Recommended Solar control module for 50W solar panel?

By running the load through the Morningstar, this one;


I'm able to determine current draw for each and every item I've got in the camper. I can determine battery charge capacity by monitoring the charge input and track it to the load output so I can have a good idea of the percent of charge left in my battery.

I know, for example, that my heater's fan draws 3amps on low speed and 5 on high, the current draw of my LED lights, etc. This came in handy when I saw a draw of .5amps but nothing was on. I discovered I had a rechargeable flashlight plugged in that it's battery was going bad and would not charge up fully. I also knew when one of my jack motors was needing service as it was drawing a few amps more than normal.

If you look closely at this controller, you'll see a button that can shed either the solar panels, or the load. Push the button once and all the load is off. Just like the emergency cut-off switch built into the camper but handier.

I'm sure most folks don't care to know that much about what's going on in the camper, but it's sort of a hobby with me.

All my 12v stuff is wired "directly" to the battery. My controller has no load connections.

When I am using the jacks, I simply keep the camper pigtail connected to the plug in the truck bed and start my engine. I have enough slack that I can go up or down high enough to drive the truck out from under the camper. This way the truck engine provides some amps to drive the jacks. The wiring going back to the truck bed is a combination of 10 and 8 gauge wire, so I am probably getting at least 5 amps back there.

Thanks skipro3: I was unaware anyone used the load output to control whole camper. You are the first Ive I heard say they did.
Our controller is rated at 30 amp, but I only use our 'load' output to power one added circuit thats not critical that could potentially drain batteries, IE charging ports for my RC stuff.

Im pretty happy with our morningstar but I don't know thats its robust enough to power entire camper thru it(gen starter, jack- fan motors, etc) not to mention the wiring to it. At least not risking.

While the LVD nice it seemed to me, in what little research I did, to utilize and to ensure its main function of charging batteries wasn't jeopardized (me overloading) was to use relay. Unwilling to go there. I also see occasion that I might be willing to risk dumping battery to watch the last 5 minuets of a movie, raising jacks to escape the zombies irregardless of the controllers smarter decision.

As to the OP- possibly when you upgrade depending on size of panel, you may be able to utilize what you have, running a second controller in parallel. Though adding another controller to handle all, maybe just as cost effective. But down the road. Good luck

edit; saw the other answers

Geewizard wrote:


Skipro3, what kind of solar powered equipment do you deal with? My experience is with remote telemetered seismic monitoring stations.

I deal with remote telemetered Hydrography field monitoring stations. These include stream gauging stations, reservoir elevations, rain cans, snow pillows, air temps, solar radiation, wind speeds, etc. Data is used for the Hydrographers computer modeling programs that determine the predicted watershed for hydro-electric dams as well as early warning for dam failures.

Thanks everyone. I just ordered up the Sunsaver 6 for my 50 w panel. not sure but I think I could add another 50w to it later? since they are less than 3 w and the panel goes to 6? But, If not, it was inexpensive, so If / when I want to upgrade later, no biggie if I need to upgrade it too. Thanks for all of the help. I think this will work well for me for now, I don't do a lot of off grid stuff as of now anyway. This will basically just keep my batteries topped while no shore power is available.

Thanks

I connect my electric Happijacks (and everything else in my TC) directly to the battery, not to the solar controller load terminals. The high current needed for the jacks is for a relatively short time and I want to be able to use the jacks without the solar controller interfering....as it would if I connected the jacks to the LVD-controlled LOAD terminals.

I agree with you on the use of the LOAD connection. I'm not questioning your comments at all. This is for the original poster....

This is from Northern Arizona Wind & Sun (my source for solar equipment):

"What is a Load, or "Low Voltage Disconnect" output?

Some controllers also have a "LOAD", or LVD output, which can be used for smaller loads, such as small appliances and lights. The advantage is that the load terminals have a low voltage disconnect, so it will turn off whatever is connected to the load terminals and keep from running the battery down too far. The LOAD output is often used for small non-critical loads, such as lights. A few, such as the Xantrex C12, can also be used as a lighting controller, to turn lights on at dark, but the Morningstar SLC lighting controller is usually a better choice for that. Do not use the LOAD output to run any but very small inverters. Inverters can have very high surge currents and may blow the controller.

Most systems do not need the LVD function - it can drive only smaller loads. Depending on the rating of the controller, this may be from 6 to 60 amps. You cannot run any but the smallest inverter from the LOAD output. On some controllers, such as the Morningstar SS series, the load output can be used to drive a heavy duty relay for load control, gen start etc. The LOAD or LVD output is most often used in RV & remote systems, such as camera, monitor, and cell phone sites where the load is small and the site is unattended."

Just fyi, that's all.

Skipro3, what kind of solar powered equipment do you deal with? My experience is with remote telemetered seismic monitoring stations.

AnEv942 wrote:

skipro3 wrote:
One other thing I wanted to point out about that Sun Saver MPPT. It has a MAX output load rating of 15amps. My camper has motor driven jacks. They draw almost 30amps when lifting the camper. Because of that, this controller would not work in most campers with motorized jacks.

Ummm? You wouldnt be driving them (jacks, or any other load) directly from solar output.

No. The controller has three connections;
Input (from solar panels)
Battery (the house battery plant)
Output or Load (the feed to the 12 volt buss that everything on 12 volts connects to)

The controller is rated at 15amps OUTPUT or LOAD. The jacks draw 30amps. Even though the batteries could handle that load, the jacks are not connected to the batteries, they are connected to the controller output.

The purpose of the controller output being separate and isolated from battery is mainly to disconnect load when the batteries get too low. This keeps the batteries from being damaged from being drawn too low.

Hope that makes sense.

skipro3 wrote:
One other thing I wanted to point out about that Sun Saver MPPT. It has a MAX output load rating of 15amps. My camper has motor driven jacks. They draw almost 30amps when lifting the camper. Because of that, this controller would not work in most campers with motorized jacks.

Ummm? You wouldnt be driving them (jacks, or any other load) directly from solar output.

This 50W comes with the controller.
http://itechworld.com/collections/solar/products/airflex-mini-solar-panel-kit-50-watt