We are FTers who boondock most of the time. I have 4,400 watts of solar on the roof of my Class A motorhome, racked over my AC shrouds, roof vents, etc., and it will indeed run my air conditioners and other 120v appliances through my 5000W 48V Sunpower Gold inverter/charger without any batteries at all, as long as I have sufficient sunshine. If you have enough solar you can run things directly from your panels without a battery in the loop. BTW, I don't need to park in the shade because I carry my own shade with me. I also have another 620-watt liftable array on the side of my MH to charge my smaller, 560ah 12v LiFePo-4 battery bank that's easy to clean without climbing on the roof. It doubles as a nice window awning too.
Thanks for the pros and cons of rooftop and portable solar panel systems. With your information I will check into buying portable solar panels to supplement my rooftop solar panels. Again thanks for your background information about what you have used in the your other RVs.
Good overview! Even though the STO has only 90 watts on the roof, it’s a big plus to have a solar controller and an external port already built in. I deploy my portable panels whenever I plan to stay in one place more than three days. Sure beats having to run the engine! I’m also a fan of the Bugout 130s and recommend them whenever folks see mine deployed.
Hey Joe, talk about timing as I've just done accomparision the other day with our class B (in Australia), this was my post to our group... Applause - Rooftop solar vs folding portables. BTw , the van was in full sun at the time although being in our Winter the sun was low in the sky. Early this morning I hung the 300W folding panels off the side and whille we had some direct sun the folding panels were generating 6W and at the same time the 360W roof panels were generating 2W. That shows you can get three times the output from direct sun vs indirect in a best case scenario, of course the roof mounted panels will perform much better in Summer than in Winter.
Good video. For us, the best is 300 W up on top of the sprinter and one panel that is 100 W. We can sit out when we are parked in the shade. We keep the portable panel underneath the bed mattress. It’s a great place to keep it out of the way
I now have two of the Newpowa 200 watt 9BB panels and they have worked out great to feed our Ecoflow Delta Max or Delta 1300. They are bolted to our wood deck up there, it would be very difficult for them to be stolen. We also have a Victron DC to DC charger in our 2018 DIY Ford Transit 250. So we have two ways to recharge our lithiums, regardless of whether if we are driving. But 90% of the time we have shore power anyway.
With my WBG Solis I have 200Ah of lithium for the coach, 2000Wh Bluetti power station, and a 220W panel on the roof. I bought 3 110W flexible panels to both supplement my roof panel and recharge the Bluetti. Like you, I can position them on the windshield, but I also built a little frame so I can set them up at an angle for maximum energy from the sun. At about 2’x4’ you would have to figure out a storage strategy - it works for me because they’re so thin I can keep them under a mattress. No A/C, no generator, no second alternator - but plenty of power for the Instant Pot, toaster oven, blender, induction cooktop, the usual electronics. I rarely plug in to shore power.
We have a square drop and use a portable solar panel. I did all of the installation for our solar set up as our square drop just had the Zamp (SAE] plug with a short length of wire. I wired the solar panel input so you can send the power to the charge controller for the camper battery or an interior Zamp (SAE) plug so you can charge a power station with the power station being inside. A decent DIY, budget build.
My rig has 2 panels on the roof and 2, 100ah lithium batteries. We just did our first boondocking trip (video is up on my UA-cam page 😊) and we made it 3 days, 2 nights off the batteries. Microwave time of maybe 10 minutes, led lights, fan, Keurig coffeemaker and the water pump. No AC needed. No cell service either 😂. We never ran out of power. Batteries last the whole time. My GOAL is the battle born batteries kit from dragonfly technologies that is a drop in replacement for our onan generator. Saw it at the Tampa show this year. It’s a prototype but coming soon. Also add in an additional 200amp hour batteries I already have. Comes with a 3000w inverter for AC use. Kits are made for my E450 V10 that can hold a second alternator. So that would be a direct charger for the lithium batteries through s DC to DC charger. I’d like to throw in a ground panel port to deploy a panel in the sun if I’m a little shady. Follow my channel to see that happen in the future ✌🏼
We started with a 200watt solar suitcase and 200ah batteries. We then went to 320 watts solar on the roof for the always on feature and kept the suitcase, because you just can't beat the ability to point the panels where the sun is throughout the day. We now have 1300 watts of solar on the roof and 1080 ah batteries and are now looking at a folding portable solar panel, like you guys have, because we like how small it packs up and how lightweight it is compared to the suitcase. Great video Joe!
