solar panels

Thanks, I will look into charge controllers. The losses going through multiple systems makes sense, I just didn't have a feel for how much loss.

Thanks all! Our pod has a single 12v battery configuration and 30 lb propane tank. I took it to a refill station and they confirmed it was nearly full. We will be in Texas so frigid weather should not be too extreme. We will prepare for it just in case. My main question is if I can use the power station and battery tender to recharge the battery (rather than solar panels and charge controller). I realize a trickle charger is really for maintaining a charge, but our Electric use will mainly be lights, charging phone, gps, etc, maybe some tv (kids) which seems like a pretty light use. I've used battery tenders for motorbikes and cars to maintain a charge and I have had success in bringing a slighty depleted battery up to full My battery tender has an inline fuse (simlar to the unit in Colt's post) and I'm thinking it should not damage the battery.

Here is my connection process from charge controller to battery. My charge controller is at the top right and wired to a short cable with an SAE male connector on the end. I then mounted an SAE female connector (right side) to the battery box with a fuse holder inline on the positive lead. The female connector allows me to plug in the solar without opening the battery box. It is like the solar ready connectors on many older versions of the RPod, I checked to make sure positive and negative are correct with the wiring all the way through. 

The two prong port on the rear of my 2017 rPod goes straight to the battery - there is no charge controller in that line.  I use two 100 watt solar panels when no shore power is available in a campground.  I run them thru a Renology 30 amp charge controller, connecting the charge controller to the battery directly via aligator clips.  You must use a charge controller if you use solar panels to recharge you rPod battery, or you could damage the battery.