Solar panel

samimiles wrote:
Choosing what type of solar is very complex. So many types of panels! Microinverters? Solar optimizers?

No, actually buying "solar" is not all that "complex".

There are folks who wish to squeeze out every little microwatt out of what they bought making this a very confusing and over the top complex thing.

Think of Solar is just a way of adding a extra "charger" to your batteries which only works when there is enough sun and the panels generate enough voltage to overcome the battery voltage.

So, to get your feet wet in solar, you need a panel that is capable of 16V-17V in full sun and a charge controller.

Charge controller prevents the panel from overcharging the batteries and prevents the battery from being discharged by the panels during cloudy days and at night.

Charge controller comes in two "flavors", the old school method is called PWM (Pulse Width Modulated), is the lowest cost controller and can work well for most folks.

The new kid on the block is MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) which requires min panel voltage to be twice of the output (30V for 12V battery) and it can squeeze a bit more efficiency out of the panels by allowing a bit longer charging when the sun is not as strong.

Solar panels and PWM controllers are pretty inexpensive now days and if you are wanting to try, pick out a 100W panel and a PWM controller (go with 30A controller so you can add a few more panels later).

Amazon has lots of choices in 100W panels and some are as low as $80 and PWM controllers around $20 so for $100 you can get your feet wet with solar and get about 6A of charging capacity which can extend time between running a gen..

Add a second 100W panel and you can get about 12A of charging..