Great video! You cover all that we've learned in a non technical way. ( Will Prouse does the simplified technical stuff very well). Both for us was the solution that worked well. Only comment, we also have longer extension lines (10 awg) for the portable system, with a CC -- inexpensive too.
I’ve just moved from portable to fixed on the roof mostly because portable is so much faff, you need to store them somewhere, get them out every time you stop and you can only use them when you are stopped. On the roof they just do their thing and you almost for get they are there. The only benefit of portable is if you park in the shade you can use a long lead and still get solar
Started in Subaru with Goal Zero battery so paired with GZ nomad panels. Now in a Storyteller LT there is so much battery capacity I only bring the panels if I know I'm going to be stationary for more than a few days. A short drive takes the STO from low to full in no time. 400W of solar. I'm working out of the van so running Starlink and desktop computer / monitor most of the day along with the usual cooktop and microwave use. The GZ nomad panels are bulky when folded at 28 x 22. They include kick stands to point them directly at sun although I typically just lay them flat so I don't have to mess with moving them about. If I were to do it again I'd get something more compact like the Bugout panels you are using.
I really like your folding solar panels. I’m not a climb on the roof kind of person. I love the setup Less Junk More Journey did with an EcoFlow Delta. I don’t understand it all lol but it’s on their We’re RVing to Another Country video a few months ago. You will understand the set up. Living in Canada, I don’t think many install lithium. Seems like this would work best for me. Let me know what you think if you check it out. EcoFlow also has another more $$ solar generator that has a 30 amp plug in for your RV but it’s over 100 lbs. The Delta Pro.
4WC with 220ah (110ah usable) and fixed 100w panel on roof with 1000w inverter. I have 200w auxiliary portable solar panel with 40 feet of cord. The only time I use the portable is when I have a short sun window to bring my batts back up from inverting to AC to recharge my eBike batteries. If I have all day sun the roof top will do the job. I don’t invert to AC for anything else. I also use the portable when the truck camper is in the shade and to supplement power in cloudy weather and or high latitudes like Alaska, Yukon, NWT, etc.
Now have 400 watts of fixed solar panels on the roof of my 2012, 24 foot, 3500XD Sprinter. They have been in use for over 8 years now and are perfect to keep batteries topped off when van sits for extended periods in my driveway, for a week or two. When traveling they help extend our boondocking capability to exceed or water capacity as long as we don't need AC. Our next van will be a short 144"WB Sprinter so fixed roof solar will be only 200 watts. Plan to augment that with portable panels.
Thanks so much for this. We've been planning to add portable panels but challenged by storage space. Im thinking I could get or make a good water tight bag for those Bugout panels you have and carry em on the roof when not in use.
My rooftop panels are mounted close enough to the escape hatch, that I can stand on bed and clean the panels from escape hatch. No roof crawling necessary. Anything “ground mounted” will get whizzed on by all the passing male dogs.
WTR,HELLO JIM,AND KAIT,I NEVER KNERBYOU HAD SOLAR,ON YOUR POPUP TRUCK,as originally,you said it was not possible,Lots of people don’t know that PANASONIC,makes the most powerful,for size,but is most expensive units, there are so many portable solar units,,,,, stay well,🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I am not a fan of portable panels. Flexible panels as ground base are superior to overpriced portable panels. On my van I use big rooftop panels. If I need more power or park under trees, I can use my ground base panels with an extention cord. The key to making this work with one charge controller is matching the voltages. It's so easy.
