally and the awning.

I just wanted a cheap way to top up everyday.
What is the Amp hour (Ah) rating of your battery? One battery? When you say you get 3 days out of your battery, what is the battery voltage before starting the charging process (TV charging on the way back home)?

I normally do not recommend any SOLAR panels less than 100 watts, as you only have a max of 5 good hours of sunshine each day, providing the panels are out in the sun. So, if you had a 50 watt panel, 5 hours of sun would only put about 20 Ah, back into your batteries each sunny day. That does account for any cell phone , tablet or radio playing. A 100 watts will at least give you a fighting chance to charge the battery. 100 watts of SOLAR, 5 hours of sun would put about 40 Ah back into your battery each sunny day. The one thing to remember is your battery voltage should never go below 12VDC, or it will shorten your batteries life.

Take a look at the Renogy 100 watt SOLAR kit on Amazon or the Renogy website.

Don
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