150 watts of solar using Lance factory wiring????

[pirlbeck]

I picked up 3 Kyocera KT50 50Watt panels today for almost nothing and would like to put them on my 2009 Lance 845. These are older panels that I think have been discontinued, but the person I got them from says they were never used and while it may be hard to tell, they sure look like that may be true. I have 2 Crown 31DC130 130AH batteries and may decide to add more solar watts later. This Lance will mostly be used as a traveling camper and will not spend many days in one spot, so I am hoping the larger truck wiring I installed takes care of most of my charging needs. That being said, I can also see us taking the camper off occasionally if it looks like we are going to spend several days camped in a base camp and travel to other tourist sites in the general area. I do have a generator for backup but would only like to use it as a last resort.

Here is the spec sheet on these panels.

Kyocera KC50 specs.

Anyway, I would like to use the Lance factory 12ga solar wiring from the roof down to the charge controller. I can use larger wire/cable from the controller to the batteries, so that is not an issue. I really would like to avoid pulling or routing new, larger wiring from the roof down to the solar charge controller. I installed a Trimetric 2030 and wired in a second battery that sits in the bed of the truck and pulling new wires/cables is not a lot of fun in a smaller truck camper like this 845. If possible, I would like to just plug into the Lance installed molded connector already on the roof, but if I have to remove the plug and install a roof junction box, it would not be a huge deal to me.

My main questions are as follows.

1, AM I wasting my time starting with just 150 watts? Open roof space is somewhat limited on this roof, but I think I would be able to find room for at least another 100 watts.

2, Can I wire the panels in parallel and use the 12ga Lance wiring from the roof to the charge controller. I am going to guess that the total length of this wire would be under 10ft, maybe around 7-8 ft. If I went this way I would probably use the Bogart SC-2030 as it will interface with the Trimetric 2030 I already have installed. What is the largest total watts I could get by with running with this set up?

3, Wire the panels in series and use a MPPT controller. If done this way, I would want to add some bypass diodes to the wiring to limit the effect any shading had on the output. From what I have seen, MPPT controller are more expensive then a PWM controller and Bogart does not offer one that would interface with the Trimetric. Anyone have a recommendation for an affordable MPPT controller with a remote panel?

Thanks!

[pianotuna]

Hi my antivirus won't allow me to look at the specifications for the panels.

Do you know what voltage they are?

My first solar system had a scant 30 watts and it served me extremely well, so my opinion is that 150 watts is well worth doing.

For my detailed thoughts on solar, surf here:

https://freecampsites.net/adding-solar/

[OldShu]

Are you a member of LOA (Lance Owners of America) ?

They have a whole section devoted to solar on their website for life time members.

[KD4UPL]

With that short a distance the #12 will be fine. It's certainly not worth pulling new wire for the very small power loss.
150 watts should be pretty good for a small TC like you have. I have 100 watts on mine and it seems to do the job quite nicely.
I would, however, wire the panels in series and use an MPPT charge controller. I know they're more expensive but I feel the additional charging output and wiring flexibility are worth it. I recommend you look at Blue Sky charge controllers.