Do you guys think STO put such small amount of solar for any tax or government compliance reasons? (since the Volta Lithium system is so powerful?) Great video!
From what I see, RV solar is not much help unless you have several thousand Watts. I have 300 W on the roof of my Sprinter but I get at most about 100 W out of it on a clear day at noon. Basically it runs my fridge and charges my battery a tiny bit. Here's some math: 100 W - 50 W (fridge) leaves about 50 W to charge the battery, and that's the max for any given day. On average you'll get maybe 20W over the course of 8 hours of measurable power. That's 160 Wh. If you have a 12,000 Wh system that's going to raise your battery level about 1%. And again, that's 1% on an ideal day. On average it'll be a lot less than that. A much better solution is a second alternator - a 6 kW alternator will provide the equivalent of 8 hours of solar in a few minutes at idle.
Yes. Exactly this! And this, in my opinion is the only reason to choose for portable solar panels. The ANGLE. The angel is so incredibly making a difference. Flat laying on the roof is doing nothing. In an angle of +/- 45 degrees makes a huge difference and facing it exactly to the sun does as well. I have 220W on the roof and on a very good day it does 220W a DAY! The portable one is 120W and if I turn it around a bit during the day, it actually reaches like 100W an HOUR! Too bad that's not mentioned in this video. He might not even know because he has them laying flat on the grass
I suggest learning a lot more about solar and battery set ups. You’d need a massive amount of battery power and solar to run AC for 24 hours. You might be better off buying a generator.
Camper Van portable solar is my go to cuz storage on roof is more important. Great vid thanks for sharing your on hands knowledge as well as in the comments. BTW when your wife was cooking in the RV I recognized what looks like the camping spot in North Ventura, CA Coast Off PCH-1 with Amtrak above that background 101-Freeway ☘️🚐☘️👍👍⬆️
I use a the tire iron and wedge it against the seat. Idle around 1800 rpm. A tension rod from Walmart works the best. There are also after market products that you can add to high idle the engine. Tire iron is free 😎
Great Video. Thanks. So how do I add a portable system to my existing system, which is a factory 165W panel and a 25A MPPT controller? I want the option to add a portable system to harvest power which parked in the shade and then have both work correctly when both are in the sun. This requirement seems to alude some RV and controller suppliers. Any thoughts?
I can’t say without knowing more about your system. If you have a panel with an inline controller you can connect directly to the battery. It also sounds like your controller now has room for more capacity and you could add a plug for external panels but you’d have to know where and what gauge wiring you have now to see if it can support it.
Sound like you have a similar issue as I. Our new Grand Design RV came with a Furrion 40amp MPPT and one 165w solar panel. I would add that the Furrion Panel has proprietary connections. My plan is to (after disconnecting the load) disconnect the panel at the MPPT and then install MC-4 connections at the charge controller that is housed in the pass through. I then plan to have the ability to add a second panel using that connection point to either add a second portable panel in series or parallel depending on conditions by merging the two inputs right at the charge controller. My particular RV has a opening below the pass through to send hose, wire,extension cord etc., so I will probably just use that access when I wish to add the portable to the system. Also If ‘We’re the Russo’has any thoughts or input on my idea I would much appreciate the feedback.
What do you mean purely running off of solar is incorrect? Thousands of people do that. You can absolutely run directly off solar. Yes, solar is to charge your battery to store that power. But to sit and say such a crazy thing like you cannot run directly off. Your solar is completely untrue. I don't even know why you just made that statement🙄🙄
Because nothing is tied into the solar directly. The solar runs into a charge controller and then into the battery system. If you’re running the AC, for example, you can disconnect the solar and the AC will keep on running. The batteries will discharge faster since no solar is coming in to replenish the batteries but the solar energy is not going directly into the AC. The problem with solar is that the energy coming from it is not consistent - it varies greatly depending on where the sun is, the clouds etc. So if you tried running a light, for example, purely from solar it would flicker, get really bright, dim and so on.
