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

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chuckster
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:53 pm

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

Post by chuckster »

I bought a 200W Renogy solar suitcase with the panels on a kickstand and wondering if I can just connect them to the four Interstate GC2 6v house batteries right to the battery posts (correctly, in 12v fashion). The coach has a Xantrex Freedom Combi inverter and there is a single 100W panel on the roof that I believe is original equipment. I am not sure if the roof solar panel is maintaining the chassis batteries or the house batteries.

My concern is do I have to worry about the 2 different solar charging sources (roof/suitcase) being hooked up at the same time and using the inverter while they are hooked up?
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 »

Yes, you can just hook them up to the batteries using the correct charging parameters as your batteries, lead acid, AGM, Gel or Lithium as you have. However whichever charging system is attached to the batteries that is the least efficient that one will shut off when IT thinks it has charged to the best of its programming and say FULL but the other charging systems will continue until they think they have charged to their best. I say this because an inverter charger unit while plugged in will say FULL and solar continues could keep going.
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
chuckster
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:53 pm

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

Post by chuckster »

Makes sense, Len.

Anyone know how the solar panel on the roof that came with the coach hooks up to the coach. I may disconnect it for now and completely remove it if I decide to go solar on top.
Chuck & Mitzi
'01 Safari Zanzibar 3646 (side entry)
Cat 3126B / Allison MD3060
Magnum M-Series "Blue Max" chassis
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland toad
TDJohn
Posts: 552
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 11:34 pm

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

Post by TDJohn »

chuckster wrote: Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:56 pm Makes sense, Len.

Anyone know how the solar panel on the roof that came with the coach hooks up to the coach. I may disconnect it for now and completely remove it if I decide to go solar on top.
Your solar panels should be connected to your batteries via a small fuse panel in the battery compartment (it is camouflaged in there), that same panel also should contain the fuse and relay for your CAT ECM and the Allison TCM. Unless you need the room, and assuming the original panel(s) produce power, I would suggest to rewire them to charge/maintain your chassis batteries. This is what I did and the panels do a great job at maintaining my chassis batteries that are now 12 years old and performing well. Your small charge controller should be located in the engine compartment on your bed box wall. Considering that you have a bedroom slide, it may be in a different area, like the electrical compartment in front of your driver's side front tire.
Your small OEM charge controller should likely look like this one in the link below...

http://www.specialtyconcepts.com/SPECIA ... _SHEET.pdf
John
'95 Serengeti, Cummins C8.3-300
Allison 6spd.
CactusTwo
Posts: 70
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:06 pm

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

Post by CactusTwo »

Yes John "TDJohn" has it right as I too repurposed my solar roof panel with a new "cheap" controller and wire to my engine battery bank. I cut out as much of the old under gauged solar wire starting at the panel. It was all 14 g or 16g and is way tooo small for solar but back in late 90's and early 2000's that was good enough for the technology they knew about.....like the Studebaker car, no more driving on the roads. 10g or 12g solar UV protected wire, a $25.00 solar controller and some lug connectors off Amazon....made in the shade or sun I guess. Use the Renogy with the alligator clips for now on the ground and start a NEW project of a Solar system from scratch when you are ready.
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
astrnmrtom
Posts: 167
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:49 pm

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

Post by astrnmrtom »

Can't say exactly for sure on your year and model but on my '98 Serengeti the controller is in the exterior electrical compartment near the left front wheel. It's in the upper left corner. Mine had a 75watt panel that was completely dead. Put out less than 1 volt in full sun and several of the wafers had sections that were missing. In the schematic mine is labeled "Chassis Solar Panel."

When I added two more panels recently I removed the factory panel but left the brackets in place, and attached the new brackets to those. Doing so meant a fewer new holes in the roof.

There are people with quite large systems that run multiple controllers, and they all play well together. As described previously one charge controller can fool another into thinking the batteries are full, but it always works out. If you are plugged in and your onboard converter is in control your batteries get charged, especially at night. When not plugged in, your solar takes over. When driving your alternator is in charge.

When I was considering adding more panels, I considered a large foldable set that I could use if we parked in the shade but with all my toys and stuff, storage is tight, so I decided to just go with roof mounted. If I'm in a place where the portables might have helped, I can always run one of my generators, the coach's or my little portable. I see quite a few people using folding portable panels. With them you have a little more freedom. With roof mounted panels I do my best to park at a certain direction to get optimal sun exposure and this isn't always possible in ever campground.Portables wouldn't have this requirement.

Good luck with you project.
Tom and Pris Masterson, w/ Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat.
1998 Serengeti 3706
300hp Cat 3126, Allison 3060
900 Watts of Solar
17cf, Fisher & Paykel residential Refrigerator
Dragging four telescopes around the US seeking dark skies.
chuckster
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:53 pm

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

Post by chuckster »

astrnmrtom wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 8:06 pm Can't say exactly for sure on your year and model but on my '98 Serengeti the controller is in the exterior electrical compartment near the left front wheel. It's in the upper left corner. Mine had a 75watt panel that was completely dead. Put out less than 1 volt in full sun and several of the wafers had sections that were missing. In the schematic mine is labeled "Chassis Solar Panel."

When I added two more panels recently I removed the factory panel but left the brackets in place, and attached the new brackets to those. Doing so meant a fewer new holes in the roof.

