Solar to Panel?
Good afternoon, I'm in the process to setting up a solar panel setup and my fuse/breaker box is inside under the stove and my batteries are currently in the front outside. I was wondering if it'...
Forum Discussion
joel1 wrote:You should have a DC breaker (fuse is 2nd choice) between the solar panel and the controller. Many/most controllers will smoke if the panel is connected when the battery isn't. A breaker can serve as a switch (a fuse is more hassle) so you can disconnect the solar before working on the controller or battery. And you can get a DC breaker for about the same cost as a switch, if you're willing to wait a couple/three weeks to get it.
Thanks for the input guys. At which area would you add the DC breaker or fuse?
Before the panel?
You should also have a fuse or breaker on the run between the controller and the electrical panel, close to the panel. That's to protect against that wire getting shorted somewhere, and in most rigs the only other protection would be a large self-resetting breaker near the battery. As mentioned above, you could probably backfeed the panel through a spare fused DC circuit, although something makes me feel that's not the right thing to do.
