I have a truck camper with a 7 year old solar system: 2x135 watt Kyocera panels in parallel, 2x150AH Lifeline AGM batteries and a cheapie replacement Nature Power controller.I have a compressor refrigerator and my wife uses a CPAP. I will be traveling this fall and winter and need to get the most out of my solar system. The single stage pwm controller is obviously a weak link so I just ordered a Blue Sky 3000i MPPT controller with a temperature probe. I probably should have asked for advice first, but I can still cancel the order if there are contrary recommendations.ThanksBTW, I should have also mentioned I do not have room for any additional panels or batteries.

to get the most efficient use of your new controllerReconnect the panels in series, you will gain a little more on morning and afternoon power output

What are the sizes and lengths of wire from the panels to the controller and from the controller to the batteries?

Look at the Tracer BN series. It is considerably cheaper than the Blue Sky and is a Morningstar clone. It does allow for a battery temperature sensor and has adjustable voltage sense points IIRC.What is the voltage on the panels?The Blue Sky dip switches don't give you much control of the unit. To extract every watt you may need to add the IPN remote to the Blue Sky.

The way the system was installed I cannot access or change the wiring without trying to remove the solar panels. I believe the prewiring from Northstar was 10 gauge. I have no idea how long the wiring run is. It looks like it would need to be 10 - 15 feet.What does the IPN do? I thought that was used to manage multiple controllers.

set the nature power to 14.4v when on the road and be done with it.

Solar Charge Controller Advice Needed | Good Sam Community

39 Replies

time2roll
Nomad
May 12, 2017
Blue Sky is a good cost effective improvement over the Nature Power.
Install and enjoy your trip.

I think Morningstar is a bit better but will cost more and the improvement may not be significant at this level.
KD4UPL
Explorer II
May 12, 2017
Blue Sky makes an excellent charge controller. The IPN remote will allow you to program and monitor a lot of different things with the charge controller; it isn't just for multiple units.
red31
Explorer
May 12, 2017
How much extra do ya get in float?

Ya gonna get to float regularly?

abs should last till .5% of batt capacity.
JimK-NY
Explorer II
May 12, 2017
red31 wrote:
set the nature power to 14.4v when on the road and be done with it.

I actually considered that, but of course the issue is trying to constantly adjust so that the batteries do not float at that voltage. The other issue is the overall efficiency of MPPT which should give me 10 to as much as a 30 percent boost.
red31
Explorer
May 12, 2017
set the nature power to 14.4v when on the road and be done with it.
JimK-NY
Explorer II
May 12, 2017
The way the system was installed I cannot access or change the wiring without trying to remove the solar panels. I believe the prewiring from Northstar was 10 gauge. I have no idea how long the wiring run is. It looks like it would need to be 10 - 15 feet.

What does the IPN do? I thought that was used to manage multiple controllers.
pianotuna
Nomad III
May 12, 2017
Look at the Tracer BN series. It is considerably cheaper than the Blue Sky and is a Morningstar clone. It does allow for a battery temperature sensor and has adjustable voltage sense points IIRC.

What is the voltage on the panels?

The Blue Sky dip switches don't give you much control of the unit. To extract every watt you may need to add the IPN remote to the Blue Sky.
Fubeca
Explorer
May 12, 2017
What are the sizes and lengths of wire from the panels to the controller and from the controller to the batteries?
MrWizard
Moderator
May 12, 2017
to get the most efficient use of your new controller
Reconnect the panels in series, you will gain a little more on morning and afternoon power output

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Solar Charge Controller Advice Needed

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