Mike@Asheville wrote:
I'm looking at a new truck camper that comes with 100 watts solar panel and control. I use minimal lights, water pump, etc when dry camping solo. Is that sufficient to maintain two batteries while dry camping?
I've had The same Trojan 105 golf cart batteries in my Fiver for 9 years and they are still in good shape. So I'm leaning towards them instead of traditional deep cycle. I know 6 volts have more amp hours but do they charge as quickly?
Thanks
12v charge as quickly as 6v in pairs. It is the AH capacity vs the charging rate at that voltage that decides how quickly.
Find the thread, "My Screwy 31" before considering getting one. Takes some work to "run" one of those successfully. 6v golf car batts are easy to run.
Once your panel wattage meets your daily usage in AH, then the panel ratio to battery bank size doesn't mean anything really. You can have two or a dozen batteries, you are still running daily on solar.
Where the bigger bank comes in is when the weather goes bad so you can last till the sun comes back out. You might still need a generator powered recharge to catch up though.
So as others have said, your 100w panel might be enough for your usage. If not you can get another panel (if your controller can do the extra amps--so get a controller up front that can do two so you don't have to get another and toss that one) Then your pair of 6s is what you can fit in the camper so that's it. Now it is all up to the weatherman whether you will need a generator powered recharge anytime soon.
