Portable Solar Panel vs Factory Mounted RV Solar Panels
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Most RV'ers typically research getting new solar panels for their RV. The cheapest and fastest solution is to get some portable solar panels. My 950 watts of factory solar always seemed to perform poorly from day 1. They seem to work ok at noon in the summer when the sun is straight up in the air, but any other time, the shading from the AC units drastically impair their performance. The installation was a poor job from the factory, and could have easily been improved without any costs.
I have the 220 watt portable solar panel from Ecoflow but they are heavy and bulky. I'm sure there are much more friendly portable panels out there.
Amazon Links:
Solar MC4 crimper kit: amzn.to/3V9wY3Z
Solar extension wires I use: amzn.to/3ypn5WF
Solar fuses I use. You need to make sure you get the correct amp rating for your application: amzn.to/3ytaBNS
Most of my videos are some type of DIY videos.
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I believe the pin is what actually determines if male or female. The connector housing with the smaller pin is the male. The connector with the larger barrel pin is the female
Yeah it's odd. If the pins weren't a factor, the plastic mc4 fitting are clear on the male and female piece. The larger diameter (female pin) combines to the male mc4 connector and the smaller diameter male pin combines with the female mc4.
I have a side port for just this. 600 on top, and 400 portable.
Nice. Not sure why mine didn't have a side port.
Interesting that your 30FW has 5 12V panels. My '21 28SS has 8 100W panels wired in series/parallel arrangement for 24V output to the controllers. Clearly a 12V portable panel will not work on the older Dynamax ISATA-5 Xplorer RVs with 24V panel setups without a separate 12V solar controller.
I'm surprised yours is seried in 24 volts. I don't see many 24 volt set ups from OEM. Mine is definitely paralleled 12 volt. Charge controllers are pretty cheap these day but you'd have to run new wires and find a home for it.
Who installed the panels on the roof like that? What a waste of time and money. You could probably get the same output from less than half that amount of panels and controllers if they were mounted away from the A/C shadows
That would be Dynamax factory. Yes it's obvious no one checked the work after the install. Whoever does their quality check should move on from their position.
Nice tq sharing my friend
👍
Do you drive with your starlink up like that? I have similar set up and are wondering if we can do such a thing
Yes. It's one of the first items I installed. I had the same set up on my previous RV as well. It stays on all the time and works flawlessly.
I have a small trailer that has 1500 watts on the roof. Get rid of everything on the roof. Move it somewhere else. Why is it up there. I built my trailer with solar as the only reason to have a roof. It looks like an aircraft carrier.
Sounds like you did it the right way. Everything on the roof has been pre cutout/pre installed by the RV manufacturer. The solar they installed is more of an afterthought. If they planned the equipment location better on the roof, the shading would not have been a problem. Just another item they can charge for but do a poor job on the install. I can redo it all, but not very motivated to start taking apart a newer RV.
umm... hail storm?
No issues with hail. Most modern solar panels can withstand hail. Been through several hail storms with no issues. Maybe once the hail gets to golf ball size, it could be an issue.