Here is a link to the portable panels we’ve been using for the last three years: bit.ly/3oaMwXw
this link is broken fyi
Always great to see my old buddy LEO in one of your videos…brings back some very fond memories for sure ❤
Great video , I was just contemplating which solar panels I should get for my truck camper
We are FTers who boondock most of the time. I have 4,400 watts of solar on the roof of my Class A motorhome, racked over my AC shrouds, roof vents, etc., and it will indeed run my air conditioners and other 120v appliances through my 5000W 48V Sunpower Gold inverter/charger without any batteries at all, as long as I have sufficient sunshine. If you have enough solar you can run things directly from your panels without a battery in the loop. BTW, I don't need to park in the shade because I carry my own shade with me. I also have another 620-watt liftable array on the side of my MH to charge my smaller, 560ah 12v LiFePo-4 battery bank that's easy to clean without climbing on the roof. It doubles as a nice window awning too.
Thanks for the pros and cons of rooftop and portable solar panel systems. With your information I will check into buying portable solar panels to supplement my rooftop solar panels. Again thanks for your background information about what you have used in the your other RVs.
You're very welcome Larry
Excellent video! I'm a newly-minted retiree, just bought a Class C Motorhome for full-time RVing. Joe, you're my go-to guy! 👍👍
Best of luck!
This was really informative and helpful. Thank you!
You're very welcome!
I see you there Raymond!
Good overview! Even though the STO has only 90 watts on the roof, it’s a big plus to have a solar controller and an external port already built in. I deploy my portable panels whenever I plan to stay in one place more than three days. Sure beats having to run the engine! I’m also a fan of the Bugout 130s and recommend them whenever folks see mine deployed.
Thanks Dan!
Hey Joe, talk about timing as I've just done accomparision the other day with our class B (in Australia), this was my post to our group... Applause - Rooftop solar vs folding portables. BTw , the van was in full sun at the time although being in our Winter the sun was low in the sky.
Early this morning I hung the 300W folding panels off the side and whille we had some direct sun the folding panels were generating 6W and at the same time the 360W roof panels were generating 2W.
That shows you can get three times the output from direct sun vs indirect in a best case scenario, of course the roof mounted panels will perform much better in Summer than in Winter.
Good video. For us, the best is 300 W up on top of the sprinter and one panel that is 100 W. We can sit out when we are parked in the shade.
We keep the portable panel underneath the bed mattress. It’s a great place to keep it out of the way
I now have two of the Newpowa 200 watt 9BB panels and they have worked out great to feed our Ecoflow Delta Max or Delta 1300. They are bolted to our wood deck up there, it would be very difficult for them to be stolen. We also have a Victron DC to DC charger in our 2018 DIY Ford Transit 250. So we have two ways to recharge our lithiums, regardless of whether if we are driving. But 90% of the time we have shore power anyway.
With my WBG Solis I have 200Ah of lithium for the coach, 2000Wh Bluetti power station, and a 220W panel on the roof. I bought 3 110W flexible panels to both supplement my roof panel and recharge the Bluetti. Like you, I can position them on the windshield, but I also built a little frame so I can set them up at an angle for maximum energy from the sun. At about 2’x4’ you would have to figure out a storage strategy - it works for me because they’re so thin I can keep them under a mattress. No A/C, no generator, no second alternator - but plenty of power for the Instant Pot, toaster oven, blender, induction cooktop, the usual electronics. I rarely plug in to shore power.
🎉thank you for a easy to understand solar how to
I have the same storyteller and have all my questions answered
Thanks again
We have a square drop and use a portable solar panel. I did all of the installation for our solar set up as our square drop just had the Zamp (SAE] plug with a short length of wire. I wired the solar panel input so you can send the power to the charge controller for the camper battery or an interior Zamp (SAE) plug so you can charge a power station with the power station being inside. A decent DIY, budget build.
