solar panel use |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6326 |
Topic: solar panel use Posted: 03 Jul 2021 at 4:56pm |
You should be good to go with the stock WFCO converter and an AGM battery. Where you would need to switch is if you were to go with an LiFePO4 battery. I made that change. That is because an AGM battery is still lead-acid chemistry, even if the acid is absorbed into a glass mat (thus, AGM).
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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TEDDY
Groupie Joined: 22 Oct 2017 Location: Arkansas Online Status: Offline Posts: 94 |
Posted: 03 Jul 2021 at 5:10pm |
Yes, but my experience with WFCO is not great so I'll probably choose another brand to replace it with - will be careful re AGM charging spec.
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Teddy
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TEDDY
Groupie Joined: 22 Oct 2017 Location: Arkansas Online Status: Offline Posts: 94 |
Posted: 03 Jul 2021 at 5:27pm |
Seems to me when I took out the board at the bottom of the WFCO converter/charger, the board was all I removed - it's at the bottom of the breaker/fuse array, and took maybe 4 screws and 4 wire connections to remove - just a board.
Amazon's description of the Progressive Dynamics suggests a much bigger envelope that won't slip in to replace the WFCO board. Will I have to accommodate the larger envelope somehow?
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Teddy
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TEDDY
Groupie Joined: 22 Oct 2017 Location: Arkansas Online Status: Offline Posts: 94 |
Posted: 07 Jul 2021 at 8:58pm |
Since you have changed out your converter twice, perhaps you can tell me of the Progressive Dynamics converter will fit in the same envelope as the existing WFCO series 55 - pictures on Amazon make it look like I'd need to re-engineer the cubicle.
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Teddy
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TEDDY
Groupie Joined: 22 Oct 2017 Location: Arkansas Online Status: Offline Posts: 94 |
Posted: 07 Jul 2021 at 9:00pm |
Since you have already replaced your WFCO with a Progressive Dynamics converter, perhaps you can tell me if it will fit in the same dimensions - the Amazon pics suggest I might need to alter the space where the WFCO is now.
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Teddy
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TheBum
Senior Member Joined: 26 Feb 2016 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 1407 |
Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 10:48am |
I'd like to piggyback on this discussion to ask this question: If you have roof-mounted solar and a PWM charge controller (I'm thinking about the Go Power system that FR optionally installs at the factory) and want to supplement that with a portable solar setup (with its own charge controller) that can be set in the sun if your camper is in shade, can it just be connected to the battery in parallel with the fixed solar controller, or is there special circuitry needed?
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod" 2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4 Three cats |
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TEDDY
Groupie Joined: 22 Oct 2017 Location: Arkansas Online Status: Offline Posts: 94 |
Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 11:02am |
What Renology told me was that the sum total of the parallel solar panels should be fed into a charge controller that can handle the total amps the panels can produce, and then you can clip the charge controller output to the battery terminals - they didn't mention it, but I suspect it would be safer to place and in-line fuse in the + wire between the battery clips and the charge controller. Renology's 30 amp PWM Wanderer will handle my two 100 watt panels, and would probably handle a third. The problem would be getting the panel wires into the charge controller - you might need special connectors for that, and for any extension wire used to get the panels in the sun. If this would force you into a larger charge controller, you could disconnect the FR panels from the charge controller and connect the movable panels in their stead.
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Teddy
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Colt
Senior Member Joined: 16 Nov 2019 Online Status: Offline Posts: 383 |
Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 12:46pm |
If you connect the 2nd system to the battery, each system will sense battery voltage and respond accordingly. I have had to connect a charger to my home solar system during extended bad weather, both with the panels/controller disconnected and connected with no trouble either way. |
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John
'16 R-Pod 180 |
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 1:01pm |
+1 to Colt. No problem at all connecting two independent solar charge controller to the battery. Renogy is wrong if they are saying you need to run all your solar modules through one controller.
If you wanted to run a single controller with different solar module sizes or manufacturers that OK too as long as they are nominal 12V modules and you are using a PWM controller. Don't do it with an MPPT controller with modules of different voltages, you will waste energy and confuse the max power tracking software. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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TheBum
Senior Member Joined: 26 Feb 2016 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 1407 |
Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 1:43pm |
So I just need to make sure that the portable system uses a PWM charge controller and that both are set to the same (correct) profile, correct? It makes sense that it should work if the controller output is open circuit during the off part of the PWM cycle.
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod" 2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4 Three cats |
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