Solar Panel Open Discussion/Debate/Review

[OtherOrb]

I only have the one 100w solar panels (4 - 25w'ers) with the 10a charge controller presently, and I am using two batteries and I have plenty of power for my camping rig. When at home I would like to use my system for some remote buildings I have that are powerless currently. I want to triple my solar panels to a 300w service. Should I add two more 10a charge controllers or one 20a charge controller, or should I just buy one 30a controller for the complete 300w system ? I would buy the solar panels separately, not as a kit, so they wouldn't come with controllers like my kit did. The new panels I will buy will be a single 100w panel unlike the kit solar system that has 4 - 25w panels. Can you give me any help here on this dilemma ? Any better ideas are welcome.

For that size, I would just get a new, large capacity controller.

However, if you'd like to explore parallel arrays, this is a good read.

https://www.morningstarcorp.com/parallel-charging-using-multiple-controllers-separate-pv-arrays/

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

For that size, I would just get a new, large capacity controller.

However, if you'd like to explore parallel arrays, this is a good read.

https://www.morningstarcorp.com/parallel-charging-using-multiple-controllers-separate-pv-arrays/

For that size, I would just get a new, large capacity controller.

However, if you'd like to explore parallel arrays, this is a good read.

https://www.morningstarcorp.com/parallel-charging-using-multiple-controllers-separate-pv-arrays/

Because I will dismantle the 100w solar panels when I go camping, I have come to the conclusion from your info that when at home using 300w of solar and I will use the 30a controller, When I go camping, I will take the original 100w kit with the 10a controller and one battery, and leave the other two 100w panels connected to the 30w controller, connected to the other battery. Does that make sense to you ?
The info on the parallel arrays is very good, especially if a person wants to expand their array as time goes by.
You have helped me a lot in me making my decision on what is best for what I want to do. I will have two systems when I am camping and one when I get back and re-install the 100w kit without the 10a controller. have you noticed that no one else other than you have commented on this thread ? I hope that means others are also learning something and have nothing to add !
Thank you kind Sir, Lanlubber

 

[OtherOrb]

Because I will dismantle the 100w solar panels when I go camping, I have come to the conclusion from your info that when at home using 300w of solar and I will use the 30a controller, When I go camping, I will take the original 100w kit with the 10a controller and one battery, and leave the other two 100w panels connected to the 30w controller, connected to the other battery. Does that make sense to you ?

Makes perfect sense.

As long dismantling and re-installing the panel is easy. Make sure you set up an easy quick-connect and disconnect system that is weather-proof when you're running 200W on the shed and 100W on the truck. If you have to wrench a bunch of things, you'll find yourself either not bringing the 100W because it's a hassle or not re-installing it because it's a hassle or buying a fourth 100W panel because it's a hassle to take off and reinstall every time you're out.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Makes perfect sense.

As long dismantling and re-installing the panel is easy. Make sure you set up an easy quick-connect and disconnect system that is weather-proof when you're running 200W on the shed and 100W on the truck. If you have to wrench a bunch of things, you'll find yourself either not bringing the 100W because it's a hassle or not re-installing it because it's a hassle or buying a fourth 100W panel because it's a hassle to take off and reinstall every time you're out.

Good advise. I wont mount the 100w on the roof, it is portable and will sit on the ground. I'll have to research the source for the connectors your talking about so that I wont disturb the buildings solar system. I'll make it as easy as possible you can count on that.
I may be just blowing in the wind if my legs don't heal pretty soon. I haven't been able to walk more than 100 feet for about 3 months now and my work is piling up bad.

Thanks again Moses, you have been very kind and helpful.
Lanlubber.

 

[OtherOrb]

Good advise. I wont mount the 100w on the roof, it is portable and will sit on the ground. I'll have to research the source for the connectors your talking about so that I wont disturb the buildings solar system. I'll make it as easy as possible you can count on that.
I may be just blowing in the wind if my legs don't heal pretty soon. I haven't been able to walk more than 100 feet for about 3 months now and my work is piling up bad.

