Adding solar panel
I have a 5th wheel camper with two Exide Stowaway Group 27 Marine/RV batteries wired parallel that powers my 12 volt panel and connected to a 300 watt inverter that powers my CPAP machine, my satel...
Forum Discussion
wademartin wrote:
I have a 5th wheel camper with two Exide Stowaway Group 27 Marine/RV batteries wired parallel that powers my 12 volt panel and connected to a 300 watt inverter that powers my CPAP machine, my satellite receiver, flat screen TV, electric razor and cell phone charger when off shore power. To maintain my batteries I proposed to add a 100 Watt Polycrystalline Solar from Grape Solar on the camper roof with a Sunforce 10 Amp Digital Charge Controller. Any comments, suggestions or advise will be appreciated.
Thanks, Wade
Off the top of my head, dump the 12v batteries and go with 2 or 4 6v golf cart batteries. Also, as others have said, 100w of solar isn't likely to be enough to keep you charged up. Besides panels, your solar charge controller is probably =more= important than quality panels. A =good= controller can actually increase charge efficiency upwards of 10%, maybe a bit more, over a "standard" controller. Personally, I'd have a minimum of 1,000w inverter and 200w solar; more, if I could afford it.
Lyle
