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Simple Portable Solar Advise Please


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#1 OutbacKamper

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Posted 13 August 2018 - 06:12 PM

Hello;

I have searched for and read several other solar threads, but many of them are too technical for my very limited electrical/solar knowledge and involve more complex systems than I am looking for. 

 

My 2013 Hawk has a single 12v deep cycle battery (new Optima blue top). I have a 3 way fridge, so my electrical power needs are low (led lights, occasional Fantastic fan and water pump use). I have no solar at the moment, but my camper came prewired for a portable solar panel. The pre-wire appears to consist of an exterior rear wall 2 conductor weatherproof plug and 2 wires coiled up in the battery compartment.

 

I would like to add a portable folding solar panel, with about 10-20 feet of wire so that the panel can by placed in the sun while the camper is in the shade. Here are my questions:

 

1) Does the factory wiring require a camper mounted controller, or can I buy a portable panel with a built in controller like this?:

61iktjM2pUL._SL1000_.jpg

https://www.amazon.c...ble solar panel

 

2) If the panel with built in controller will work, can I simply attach the factory wires to the battery and plug in the portable panel, or is there more installation required?

3) I am considering a 100W panel - would that would work with the factory wiring?

 

Thanks for any input you may offer.


Edited by OutbacKamper, 13 August 2018 - 06:15 PM.

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#2 radarcontact

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Posted 13 August 2018 - 09:08 PM

Hi ...I can try to help.

 

1)  You most likely need a controller with any portable panel you buy, as I doubt FWC put a controller in your camper.  Check that, but if not, then, yes, get a portable with a controller

 

2)  That's a trickier question.  You have to see how your external plug is wired.  Can you see the back of the plug inside the battery compartment?  If so, see where the red/black wires are attached.  If the red wire is attached to the female side of the external SAE plug, then all is good.  If not, and it's attached to the male side, then it's a Zamp brand SAE receptacle, and you have additional work to do.  If it is a Zamp plug, then you will have to reverse the connections to the battery...i.e., red will have to go to negative, and black to positive. as the connections from the solar panel are coming into the receptacle the opposite way of the color scheme of the Zamp receptacle.  Does that make sense?

 

3) Can you see what gauge wire you have coming out of that external plug?  Most likely it's 12 gauge (12AWG).  If so, that supports up to 20 amps, and for a run of 10-20 feet, which isn't excessively long, you'll be fine.  Most 100W panels I've seen operate at about 5-6 amps in really sunny conditions.  You can usually find the max voltage and amperage of the panel in the manufacturer's spec sheet.

 

Note that the particular plug you referenced from Amazon has alligator clips on the terminal wire ends coming from the controller.  You can attach those directly to the positive and negative terminals on your battery, but since you said you'd prefer to use the external camper receptacle, you'll need a different cable from the controller to the external SAE port.  You can find adapters for that on Amazon as well.


Edited by radarcontact, 13 August 2018 - 09:19 PM.

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#3 OutbacKamper

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Posted 13 August 2018 - 09:57 PM

Thanks for the reply. I will see if I can find the back of the exterior plug as you suggested and investigate further.


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#4 Vic Harder

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Posted 13 August 2018 - 10:04 PM

Hey Outback!  Canadian Tire has a sale on right now for two Coleman 100w panels for $350 (sku 299-5777-2  200W is a nice amount of solar to have to support your single camper battery. 

 

Otherwise, what Radar set is right on too. 

 

Oh, I just notices that those Coleman units don't come with a controller though.  ;-(


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#5 PaulT

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Posted 14 August 2018 - 02:29 AM

Don’t forget to run the wires thru a fuse to the battery. Otherwise, if there were a short across the wires plugged into that rear solar socket, it could get ugly quickly. The battery’s capacity could easily melt the wires and start a fire. Put the fuse close to the battery post

Paul
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#6 radarcontact

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Posted 14 August 2018 - 01:48 PM

The other way to check and see how that external SAE plug/receptacle is wired is to use a voltmeter/multimeter. Hook the wires that are coiled up in your battery compartment to your battery the way the wires indicate, i.e., red to positive terminal, black to negative (what kind of connections do those wires have to the battery, BTW?), and touch the positive, red probe of the voltmeter to the male side of the receptacle, the black probe to the female side:

 

Attach0 (8).jpg

So, touch the red probe to the prong on the left side in this pic, the black to the shielded female side on the right. If you get a positive voltage reading, the SAE receptacle is a Zamp receptacle, and you'll have to reverse the connections going to the battery, if you buy any brand panel other than a Zamp panel.  Zamp does this so that you'll buy their brand panels, which are fine quality, but pretty expensive.  If the voltage reading is negative, you're golden.

