Renogy 200W solar "suitcase" conflict with 100W roof panel?

Forum for both AC and DC electrical components. From engine alternator to dashboard, inverter to batteries, and everything electrical in-between.
TDJohn
Posts: 552
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 11:34 pm

Re: Renogy 200W solar "suitcase" conflict with 100W roof panel?

Post by TDJohn »

Chuck,

It appears that Tom has six 150w panels, so they would likely be about 59"L by 26"W. If you have roof space, the more the better. Climb on your roof and see where the panels would fit well with minimal shading. Leave just enough room to do maintenance on things like a/c units. BTW, panel efficiencies have advanced over the years, so the panel dimensions that I mentioned can be had in 200 to 210 watts per panel. So one can get a substantial system that would suffice on cloudy and/or short winter days. Of coursed setting the system up for peak efficiency, like running oversized wire to minimize voltage drop, is very important. Boondocking now with plenty of power to run fans devices, mobility scooter, etc. and no need for generator, even though plenty of campers around me are running their generators.
BTW, your suitcase panels, if they have a charge controller on the back of the panel, I would suggest to relocate that charge controller close to your house battery bank. This will improve charging efficiency substantially, especially if your cord is long. Having line voltage loss between the panels and the charger controller is less crucial then having line voltage loss between the charge controller and the battery bank, because the charge controller can still boost the voltage to a degree. Once the power exits the charge controller, there is nothing to compensate the losses. Every tenth of a voltage drop between your charge controller and the battery bank significantly reduces charge efficiency, resulting in a much slower charge and usually not enough voltage to completely top off the battery bank.

As for Tom's original panel, a few posts back, he stated that the panel was shot and that he threw it out...
John
'95 Serengeti, Cummins C8.3-300
Allison 6spd.
chuckster
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:53 pm

Re: Renogy 200W solar "suitcase" conflict with 100W roof panel?

Post by chuckster »

I suppose that if I wait another year, efficiency will go up and (hopefully) prices will go down but who knows about prices in this inflationary period. In any event, I will move the charge controller to within a couple of feet from the batteries. Maybe I'll upgrade the controller to something that will support a much larger system so that I don't buy a new controller later on...or maybe that will be better and cheaper in the future as well.

This winter, I have a lot of interior projects to tackle. Safaritoonces has given me some ideas including ripping out the carpet and tile and laying down some engineered wood flooring. Might even get to painting all of the cabinets and walls as well. My ambition may be larger than my wallet but we are planning a lot more motor home excursions and less travel/vacations away for the next year or two..
Chuck & Mitzi
'01 Safari Zanzibar 3646 (side entry)
Cat 3126B / Allison MD3060
Magnum M-Series "Blue Max" chassis
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland toad
CactusTwo
Posts: 70
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:06 pm

Re: Renogy 200W solar "suitcase" conflict with 100W roof panel?

Post by CactusTwo »

Panel efficiency has moved very slow since I started my training in solar installations in 2013, 19% then, 22% now!! Key issues are wire size and length of wire. As a test, I got a great deal on a Renogy 200watt kit last year ($183.00, a return from Amazon deal) like yours and replaced the wires to the batteries to 10 gauge solar wire, 25 feet worth, from the 14 gauge that came with it. Moving the Voyager solar controller closer to the batteries would NOT help as you would have to protect the controller from weather and change ALL the wires from the panels to the controller as well. Check out http://www.nooutage.com/vdrop.htm Issues are also that when you travel and have the kit put away.....you generate ZERO power for your batteries. My newest purchase for myself just this week is 2 each 195watt EcoWorthy panels (22% by the way) at less than $1.00 usd per watt, to add to my roof system, so my 6 months of winter boondocking this year will be even more satisfying off grid. I run 3 Zooms (Redodo now) 200ah lithium batteries (600aH, 7680watthours) and will be 1040 watts solar panel on roof plus the Renogy 200watt kit (1240watts total). Morning hot water tank (SW12DE) heating with electric, 4-6 hours of Dometic 7732 refer on electric daily, TV at night and daily internet and CPAP machine, LED lights throughout. ALL with power to spare and rechargable within the day. As Bill Edwards says "Ask me how I know" because I do this all day, all year is why! I walk the walk not just talk.
Len and Brenda Nugent
Alberta, Canada, fulltimers since 2012
1996 Safari Serengeti 3740 front door, bought in Feb 2019
Cat 3126 300hp, Allison MD3060, VelvetRide suspension
sold 2008 GMC Duramax 3500 and 37' Cedar Creek 5th wheel
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