Thanks again Moses, you have been very kind and helpful.
Lanlubber.

That's why we're here.

Here are a few good connector types.

 

[grubworm]

Solar is nice to have. I have a small offroad camper with 200w solar feeding a 100ah battery. Hurricane Barry hit a few days ago and we were out of power, as is usualy down here. I was able to go out to the camper and plug in phones to charge and I also have a AA/AAA battery charger that plugs into 12v. I also charged batteries from the camper to run LED flashlights and lanterns. I have Renogy panels on the camper and Harbor Freight panels I use to charge a winch battery on my logging trailer. Both makes of panels work great. I'm getting more into using 12v appliances and getting more and more into solar and 12v for long periods of off grid camping.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Solar is nice to have. I have a small offroad camper with 200w solar feeding a 100ah battery. Hurricane Barry hit a few days ago and we were out of power, as is usualy down here. I was able to go out to the camper and plug in phones to charge and I also have a AA/AAA battery charger that plugs into 12v. I also charged batteries from the camper to run LED flashlights and lanterns. I have Renogy panels on the camper and Harbor Freight panels I use to charge a winch battery on my logging trailer. Both makes of panels work great. I'm getting more into using 12v appliances and getting more and more into solar and 12v for long periods of off grid camping.

I think that is smart. Back in Y2K era I bought a 7000 watt Onan generator, $1200 at the time (burns propane or gas).. I bought a harbor freight small trailer, built a platform and mounted it the trailer for movability. Of course I never had to use it and it has set out in the carport covered for over 20 years now. I also bought and stored 4 - 55 gallon drums of gas and stored in back of the carport "where the sun don't shine". It tool me a long time to burn it up but I finally did after a couple of years. Solar was more expensive then and no one knew anything about it unless you were an electrical engineer. It's different today and available and dumb boy friendly with a little help from the utubers. It's affordable enough in small portions to where you can build a sufficient off grid system a little at a time. with such a delicate and obsolete electrical grid system we now have, I think everyone had better prepare for that big outage that is bound to happen in one form or another. Soooo, I'm with you, play it safe and take care of yourself because no one else will in an emergency. I'm glad I didn't buy the pack mule I had lined up for Y2K but as long as they live (as much as 40 years), she might still be with me if I had bought her. That was another reason I started buying only 4x4 vehicles. If roads had closed or otherwise unable to use I wanted to make sure I could go cross country or out to the boonies if I had to. Still a good reason and a better one for us OB guys. We shall survive anything one way or another.
Lanlubber

 

[Viking1204]

I agree with @OtherOrb, I would go with a 30 amp charge controller, this way if you ever wanted to added another solar panel to your system at home you could. I've seen a few 4 star or better rated 30 amp charge controllers on Amazon while researching. Again, prices vary greatly depending on what manufacturer it is. Right now I'm just going to get a 100w panel as my Flexopower already has a built in MPPT charge controller. At some point once I move and have an outdoor shed I'll be doing like you and building a solar system to have power. Long term whenever I get my own hunting land I want to building an Off The Grid home/cabin on it so I'm trying to learn as much about solar as I can. I bought Will's book and need to read it!

 

[Viking1204]

Well I pulled the trigger and ordered the Rich Solar Monocrystalline solar panel! I guess due to Prime Days it had actually dropped a couple dollars in price! The price ended up being $83.99 shipped free to the house!

 

[Prerunner1982]

Renogy 100w panel with 30a Wanderer controller for $152.20 (prime day deal) plus it say's you can save an additional 15% at checkout.

 

[Prerunner1982]

Renogy 100w suitcase panel with 20a waterproof controller for $213.81 Good for 5 more hours.

 

[Viking1204]

I'm trying to find a good deal on a 30 amp MPPT charger controller during these prime days, fun trying to search through the deals!