My rig has 2 panels on the roof and 2, 100ah lithium batteries. We just did our first boondocking trip (video is up on my UA-cam page 😊) and we made it 3 days, 2 nights off the batteries. Microwave time of maybe 10 minutes, led lights, fan, Keurig coffeemaker and the water pump. No AC needed. No cell service either 😂. We never ran out of power. Batteries last the whole time.
My GOAL is the battle born batteries kit from dragonfly technologies that is a drop in replacement for our onan generator. Saw it at the Tampa show this year. It’s a prototype but coming soon. Also add in an additional 200amp hour batteries I already have. Comes with a 3000w inverter for AC use.
Kits are made for my E450 V10 that can hold a second alternator. So that would be a direct charger for the lithium batteries through s DC to DC charger. I’d like to throw in a ground panel port to deploy a panel in the sun if I’m a little shady. Follow my channel to see that happen in the future ✌🏼
We started with a 200watt solar suitcase and 200ah batteries. We then went to 320 watts solar on the roof for the always on feature and kept the suitcase, because you just can't beat the ability to point the panels where the sun is throughout the day. We now have 1300 watts of solar on the roof and 1080 ah batteries and are now looking at a folding portable solar panel, like you guys have, because we like how small it packs up and how lightweight it is compared to the suitcase. Great video Joe!
Correction, we now have 1010 ah. I may or may not have had a few Captain & Cokes while writing that comment 🥃
Sounds like you can ALMOST keep up with running the AC in that thing with your solar! Pretty impressive even if you did fub the numbers ;)
A lot of practical information. 👍👍
Great video! You cover all that we've learned in a non technical way. ( Will Prouse does the simplified technical stuff very well). Both for us was the solution that worked well. Only comment, we also have longer extension lines (10 awg) for the portable system, with a CC -- inexpensive too.
Hi , Graham from Scotland. Great video & great advice. Many thanks 👍👍👍🏴
Glad it was helpful!
I’ve just moved from portable to fixed on the roof mostly because portable is so much faff, you need to store them somewhere, get them out every time you stop and you can only use them when you are stopped.
On the roof they just do their thing and you almost for get they are there.
The only benefit of portable is if you park in the shade you can use a long lead and still get solar
I was going to answer this exactly.
Started in Subaru with Goal Zero battery so paired with GZ nomad panels. Now in a Storyteller LT there is so much battery capacity I only bring the panels if I know I'm going to be stationary for more than a few days. A short drive takes the STO from low to full in no time. 400W of solar. I'm working out of the van so running Starlink and desktop computer / monitor most of the day along with the usual cooktop and microwave use. The GZ nomad panels are bulky when folded at 28 x 22. They include kick stands to point them directly at sun although I typically just lay them flat so I don't have to mess with moving them about. If I were to do it again I'd get something more compact like the Bugout panels you are using.
I really like your folding solar panels.
I’m not a climb on the roof kind of person.
I love the setup Less Junk More Journey did with an EcoFlow Delta. I don’t understand it all lol but it’s on their We’re RVing to Another Country video a few months ago. You will understand the set up. Living in Canada, I don’t think many install lithium. Seems like this would work best for me. Let me know what you think if you check it out.
EcoFlow also has another more $$ solar generator that has a 30 amp plug in for your RV but it’s over 100 lbs. The Delta Pro.
4WC with 220ah (110ah usable) and fixed 100w panel on roof with 1000w inverter. I have 200w auxiliary portable solar panel with 40 feet of cord. The only time I use the portable is when I have a short sun window to bring my batts back up from inverting to AC to recharge my eBike batteries. If I have all day sun the roof top will do the job. I don’t invert to AC for anything else. I also use the portable when the truck camper is in the shade and to supplement power in cloudy weather and or high latitudes like Alaska, Yukon, NWT, etc.
