Solar JUST to recharging house battery?
I have an old 84 Class C and I am 99% sure the engine alternator does NOT charge the house battery. So I was thinking of just getting ONE solar panel that will JUST charge the house battery while ...
Forum Discussion
I would go for the 100 watt panel and controller before working on alternator charging because it works when not driving, too. If you are a modest user of electricity like us, you will not need any other source of electricity. Our batteries stay over 80% charge all the time and we never plug in.
There is a serendipitous advantage to the panel supplying electrical loads while the sun is shining instead of saving and later withdrawing energy from the batteries - it avoids the energy loss in the battery during charging and discharging.
We do get some benefit from engine charging, perhaps as much as the solar panel (5 amps) when driving. I greatly improved our engine charging by eliminating voltage drops in the wire - there was a poor connection costing nearly a volt and going direct to the battery instead of way over to the battery isolator switch at the door and back added nearly another volt.
I would recommend a battery monitor so you know the battery state of charge. An eBay cheapo works well for me. I have the 25 amp version of This one
There is a serendipitous advantage to the panel supplying electrical loads while the sun is shining instead of saving and later withdrawing energy from the batteries - it avoids the energy loss in the battery during charging and discharging.
We do get some benefit from engine charging, perhaps as much as the solar panel (5 amps) when driving. I greatly improved our engine charging by eliminating voltage drops in the wire - there was a poor connection costing nearly a volt and going direct to the battery instead of way over to the battery isolator switch at the door and back added nearly another volt.
I would recommend a battery monitor so you know the battery state of charge. An eBay cheapo works well for me. I have the 25 amp version of This one
