Rail Dawg wrote:
Not sure where to begin with my desert boondocking rig but my biggest concern will be wiring.
When not in the desert the rig is stored indoors in Reno with no way to get solar to it.
...
I may have installed my own solar way back when but I’m kind of back to square one in installing solar panels, a charge controller and tying this all into the PD system.
...
For those of you with solar how do you tie all your components together?
My biggest concern with desert boondocking would be A/C. Unless it's a winter. But one must really love prospecting to do in winter. A/C is the only appliance that is nearly impossible to run on "RV-sized" solar.
Roof solar obviously won't work in covered storage. AGM are fine with leaving it for 6-8 months without charging. Just make sure they are full before taking it to storage.
What components to tie? Roof solar is permanently connected to battery, it works no matter if it's with or without generator running. If it's one big 24V panel, then you do what Mex said - run a thin #10 wire to MPPT controller that will lower the volts and boost the amps.
I think one important detail should be mentioned again: the slowest part of charging is from 80-85% to 100%. This is when you should stop wasting fuel and your ears and shut the generator down because battery needs very little current from this point on. 100W solar leaned against the trailer tongue, small controller bolted to the back of the panel, and booster cables clipped to battery might just do the trick. All can be had at Home Depot for $160-170.
Now, 60A converter and big inverter does involve a bit of tying in.
