New travel trailer, I'm trying to install my solar setup. The easiest way to get the wires down is through the refrigerator vent, but that's a good ways from the battery. Can I tie in directly to the breaker panel? My concern is that the wires from there to the battery may be to small or that that may be too far away to mount the charge controller. Anyone have any advice?Thanks.

You don't say what's in your system. If the controller has remote battery voltage monitoring, it doesn't matter much.

The breaker panel is for 120 AC circuits, your solar controller is sending out 12-18V DC. Generally solar controllers are wired directly to the batteries.

I have two Renogy 250 Watts 24 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Panels: and a Renogy Tracer 4210 40 Amp MPPT Charge Controller:

sch911 wrote:The breaker panel is for 120 AC circuits, your solar controller is sending out 12-18V DC. Generally solar controllers are wired directly to the batteries.The converter/charger portion of the panel is 12 volt for lights, water pump, etc.

I wired mine into under the Fridge.... converter pos and neg, which is at least 12 ft from the batteries. I have a little voltage drop at the batteries, but a little voltage drop never hurt anybody. It works great.

Wiring solar panels straight to breaker panel? | Good Sam Community

16 Replies

doughere
Explorer
Oct 09, 2016
You're looking to be able to put out near 40 amps from your controller.

If you don't have remote voltage sensing, you need to calculate how much voltage drop your existing wiring will experience.

I expect you'll find the drop to be excessive.

Doug
RJsfishin
Explorer
Oct 09, 2016
I wired mine into under the Fridge.... converter pos and neg, which is at least 12 ft from the batteries. I have a little voltage drop at the batteries, but a little voltage drop never hurt anybody. It works great.
JRRNeiklot
Explorer
Oct 09, 2016
sch911 wrote:
The breaker panel is for 120 AC circuits, your solar controller is sending out 12-18V DC. Generally solar controllers are wired directly to the batteries.

The converter/charger portion of the panel is 12 volt for lights, water pump, etc.
JRRNeiklot
Explorer
Oct 09, 2016
I have two
Renogy 250 Watts 24 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Panels:

and a Renogy Tracer 4210 40 Amp MPPT Charge Controller:
sch911
Explorer
Oct 09, 2016
The breaker panel is for 120 AC circuits, your solar controller is sending out 12-18V DC. Generally solar controllers are wired directly to the batteries.
mike-s
Explorer
Oct 09, 2016
You don't say what's in your system. If the controller has remote battery voltage monitoring, it doesn't matter much.

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Wiring solar panels straight to breaker panel?

16 Replies

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