From the first post.....here's an example of a cable adapter you can use for the solar controller to your external SAE plug/receptacle:

https://www.amazon.c...o ring 12 gauge

You'll probably have to snip those loop connectors off the ends in order to attach them to the solar controller.  This particular connector has a built-in inline fuse, like Paul suggested (although this fuse would be external to the battery compartment.  I think it would accomplish the same objective, but maybe Paul can elaborate further).  It's 16 gauge wire, so it can handle the amperage from your 100W panel fine.  If you go to two 100W panels, as Vic suggested, I would probably upgrade the connector to a thicker gauge, as this one has a 10A fuse, and, with two 100W panels you'd be over amperage at max capacity (though I believe the 16 gauge would be fine for up to 13 amps....if you put a 12.5A fuse in there you should be OK w/ 2 panels).  BTW, that connection (solar panel to SAE connector) is another place where you could potentially reverse the polarity of your wires.  If you have a Zamp plug and you didn't want to reverse them at the battery for some reason, you could reverse them coming out of the solar controller.  Your choice.

If you look at the write-up on Amazon for the HQST panel you said you wanted, they have a spec sheet there with the voltage and amperage at optimum.  Listed optimum voltage is 17.8V, and optimum amperage is 5.68A.


Edited by radarcontact, 14 August 2018 - 02:01 PM.

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#7 OutbacKamper

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Posted 16 August 2018 - 12:51 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will be doing some traveling until early September, so I will not be posting much for a while. Once I return I intend to investigate further and will post with updates of my portable solar progress.


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#8 muttmaster

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Posted 04 November 2018 - 11:44 PM

Good detailed instruction radarcontact, but your write up still confused me a bit. I have a 2016 Grandby with rear wall ZampSolar SAE plug. I tested as in your write up. I have 160 watts on the roof and ZampSolar controller. I want to use my Renogy portable 100 watts to plug in the rear wall plug if I am parked in the shade. I used the included spare SAE plug with bare wire at the end of 20” wire and crimped on MC4 plugs. I just wired the plugs positive to positive, negative to negative wires. Why all the confusing language about reversing polarities, etc.
my main question is whether it is ok to use my Renogy 100 watts portable with controller and plug into the rear wall plug, which I believe is wired into the onboard ZampSolar controller, or do I need to bypass the controller on my Renogy.
I use my portable on my travel trailer directly to the batteries so rather not bypass the controller every time I need to use on the Grandby. Would having the voltage going thru two different controllers in line damage anything?
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#9 Vic Harder

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Posted 05 November 2018 - 12:40 AM

Good detailed instruction radarcontact, but your write up still confused me a bit. I have a 2016 Grandby with rear wall ZampSolar SAE plug. I tested as in your write up. I have 160 watts on the roof and ZampSolar controller. I want to use my Renogy portable 100 watts to plug in the rear wall plug if I am parked in the shade. I used the included spare SAE plug with bare wire at the end of 20” wire and crimped on MC4 plugs. I just wired the plugs positive to positive, negative to negative wires. Why all the confusing language about reversing polarities, etc.
my main question is whether it is ok to use my Renogy 100 watts portable with controller and plug into the rear wall plug, which I believe is wired into the onboard ZampSolar controller, or do I need to bypass the controller on my Renogy.
I use my portable on my travel trailer directly to the batteries so rather not bypass the controller every time I need to use on the Grandby. Would having the voltage going thru two different controllers in line damage anything?

Radarcontact's cautions are right on.  He is saying that you can't just wire positive to positive, etc.. without checking that the connector is in fact wired that way.  SOME of the ZAMP's are wired in reverse!   So check it with a multi meter before plugging it in.


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#10 muttmaster

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Posted 05 November 2018 - 01:07 AM

I used test light to check polarity at the Rear SAE plug and used multimeter as radarcontact suggested. SOME ZAmp plugs may have reversed polarity, but mine was “correct” I called tech at ZAmp, and he said there is no standard as to which side is set pos or beg and they do the reverse for safety reasons? Anyway, can I use my Renogy with controller and plug in the rear SAE that goes to my onboard ZAmp controller? Can’t wait to install another Trimetric setup as I did in my older Grandby per your instruction Vic thanks.
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