Will this solar system suffice?
I've got a Northstar Laredo SC hard side truck camper which I'd like to put solar panels on and was wondering if this system will suffice. Thanks for your input. 1. I currently have one 12v Int...
Forum Discussion
1) For pwm, you want parallel. pwm basically passes thru the amps, so you want the most you can get... in parallel, amps are added, in series volts are added. With mppt you want series and high volts.
(pwm can be used 12v panels to 12v bank, or 24v panels to 24v bank... but not 24v panels to 12v bank.)
2) either or... it's up to you. if you think you'll need to squeeze every ounce of energy out of the array, (especially spring and fall), go mppt. If mostly summer camping, pwm will work well... in fact, in hot weather, pwm does near as good, if not better (which is still up for debate). :)
3) wire for parallel to be safe... then you can do either. for only 10', panels to controller, personally, i'd go 8awg, but others will likely say 10awg... (I'm not a fan of voltage drop), and it will allow for any future adding on.
4) I like the trimetric, but I think there are cheaper alternatives. An Amp Hour counter is a must have, imo. No idea how the ms meter would work. I know on the tracer, it has no idea what the soc of the bank is, although it likes to pretend it does... but I didn't buy it for monitoring soc, anyway.
5) can't advise you on that. I have a metal roof, and will be using sheet metal screws and butyl gasket.
Also, for 300w, you'll see ~20a thru the pwm controller. You need to allow for another 20%, so 24a... so you need at least a 30a pwm.
And if going with mppt, you need one with a high enough Voc rating to handle those 150w/12v's in series. (panel Voc x2)
(pwm can be used 12v panels to 12v bank, or 24v panels to 24v bank... but not 24v panels to 12v bank.)
2) either or... it's up to you. if you think you'll need to squeeze every ounce of energy out of the array, (especially spring and fall), go mppt. If mostly summer camping, pwm will work well... in fact, in hot weather, pwm does near as good, if not better (which is still up for debate). :)
3) wire for parallel to be safe... then you can do either. for only 10', panels to controller, personally, i'd go 8awg, but others will likely say 10awg... (I'm not a fan of voltage drop), and it will allow for any future adding on.
4) I like the trimetric, but I think there are cheaper alternatives. An Amp Hour counter is a must have, imo. No idea how the ms meter would work. I know on the tracer, it has no idea what the soc of the bank is, although it likes to pretend it does... but I didn't buy it for monitoring soc, anyway.
5) can't advise you on that. I have a metal roof, and will be using sheet metal screws and butyl gasket.
Also, for 300w, you'll see ~20a thru the pwm controller. You need to allow for another 20%, so 24a... so you need at least a 30a pwm.
And if going with mppt, you need one with a high enough Voc rating to handle those 150w/12v's in series. (panel Voc x2)