There are people with quite large systems that run multiple controllers, and they all play well together. As described previously one charge controller can fool another into thinking the batteries are full, but it always works out. If you are plugged in and your onboard converter is in control your batteries get charged, especially at night. When not plugged in, your solar takes over. When driving your alternator is in charge.

When I was considering adding more panels, I considered a large foldable set that I could use if we parked in the shade but with all my toys and stuff, storage is tight, so I decided to just go with roof mounted. If I'm in a place where the portables might have helped, I can always run one of my generators, the coach's or my little portable. I see quite a few people using folding portable panels. With them you have a little more freedom. With roof mounted panels I do my best to park at a certain direction to get optimal sun exposure and this isn't always possible in ever campground.Portables wouldn't have this requirement.

Good luck with you project.
Well, it looks like your signature has changed from 600W of power to 900W of power recently 8-)

My 200W solar “suitcase” takes up a bit of room in the side compartment and I have to pack such that I need to remove a few things to get to it but we don’t boondock but rarely and only for a day or two when we do. We are about 5 years away from retiring and have given thought to traveling 6 months of the year to see if full time might suit us. We had thoughts of a newer motor home but you know what? I really love our Safari and could pour $10-$20k into some interior renovations and be perfectly happy with it. I am happy with it already. They are sturdy and well-made and with only 50K miles on my CAT 3126B she is just now broken in well after 21 years. :lol:

I’ll probably go roof-mounted at some point though. Thanks to you guys and YouTube there is plenty of information about solar RV installations.

Stay well,
Chuck & Mitzi
'01 Safari Zanzibar 3646 (side entry)
Cat 3126B / Allison MD3060
Magnum M-Series "Blue Max" chassis
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland toad
chuckster
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:53 pm

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

Post by chuckster »

TDJohn wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:29 am
chuckster wrote: Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:56 pm Makes sense, Len.

Anyone know how the solar panel on the roof that came with the coach hooks up to the coach. I may disconnect it for now and completely remove it if I decide to go solar on top.
Your solar panels should be connected to your batteries via a small fuse panel in the battery compartment (it is camouflaged in there), that same panel also should contain the fuse and relay for your CAT ECM and the Allison TCM. Unless you need the room, and assuming the original panel(s) produce power, I would suggest to rewire them to charge/maintain your chassis batteries. This is what I did and the panels do a great job at maintaining my chassis batteries that are now 12 years old and performing well. Your small charge controller should be located in the engine compartment on your bed box wall. Considering that you have a bedroom slide, it may be in a different area, like the electrical compartment in front of your driver's side front tire.
Your small OEM charge controller should likely look like this one in the link below...

http://www.specialtyconcepts.com/SPECIA ... _SHEET.pdf
Thanks, TDJohn. I’ll be changing my own oil for the first time this weekend so I’ll hunt it down.
Chuck & Mitzi
'01 Safari Zanzibar 3646 (side entry)
Cat 3126B / Allison MD3060
Magnum M-Series "Blue Max" chassis
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland toad
astrnmrtom
Posts: 167
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:49 pm

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

Post by astrnmrtom »

Just reread my post and thought I'd clarify something in case someone reads it and misunderstands what I did. When I removed the factory panel and added the two new ones I did NOT connect the new ones to the original single panel wiring and controller. I cut and capped the wire at the panel and abandoned it in place. I added them to my self-installed set-up. FYI, I have 3 pairs or panels each pair wired in series to give 42 volts, then the three pairs wired in parallel to the MPPT controller. With the higher voltage I get a little more charging time out of the system, and having the pairs in parallel makes the system a little more shade proof. If one or two pairs gets shaded, they won't drag down the remaining panels.

Our plans this year are to do some more boondocking than in the past, and since I spent the summer camping in one campground, I took advantage of the time and did a bunch of projects including adding another pair of panels. My 600 watts worked quite well for the past two years, but it did fall short on cloudy days. I had an extra free connection on the Y adapters on the roof so adding another pair was as simple as mounting them and plugging them in.

We too really like our Serengeti. It's served us well full timing and touring the US since 2020. Ours too is "just broken in" with 47K on the 25 year old clock. (1997 build date)

Tom
Tom and Pris Masterson, w/ Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat.
1998 Serengeti 3706
300hp Cat 3126, Allison 3060
900 Watts of Solar
17cf, Fisher & Paykel residential Refrigerator
Dragging four telescopes around the US seeking dark skies.
chuckster
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:53 pm

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

Post by chuckster »

Hi Tom,

Nice of you to continue your solar panel story. You “abandoned” the original panel? That tells me you left it installed on the roof.

Any reason you didn’t dedicate it, repurpose it for your chassis batteries?
How large are the panels you used in terms of dimensions? Does it pretty much consume your rooftop?
How do you fit that on your roof? Just in the middle? Separated by middle and rear of motor home?
Do you have them motorized to lift and/or tilt? If so, can you control the direction? Or do they always lay flat?

I imagine you took a lot of pictures. Maybe you could start a new post and share or point us to a web site you have?

See, you are not done with your story yet! :lol:
Chuck & Mitzi
'01 Safari Zanzibar 3646 (side entry)
Cat 3126B / Allison MD3060
Magnum M-Series "Blue Max" chassis
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland toad
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