My RV solar system.

Almot wrote:
So Tristar 45 can't be used with a shunt to measure/calculate charge level? I'm just trying to figure out the reason for using Blue Sky and parallel wiring. Not to many people are doing parallel.

There is no provision to use a shunt to monitor the battery with the TriStar 45 and the TS-RM remote, only a voltage sensing wire which does not provide true battery monitoring like monitors employing a shunt. I guess I can't agree that not too many people are using a parallel configuration with the BlueSky controllers or any controller for that matter. I couldn't use the BlueSky SB3024iL with five panels in series which is limited to input of 57 VDC anyways. I also didn't want series wiring of the panels due to the inevitable periodic shading of panels because of sub-optimal placement limitations and typical RV camping use. Bypass diodes may address cells in series within the panels, but there would have to be additional accommodation to address panels in series to avoid significant power losses. calbiker says, "If multiple bypass diodes are used per panel then series has an advantage. If 1/4 of the cells are bypassed due to shade, the other 3/4 of cells in panel are still useful to increase array voltage. The panel with useful 3/4 cells is useless in a parallel config. It can provide no energy. If one bypass diode is used per panel then parallel has slight advantage. If no bypass diodes are used in the array then parallel has a huge advantage." Thanks to calbiker. The number of bypass diodes and how they are employed in a panel are not usually found in panel specifications.