New to Solar. Conect directly to battery ????
I am completely new to solar panels. I know almost nothing about them. We boondocks and dry camp about 50% of the time in our 5th wheel. We have 2 deep cycle lead acid batteries. When the batteries ne...
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For whatever it's worth, we boondock a lot and have a 120 watt folding portable panel. It has a built in controller -- the panel puts out almost 14 volts in bright sun. We hook it right to the battery (group 31) with alligator clips.
The panel supplies all of our power almost all the time. We've been using it this way for many years with great results.
We have a portable panel (not rooftop) because we usually park the trailer in the shade. We use a long ten gauge cable so we can park the panel in the sun without a lot of voltage drop due to the long cable run.
The twelve gauge cord that came with the unit did cause a measurable voltage drop because of the resistance in the thinner wire. So we replaced it with ten gauge.
The panel is a "no name" Chinese imitation of a Renogy briefcase unit.
The panel supplies all of our power almost all the time. We've been using it this way for many years with great results.
We have a portable panel (not rooftop) because we usually park the trailer in the shade. We use a long ten gauge cable so we can park the panel in the sun without a lot of voltage drop due to the long cable run.
The twelve gauge cord that came with the unit did cause a measurable voltage drop because of the resistance in the thinner wire. So we replaced it with ten gauge.
The panel is a "no name" Chinese imitation of a Renogy briefcase unit.
