460 watt solar setup: wire sizes?
I want to change out my old 50 watt panel and 10 amp controller with at least one and hopefully two 230 watt 24 volt panels and whatever controller would be best. Right now the roof on my fifth wheel ...
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I agree with BFL on this one. I've seen it many times. Until the combination of the load and battery acceptance exceeds the output of the panels, the current going to the batteries is unaffected by the load.
The unfortunate thing for RV solar is that production is limited to what can be instantaneously used. In this case, battery charging is instantaneous usage. One will never be able to utilize the full potential of panel production unless he is willing to risk putting the batteries to bed "hungry" at night.
The nice thing about automatic diversion load is that the parameters can be set so that the batteries will always "get theirs" first. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much available for diversion loads except for a small 12-volt water heater element. For my purposes, that doesn't seem to be worth the effort.
The unfortunate thing for RV solar is that production is limited to what can be instantaneously used. In this case, battery charging is instantaneous usage. One will never be able to utilize the full potential of panel production unless he is willing to risk putting the batteries to bed "hungry" at night.
The nice thing about automatic diversion load is that the parameters can be set so that the batteries will always "get theirs" first. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much available for diversion loads except for a small 12-volt water heater element. For my purposes, that doesn't seem to be worth the effort.
