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Topic Closedsolar panel use

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StephenH View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post 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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Direct Link To This Post 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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Direct Link To This Post 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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Direct Link To This Post 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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Direct Link To This Post 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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Direct Link To This Post 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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Direct Link To This Post 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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Colt View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 12:46pm
Originally posted by TheBum

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? 


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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Direct Link To This Post 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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Direct Link To This Post 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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