solar pre-wired questions

pianotuna wrote:

pbitschura wrote:

3 tons wrote:

pbitschura wrote:
Our new rv has an outdoor two pin plug-in for solar. What do I need to take advantage of it? What are it's benefits and limitations? We don't currently have any panels.

Most factory solar wiring is kinda minimalist in AWG wire gauge - you’ll be lucky if it’s #10 AWG gauge, and a lengthy roundtrip wire run (+ & -) adds to overall resistance (meaning excessive voltage drop - ugg…)…As such (if wiring panels in parallel) consider limiting your panel wattage to about 200w or so, or if more wattage is desired, consider wiring the panels in series (to help compensate for small’ish wire gauge) using an MPPT type controller that’ll exploit the higher voltage - or add a separate wiring run (of sufficiently gauge) from the roof-top down…This can often be accomplished by snaking the new wire down through the rooftop refer vent..

3 tons

As has been said, the wiring may not be heavy enough for a substantial system. I see little portable set ups. Can I then use this plug in for a battery maintainer to top it off while boondocking, maybe 100 watts or so? These, I believe come with a charge controller for a minimal system.

A pwm system runs "at the battery voltage". They are basically a switch that closes and opens. As the battery charges they shut off and on with the on time getting shorter and shorter.

Depending on the size of the bank 100 watts may be fine to run directly to a good sized bank. This is not recommended.

Get a good MPPT controller and use the highest voltage on the panel input side of the controller alows.

This allows the use of residential panels which are cheaper per watt.

My personal preference is for polycrystalline. Why? Because in the real world they do better if there is any shade--and since this system is panels in series that's a big thing.

I think you need to do a bit of reading on Polly Vs mono. here I'll sum it up for you

"Polycrystalline panels have lower efficiency rates typically in the 13-16% range. Monocrystalline panels have higher efficiencies in the range of 15-20%.

Because of the lower efficiency rate they are not as space-efficient since they produce less power per square foot.

Polycrystalline panels tend to have lower heat tolerance than monocrystalline solar panels and perform slightly worse than monocrystalline solar panels in high temperatures.

Heat can affect not only the performance of polycrystalline solar panels but is projected to substantially shorten their lifespan.

Polycrystalline panels are also less efficient in low-light condition."

in no way is a polly panel better than a Mono except in how much you pay for the panel.

I'm almost wondering if you're confusing polly for a split cell design as they are more efficient than solid cell in shading.

Steve