Now have 400 watts of fixed solar panels on the roof of my 2012, 24 foot, 3500XD Sprinter. They have been in use for over 8 years now and are perfect to keep batteries topped off when van sits for extended periods in my driveway, for a week or two. When traveling they help extend our boondocking capability to exceed or water capacity as long as we don't need AC. Our next van will be a short 144"WB Sprinter so fixed roof solar will be only 200 watts. Plan to augment that with portable panels.
you hit all the pros and cons
As always you give great reviews and bring up points that my be overlooked. Thank You!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you very informative well done!
You're very welcome!
Awesome video guys, thanks
You made it really easy to understand. Thanks so much! Very helpful.
You're very welcome!
Nicely explained 👏
Thank you 🙂
My dream is to have an awning that is made up of flexible solar panels... you never know what technology is in our future.
Those will be out shortly - I think sometime this year or early next
@@Weretherussos
They was at the Quartzite big tent event this year
I use the PowerFilm foldable and rollable. The 60w and 120w work best for me
I do both, 200 on the roof and if needed 200 folding. Folding is used when parked in the shadow or I need more power.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks so much for this. We've been planning to add portable panels but challenged by storage space. Im thinking I could get or make a good water tight bag for those Bugout panels you have and carry em on the roof when not in use.
That'd be a great idea!
Thx for the info trying figure out what I need helped
Really, really helpful!! Thanks!
You're welcome!
This video would have been better if you had talked more about what you use your electricity for as a means of making sense of the system you built.
Rooftop without a doubt...
with portables, you're chasing the sun all day trying to get that "perfect" angle and alignment...
Thanks Joe ❤
It's depends on the person and their needs.
Eric from Nomadic Fanatic while California had someone during the day climb the top of his RV while he was inside with intent to steal his panels.
You know it might be a drama story
@@benjamin2677 The guy was definitely high on drugs. Eric has the video on UA-cam.
Awesome
My rooftop panels are mounted close enough to the escape hatch, that I can stand on bed and clean the panels from escape hatch. No roof crawling necessary.
Anything “ground mounted” will get whizzed on by all the passing male dogs.
Thanks for the info, by the way where can I get the shirt u are wearing Thanks
WTR,HELLO JIM,AND KAIT,I NEVER KNERBYOU HAD SOLAR,ON YOUR POPUP TRUCK,as originally,you said it was not possible,Lots of people don’t know that PANASONIC,makes the most powerful,for size,but is most expensive units, there are so many portable solar units,,,,, stay well,🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I am not a fan of portable panels. Flexible panels as ground base are superior to overpriced portable panels. On my van I use big rooftop panels. If I need more power or park under trees, I can use my ground base panels with an extention cord. The key to making this work with one charge controller is matching the voltages. It's so easy.
Thanks
Thx appreciate this information
No problem
Do you guys think STO put such small amount of solar for any tax or government compliance reasons? (since the Volta Lithium system is so powerful?) Great video!
Yeah we miss the little guy
what about pass thru charging ?
What do you mean by that?
From what I see, RV solar is not much help unless you have several thousand Watts. I have 300 W on the roof of my Sprinter but I get at most about 100 W out of it on a clear day at noon. Basically it runs my fridge and charges my battery a tiny bit. Here's some math: 100 W - 50 W (fridge) leaves about 50 W to charge the battery, and that's the max for any given day. On average you'll get maybe 20W over the course of 8 hours of measurable power. That's 160 Wh. If you have a 12,000 Wh system that's going to raise your battery level about 1%. And again, that's 1% on an ideal day. On average it'll be a lot less than that. A much better solution is a second alternator - a 6 kW alternator will provide the equivalent of 8 hours of solar in a few minutes at idle.
