PeterCutter wrote:
Hello everyone and thanks for having such a great forum. This is my first post though I have been trolling and learning for some time now.
I have a 34 Ft. Airstream Cutter with a Ford 460. I would love to install a solar panel system to charge the batteries. I have two 12V house batteries located inside the RV under the doghouse and one 12V battery under the "hood" that starts the RV.
I would like to know that is use the TriStar MPPT 60, will I be able to use that controller to charge all three batteries or will I need two separate controllers one for house batteries and another for the engine's start-up battery? If I need two do I need MPPT for both (two Tristar MPPT 60)? Can I go with something more affordable with Tristar MPPT 30 or can I even use something like a Xantrex C35 charge controller for the truck battery?
Frankly, I am electrically-challenged (flunked out of electrical engineering school) and I am super confused about this whole process.
Thanks in advance,
Peter
As explained there are other solutions out there. If you do not use or are careful about using the start battery then a Trik-L-Start would work. An Amp-L-start will output up to 15 amps and a Trik-L-Start will output up to 5 amps. This type of unit uses battery voltage to charge or disconnect the start battery. When I had a MH out of convenience I charged phone's and tablet's off the start battery and let the solar top it off the next day.
