200 W of Solar

Don't think so. Besides, it should be right at the battery. Just get a bolt on or inline fuse and install it at the pos batt terminal.

If you really need to save weight and have the budget for it, I would recommend converting to an LiFePO4 battery. I have a 100A one. I am considering whether to change to a 200A model. Two GC2 6V batteries weigh about 120 lbs. The 100W LiFePO4 battery weighs less than 30 lbs. It also can be mounted inside since it does not produce flamable hydrogen gas. You can see my write-up in my mods.

Thanks Ben.  I have been looking at the 100w Renogy system. Good to know.  I see you are from Grand Junction.  My parents used to live in Montrose and I know that area pretty well.  I wish I was there many times in about February here in Wisconsin.

Not lame, that's a good question.

If your current battery is a year or more old now (sounds like it might be) then I'd go with two new 6v golf cart batteries in series. Case size GC2. Very common battery in the golf cart world so can be had for a good price. Those are the largest size that will fit, are true deep cycle so can tolerate deep discharging, and everything else being equal series is better because both batteries always get the same charge and discharge current. When they're in parallel they don't, one will always have a little lower internal resistance than the other so will take and provide more current.

If OTOH your existing 12V battery is near new then it makes better economic sense to keep it if you can buy another battery same model and same manufacturer. If you do that connect them in parallel but pull your positive take off from one battery and your negative from the other, that will help keep them balanced.

One other word of warning, dual batteries are going to add about 60+ lbs to your tongue weight, be sure your tow vehicle can handle it.

Maybe not the furnace, that fan uses a lot. Especially in the late fall when it's both cold and solar irradiance is low. Spring is better because we have longer sunnier days.


But do consider what your options are if you run into a string of cloudy days, as we frequently do in the East and Midwest, it doesn't matter how much solar you have, it will be producing very little, about 10% if it's heavily overcast.

For confidence you wont run out of power I'd suggest you consider a dual battery configuration to get through some cloudy days, and a small generator for backup. You can run the genny from your propane if you don't want to carry gasoline. Nice and clean that way.