Solar and tt storage

Thanks for the replies. Not going to run the refer or anything, like I say, just want to keep the one deep cycle charged if I do want to open a slide out to get to something. The trailer does have a battery disconnect so I guess I'll throw it so there is no parasitic discharge when I don't need to use the battery. After two years of living in the trailer, going to be a little different going back to an apartment.

I had 150w on our previous rv and the batteries were alway fully charged by the end of the day, dry camping. That's even on semi cloudy days and my bipap running at night. Craig

Hi,

15 watts per 100 amp-hours of storage is pretty much the lower limit for battery maintenance. If you wish to have a working useful solar system 60 watts per 100 amp-hours is a better number to aim at.

I have an old rig by what I see here and I don't have the parasitic drain on my house batteries that everyone else seems to have. I do not disconnect the batteries and I use a DelTran 15 Watt Solar Charger with a multi stage controller. I mount it inside behind the windshield and it keeps my two GC batteries topped off. It would take a very long time to charge the batteries if they were partially discharged, but, when I get to the storage yard, my batteries are fully charged.

I do not have the chassis battery connected to the charger.

I know according to most folks, 15 watts won't be adequate but in my experience, it is. The panel with hook up wiring and the built in controller is about $150 (MSRP). My Daughter bought mine for less than $100. This is not a little J. C. Whitney 4" X 12" plug in the dash charger. It is about 12" X 36" and has both direct a wiring cable and a clamp on cable. It can be permanently mounted out in the elements and left in place. I might do that but the DW and DD's won't let me on the roof anymore.

If it won't work why do so many folks that live in cold country remove their batteries in the winter and use a Battery Minder from DelTran to keep them charged. The Battery Minder's specs are very similar.

You can maintain your batteries with 40-60 amp solar charger and controller.
Your big advantage I see you live in sunny Calif.
1st you have to start with fully charged batteries, then use a disconnect switch to isolate your batteries from any parasitic draw.
You will do fine.
I maintain my 5 batteries, 3 house and 2 starting batteries this way, with 50 W solar when in storage.
M SIL and daughter do their TT with just one single battery with a 15 W solar with built in controller they flop on top the roof of their tt and do fine. they also have a battery disconnect switch direct on the battery to eliminate any draw. We are in So. Calif.

I easily maintain our TT in our back yard with a 55 W panel with a controller. We have a single 12V Trojan SCS battery and have only propane and radio parasitic loads. I used to have just a 10W panel but I was concerned that it was marginal in the winter or rainy spells. I verify proper maintenance charge by checking the voltage in the morning before the panels started charging. I have been using solar for maintenance for many years. I do check parasitic loads and charging current with a clamp on Ammeter.

Dick

I have a 120 watt panel with a whole house battery disconnect switch and 2 group 31 batteries and it keeps them charged up just fine in my storage yard.

Yep, 100 watts will do'er.

Regardless, disconnect your batteries no matter what. Wire in a proper switch to make it easier. Use a decent controller that is likely to float battery voltage correctly. Too many batteries get ruined because something switches on when it shouldn't, runs continuously and destroys the batteries.

IMO about 100 watts is the minimum for the effort.
Smaller panels don't save that much and are just as much work to install.