Setting up my solar system
I'm in the planning stages of adding solar to my travel trailer. I currently have a battery bank of two 6V flooded lead acid GC batteries in series that is 215 Ah 12 volts. I am planning on adding ...
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Over-panelling a little is a good idea with MPPT as Morningstar recommends. NOT with PWM!
You can add to a maxed- out controller by using a second controller for the added panel and parallel the two controllers. I have three from putting solar sets on this Class C from previous RVs.
A 275W with an Eco-Worthy 20a MPPT,
A 255W with a Tracer 20a MPPT, and
A set of three 100W in parallel with a 30a PWM
(The panels are mounted on the roof in a way that they are easy to remove for when I want to change things.)
All three add their amps when set to similar Absorb voltages. The Tracer and the PWM each have a pre-set two hours in Absorb once the battery voltage gets to that, which is perfect for where we are this time of year.
The Eco-W drops to Float as soon as Absorp voltage is reached, but you can set its Float to up to 14.5. But there it stays with no time limit, so you have to crank that down or it stays there after the other two have dropped to 13.6.
The trick is to get the second controller to be compatible with the first so you don't have to monkey with it all so much.
When/if I steal a set to put on the TC, it will be the 275 and Eco-W, because the other two controllers play better together with that set two hour time their profiles.
You can add to a maxed- out controller by using a second controller for the added panel and parallel the two controllers. I have three from putting solar sets on this Class C from previous RVs.
A 275W with an Eco-Worthy 20a MPPT,
A 255W with a Tracer 20a MPPT, and
A set of three 100W in parallel with a 30a PWM
(The panels are mounted on the roof in a way that they are easy to remove for when I want to change things.)
All three add their amps when set to similar Absorb voltages. The Tracer and the PWM each have a pre-set two hours in Absorb once the battery voltage gets to that, which is perfect for where we are this time of year.
The Eco-W drops to Float as soon as Absorp voltage is reached, but you can set its Float to up to 14.5. But there it stays with no time limit, so you have to crank that down or it stays there after the other two have dropped to 13.6.
The trick is to get the second controller to be compatible with the first so you don't have to monkey with it all so much.
When/if I steal a set to put on the TC, it will be the 275 and Eco-W, because the other two controllers play better together with that set two hour time their profiles.