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Well I pulled the trigger and ordered the Rich Solar Monocrystalline solar panel! I guess due to Prime Days it had actually dropped a couple dollars in price! The price ended up being $83.99 shipped free to the house!

Good start, we will all learn together on this thread.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I agree with @OtherOrb, I would go with a 30 amp charge controller, this way if you ever wanted to added another solar panel to your system at home you could. I've seen a few 4 star or better rated 30 amp charge controllers on Amazon while researching. Again, prices vary greatly depending on what manufacturer it is. Right now I'm just going to get a 100w panel as my Flexopower already has a built in MPPT charge controller. At some point once I move and have an outdoor shed I'll be doing like you and building a solar system to have power. Long term whenever I get my own hunting land I want to building an Off The Grid home/cabin on it so I'm trying to learn as much about solar as I can. I bought Will's book and need to read it!

yes, I am taking his advise on the 30a charge controller. Going to Prime day to look for one if they will get my refund to me for the inverter I bought and didn't get.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I'm trying to find a good deal on a 30 amp MPPT charger controller during these prime days, fun trying to search through the deals!

I thought you said you didn't need a charge controller ! I bet the one you got w/ the s. panel was a 10a huh ?

 

[Viking1204]

I thought you said you didn't need a charge controller ! I bet the one you got w/ the s. panel was a 10a huh ?

No charge controller with the solar panel, did that on purpose. I don't "need" a charge controller to charge the Flexopower but if I can find a good deal during prime days I'll get one so I can use the panel to charge other batteries if I need it to. When I can find a good deal I'll most likely install a second battery in my truck. The more I learn about solar and the prices continue to drop the more I plan on powering with solar. I do live in the Sunshine state LOL!

 

[OtherOrb]

Just beware that Amazon doesn't know the difference between MPPT and PWM in any technical sense. Make sure the good deal you're getting is really an MPPT controller and not a PWM controller.

 

[Viking1204]

Just beware that Amazon doesn't know the difference between MPPT and PWM in any technical sense. Make sure the good deal you're getting is really an MPPT controller and not a PWM controller.

Thank you, I actually noticed that while searching for a MPPT controller. A lot of the controllers that came up when I searched MPPT Charge Controller came up with some charge controllers that didn't have MPPT in the display name. When I checked the description I discovered that some of them were PWM controllers.

 

[1Louder]

Thank you sir, I think you answered my question very nicely. Now I have another one. I only have the one 100w solar panels (4 - 25w'ers) with the 10a charge controller presently, and I am using two batteries and I have plenty of power for my camping rig. When at home I would like to use my system for some remote buildings I have that are powerless currently. I want to triple my solar panels to a 300w service. Should I add two more 10a charge controllers or one 20a charge controller, or should I just buy one 30a controller for the complete 300w system ? I would buy the solar panels separately, not as a kit, so they wouldn't come with controllers like my kit did. The new panels I will buy will be a single 100w panel unlike the kit solar system that has 4 - 25w panels. Can you give me any help here on this dilemma ? Any better ideas are welcome.

My thought are that putting a solar system in the storage-work shop buildings would be less expensive than hiring an electrician to install service to my buildings, mainly because they want to install a circuit breaker box to my building and 100 feet of underground cable from my existing house service. There was a time I would have rented a ditch digger and done it all myself but those days are long gone.

I would just buy another controller. Make it easy on yourself. They aren't that expensive. I too have a solar setup at my house. 150 dedicated panel, battery, and a controller. Controller is in a waterproof box, battery in a battery box. I use it for cameras and my gate. I wouldn't want to move things around all the time.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I'm trying to find a good deal on a 30 amp MPPT charger controller during these prime days, fun trying to search through the deals!

If you find one let me know. I'm still searching for an inverter @no more that 2000w. I found one but not yet sure if it will do all I want it to do.
Landlubber