Yes. Exactly this! And this, in my opinion is the only reason to choose for portable solar panels. The ANGLE. The angel is so incredibly making a difference. Flat laying on the roof is doing nothing. In an angle of +/- 45 degrees makes a huge difference and facing it exactly to the sun does as well.
I have 220W on the roof and on a very good day it does 220W a DAY!
The portable one is 120W and if I turn it around a bit during the day, it actually reaches like 100W an HOUR!
Too bad that's not mentioned in this video. He might not even know because he has them laying flat on the grass
I know nothing about these things but I need one to charge a cooler and ac 24 hours straight , what would I need ?
I suggest learning a lot more about solar and battery set ups. You’d need a massive amount of battery power and solar to run AC for 24 hours. You might be better off buying a generator.
Camper Van portable solar is my go to cuz storage on roof is more important. Great vid thanks for sharing your on hands knowledge as well as in the comments. BTW when your wife was cooking in the RV I recognized what looks like the camping spot in North Ventura, CA Coast Off PCH-1 with Amtrak above that background 101-Freeway
☘️🚐☘️👍👍⬆️
Solar energy allowed people to have a convenient vanlife/camping or any kind of nomadic lifestyle.
How do you high idle in park? Do you put a clamp on gas pedal?
I use a the tire iron and wedge it against the seat. Idle around 1800 rpm. A tension rod from Walmart works the best.
There are also after market products that you can add to high idle the engine. Tire iron is free 😎
What is the name of the external port where the portable solar panels plug into?
The connector is called an SAE connector. Otherwise it's just an external solar port.
Great Video. Thanks. So how do I add a portable system to my existing system, which is a factory 165W panel and a 25A MPPT controller? I want the option to add a portable system to harvest power which parked in the shade and then have both work correctly when both are in the sun. This requirement seems to alude some RV and controller suppliers. Any thoughts?
I can’t say without knowing more about your system. If you have a panel with an inline controller you can connect directly to the battery. It also sounds like your controller now has room for more capacity and you could add a plug for external panels but you’d have to know where and what gauge wiring you have now to see if it can support it.
Sound like you have a similar issue as I. Our new Grand Design RV came with a Furrion 40amp MPPT and one 165w solar panel. I would add that the Furrion Panel has proprietary connections. My plan is to (after disconnecting the load) disconnect the panel at the MPPT and then install MC-4 connections at the charge controller that is housed in the pass through. I then plan to have the ability to add a second panel using that connection point to either add a second portable panel in series or parallel depending on conditions by merging the two inputs right at the charge controller. My particular RV has a opening below the pass through to send hose, wire,extension cord etc., so I will probably just use that access when I wish to add the portable to the system. Also If ‘We’re the Russo’has any thoughts or input on my idea I would much appreciate the feedback.
First to comment!!!
Love ur show!
Do you need an adapter plug for the portable panels to plug unto the port on your Storyteller?
It depends on the plug coming out of the panel. With the Bugout panels we have, yes you need an adapter but they come with it when you buy the panels.
I bought rooftop solar panel for my Ford transit. Drilling the roof forces me
What do you mean purely running off of solar is incorrect? Thousands of people do that. You can absolutely run directly off solar. Yes, solar is to charge your battery to store that power. But to sit and say such a crazy thing like you cannot run directly off. Your solar is completely untrue. I don't even know why you just made that statement🙄🙄
Because nothing is tied into the solar directly. The solar runs into a charge controller and then into the battery system. If you’re running the AC, for example, you can disconnect the solar and the AC will keep on running. The batteries will discharge faster since no solar is coming in to replenish the batteries but the solar energy is not going directly into the AC. The problem with solar is that the energy coming from it is not consistent - it varies greatly depending on where the sun is, the clouds etc. So if you tried running a light, for example, purely from solar it would flicker, get really bright, dim and so on.
@Weretherussos I understand but if you use a DC to DC converter with 800 watts of power you can run most things off those solar panels..?