Solar Kit

BFL13, that's true about the last 10% taking a long time. May rewire suitcase with 10awg as it's 1.5mm (15awg) european and upgrade to the Solar30 putting in connectors to add panel(s).
Thanks

Seems like there is nothing wrong with the solar equipment. Just not enough time in daylight at this time of year. Add to that the long time it takes to recharge a battery from 90% to Full anyway.

SkiSmuggs, what do you think about it not topping off and leaving 5 amps? Do you have the ViewStar 1024n controller? If so, can you adjust the charging limits?

It should be from the batteries as neither the panels or controller have a SOC AFAIK. But your test confirms what I suspected, that 200 or more watts of solar would be needed to fully replenish the battery bank. I am now thinking of 200 on the roof using the Solar30 I ordered and the 100w suitcase to supplement. I may still move the suitcase controller to the RV to minimize loss and allow for longer cable from the panels.

Forgot to mention the panels were up 6 hours and I moved them for maximum affect.

Another question: The controller has a readout that gives temperature and SOC. Where is the state of charge from, panels, contoller or batteries?

Ran a test today. Drained house batteries down 20 amps. Kept fridge running on propane. With fridge going and parasitic drain the draw is .6amps. Connected panels and end of day there was still 5.0 amps down. Panels went into float with .2amps charging at 13.2 volts.
I disconnected panels and started generator. When it settled in it was charging 5.0amps at 14.2 volts. Ran the generator for 20 minutes and the battery monitor showed 3.7 amps down.
So the panels are shutting down too soon before the batteries are fully topped off. The max voltage I saw on the controller was 14.4 volts.
Something I didn't consider was the basic draw of the fridge etc from the panels output. Thus max output of 5.8 gives me only 5.2 amps charging.
Tried to change charging perameters but didn't work. Hope Solar 30 controller will work better.

The OP has the 200w (2x100w) kit, while DAS has the 100w (2x50w) kit.

DAS26miles wrote:
Bought the Renogy 30 watt panel on sale for $60. That should give me the added watts to keep the batteries charged to the point where I would only need the generator for the microwave or DW's hair dryer. 130 watts and it fits perfectly under the dinette seat.

130 watts? Is that a typo or do you have the 100W kit also? Added watts, so never mind.

Bought the Renogy 30 watt panel on sale for $60. That should give me the added watts to keep the batteries charged to the point where I would only need the generator for the microwave or DW's hair dryer. 130 watts and it fits perfectly under the dinette seat.

jrnymn7 wrote:
Was it ever established whether or not the Renogy solar30 was as good as (or better than) than the EP Solar solar30?

I think they are the same unit, just branded differently.