Rebuilding Entire Solar on my TC: Matching everything up?

Cool... thnx

DesertMax wrote:
One thing I did wonder about is the difference in the color.. The one marked Siemens on the top is much blacker and the other much blue-er..

Different age, different production run.

One thing I did wonder about is the difference in the color.. The one marked Siemens on the top is much blacker and the other much blue-er..

Hey D & R, thanks for responding.. I guess by now it's pretty obvious I'm a lazy lout and don't want to unhook those panels up on the roof but have been thinking that indeed it is the correct thing to do.. I can't wait to see what they are so guess I'll break out the took kit..

Yes I have that in mind but not doing anything yet in order to do things correctly when I get started. Just seems like I have some good equipment here and wondering if I can indeed use it all in one "house" system? I used my AGM 90 and the Siemens in the picture showing the back sticker in my last rig and was able to watch my 19" Samsung tv when I wanted it and also a cpap machine with humidifier all night every night. That being said, I had wanted to enlarge the system and perhaps later get a 27" Samsung tv..

The basic question I needed answers to was perhaps if anyone knew just from the pictures (doubtful) what the panels I have on my roof actually were..
We know one of them is a Siemens and that they are the same size.. add to that the fact that they are a fully functioning system that came that way with the rig when I recently purchased it.. So it is working!

At the very least, I know I can replace the crappy existing house batt with my AGM and also replace the old analog controller with my ASC Digital and use it like that.. That being said, the remaining question is can I add my Siemens 53W panel to the system and just how much significance does "matching panels" really have? I know the batts need to be the same but unsure about chargers?

Flip over the PANELS on the roof. I think they're matching units, of different age. Siemens had a habit of changing up their markings. I would guess the're 50 w PANELS, and should have close to matching voltage/current capabilities. The ASC isn't any great charge controller, but if you already own it, I'd use it to get your feet wet. After all, it's only 150-ish watts. Same deal for the battery, 90 Ahr isn't that big, but the price is right. It'll also teach you real quick about battery conservation.

Edit to add: The battery posted here is just barely bigger than the Les Schwab Group 24 you've posted in the other thread. I wouldn't run them together, due to differing charge characteristics.

PS: They're panels, not chargers. Not even when used as a battery charger.

Sometimes with mismatched panels it's just trial and error of hooking them up and seeing if the charge rate goes up. I assume you're doing this in parallel.

That's why I'm making these inquiries...???

You may want to call them panels instead of chargers. Confusing.

I'm confused by the voltage rating on that Siemens. 17.4?

If you do much serious boondocking you'll soon realize your setup isn't much, and obviously mismatched.