Solar power wiring...

[Darrell Dunn]

Just a quick question for the all the electrical engineers. I'm really debating solar or generator (Honda EU1000) to charge my batteries wired in parallel. I had visions of grandeur and some "appropriated" ideas on how to hang solar on my trailer. It was all for naught due to tight clearance issues, so I'm may go to solar with a stand setup...little more options to get the panel to and keep it in the sunlight. But my question concerns wiring. Should I come off the solar controller and connect to my "bus" +/- or directly to my batteries (pos+ on one, neg- on other). I mean what's one more connection to the aux post...battery cables in parallel along with ProSport charger and solar charging? Then again, solar limits me to certain campsites unless I have 100 meters of cable (sarcasm!) and 6 hours of direct sunlight to get to 100% after several days of use. BTW, I'm not someone who brings the house with me on the road! So back to my main question...battery aux post or electrical bus? It's a "six of one, half dozen of the other" type of question.

 

[Flipper]

Just a quick question for the all the electrical engineers. I'm really debating solar or generator (Honda EU1000) to charge my batteries wired in parallel. I had visions of grandeur and some "appropriated" ideas on how to hang solar on my trailer. It was all for naught due to tight clearance issues, so I'm may go to solar with a stand setup...little more options to get the panel to and keep it in the sunlight. But my question concerns wiring. Should I come off the solar controller and connect to my "bus" +/- or directly to my batteries (pos+ on one, neg- on other). I mean what's one more connection to the aux post...battery cables in parallel along with ProSport charger and solar charging? Then again, solar limits me to certain campsites unless I have 100 meters of cable (sarcasm!) and 6 hours of direct sunlight to get to 100% after several days of use. BTW, I'm not someone who brings the house with me on the road! So back to my main question...battery aux post or electrical bus? It's a "six of one, half dozen of the other" type of question.

Either one
My controller output is connected to the output side of a ACR battery link, the link connects my trucks altenator to my 2 AGM group 31s that has a A/B switch so I have the option of which battery I want to charge. A 125 W solar panel is going to give you aprox 10A charge. I would advise getting the 2000W Honda, more options with the extra watts. More versitale. I had the 1000 Honda for years, great little unit. Finally upgraded to the 2000 unit , world of difference, well worth the extra $.

 

[Darrell Dunn]

Either one
My controller output is connected to the output side of a ACR battery link, the link connects my trucks altenator to my 2 AGM group 31s that has a A/B switch so I have the option of which battery I want to charge. A 125 W solar panel is going to give you aprox 10A charge. I would advise getting the 2000W Honda, more options with the extra watts. More versitale. I had the 1000 Honda for years, great little unit. Finally upgraded to the 2000 unit , world of difference, well worth the extra $.

Yeah, I'm going back and forth. As soon as I think I make up my mind...things change! I keep going back and forth, but I decided to go with the Honda EU2000i. There's one for sale on Craigslist for $800 in the box. I can get the batteries back in very short order. Solar is nice, but it's very restrictive on where I can setup. The problem with the generator is the altitude in which I plan on running the system at times. Issues will always pop up! And guess what? I won't have to worry about whether to wire solar to the bus or directly to the batteries!