Solar - Upgrade or replace outright?
The new-to-us coach has a small solar panel system. I would like to upgrade it to the point where I could reasonably hope to capture 50 or 60 amp-hours per day in light conditions that are less than ...
Forum Discussion
Switching the OEM panels to the chassis batteries seems a good idea. That should avoid any compatibility issues, yet keep them working. I feel I have plenty of space on the roof for mounting new panels without removing the older ones, but I will definitely measure everything before ordering.
In my Safari, the compartment under the refrigerator contains the furnace. I can explore routing options to put the controller further astern from where the wire drops down the fridge vent, but getting around the bathroom will probably require running down below the floor until reaching the bedroom closet, and will result in a longer total length of cable run.
The path of least resistance would appear to be to mount the controller on the forward wall of the refrigerator compartment, then run the wire down through the wall to the basement, then to the battery bank without coming back up through the floor to the controller.
Which is most important for avoiding loss: Minimizing the cable run between panels and controller? Minimizing the cable run between controller and battery bank? Or simply minimizing the total cable run?
I assume that it would be better to locate the controller closer to the battery bank and have a greater percentage of the total run at the higher voltage between panels and controller?
Wayne
In my Safari, the compartment under the refrigerator contains the furnace. I can explore routing options to put the controller further astern from where the wire drops down the fridge vent, but getting around the bathroom will probably require running down below the floor until reaching the bedroom closet, and will result in a longer total length of cable run.
The path of least resistance would appear to be to mount the controller on the forward wall of the refrigerator compartment, then run the wire down through the wall to the basement, then to the battery bank without coming back up through the floor to the controller.
Which is most important for avoiding loss: Minimizing the cable run between panels and controller? Minimizing the cable run between controller and battery bank? Or simply minimizing the total cable run?
I assume that it would be better to locate the controller closer to the battery bank and have a greater percentage of the total run at the higher voltage between panels and controller?
Wayne
