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Old 10-10-2021, 02:43 PM   #1
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can solar panel negative wire go to chassis?

I have Renogy 2x100watt solar panels and Renogy Rover Elite 40A MPPT charger that I am installing on a Flagstaff 22FBS that is "solar ready".

There is a roof gland for solar panels. The wires from roof gland run behind a cabinet wall in the trailer where they recommend installing controller. I located the wires, there is a positive and negative labeled for "solar" and positive and negative labeled for battery". The positive for the battery runs all the way to the battery. However, the negative appears to only go to chassis.

I want to install the charger near the battery. I was hoping that inside the cabinet wall I could connect the gland and battery wires together to connect the panels to charger at the battery. This is going to work for positive, but being the negative battery wire is going from cabinet to chassis I am not sure it is correct to connect it to the panel.

Is it ok if the negative from solar panels go to chassis? I assume I would need to wire from chassis to negative input on charger.
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Old 10-10-2021, 02:59 PM   #2
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Yes. Negative DC can always go to the chassis. The only exception is for a load sensing shunt which needs to be installed directly off the negative battery terminal, and the other side of the shunt needs to have all negative cables that were previously connected to the battery connected to the shunt.

However, battery charges sense their charging parameters off the positive lead. So connecting the negative cable to chassis works just fine, assuming the battery also has a solid connection to the chassis from negative terminal.
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Old 10-11-2021, 08:07 AM   #3
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Just to be clear is the 40A MPPT a "charger" or a controller? If a controller why install it close to the batteries instead of inside the rig where you can monitor it? Just wondering
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Old 10-11-2021, 12:18 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by NavyLCDR View Post
Yes. Negative DC can always go to the chassis. The only exception is for a load sensing shunt which needs to be installed directly off the negative battery terminal, and the other side of the shunt needs to have all negative cables that were previously connected to the battery connected to the shunt.

However, battery charges sense their charging parameters off the positive lead. So connecting the negative cable to chassis works just fine, assuming the battery also has a solid connection to the chassis from negative terminal.
Thanks, I think I will go through the trouble of running a negative wire to the controller. But in the end it probably won't be that much work.
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Old 10-11-2021, 12:24 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by SeaDog View Post
Just to be clear is the 40A MPPT a "charger" or a controller? If a controller why install it close to the batteries instead of inside the rig where you can monitor it? Just wondering
It is a controller. Renogy recommends installing it as close to the batteries as possible for efficiency. Also, it has blue tooth monitoring so I rather have it installed out of sight and not cut a hole in my cabinet where the factory sticker recommends. I am installing it inside my front passthrough storage where there happens to be a false wall to hide electrical wiring for the rig. The area provides a ton of room for me to install all my solar components (inverter, bus bars, fuses, etc).
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Old 10-11-2021, 04:32 PM   #6
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On the chance that you decide the mount the charge controller where it's designed to go, here's a tip on doing in very neatly.
You need one of these saws...any brand will do: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00FQ8OH...roduct_details
Corded ones are cheaper.

This saw enables you to make extremely precise cuts in the wall paneling. No splintering, and no damage to whatever is behind that panel. I flush mounted my charge controller using a saw like this. No giant, ugly wall wart sticking out like a sore thumb.

Also note that the wire pair from the roof and the wire pair to the battery/chassis ground will need to be accessed in order to join them together when you relocate your charge controller. How will you perform that trick? Perhaps you can get in there and connect them (with crimp connectors) some other way, but in my case, the only way to get to the wires was to cut a hole in the panel at the label (or remove the panel entirely, which risked all kinds of collateral damage). Perhaps you have another way.

As for an arrangement where you pick off the newly joined "hot" wire from the roof to the battery and use it as input to your charge controller, assuming the negative wire from the roof goes to chassis ground, YES, you can connect the negative INPUT and OUTPUT of the charge controller to chassis ground and just connect the positive OUTPUT to the battery. (Think of the wiring under your car's hood. All negatives are generally attached under a bolt or screw that ties them to chassis ground.)

But, I believe you'll be better off installing the charge controller where it's meant to be installed. If your bluetooth connection fails or your phone is dead, you'll have the actual charge controller display at eye level inside. Also, every chassis ground on this critical, relatively high current connection is subject to high resistance due to corrosion and/or loose connections. The one you currently (no pun intended) have likely routes through the converter, and it's securely gounded to the ground side of the converter and from there securely grounded to the chassis on a solid lug. The chassis ground you install is likely to be a screw through a crimp-on eyelet into a drilled hole on the frame using a self tapper or similar. Not nearly as good, and prone to failure. But that's my hunch.

Also note that with just 200 watts, you're not going to tax any of the "pre" wiring installed. That wire should be #10, and on a good day, your array will push about 15 amps at the battery. #10 can handle 30 amps. In your case, there is NO advantage to moving the controller closer to the battery. Add TWO more panels, and you'll still be in spec for the wire. Add THREE more panels...and approach 40 amps...and you might consider upgrading the wire to #8 AWG rather than relocating the charge controller...for the simple reason that the #10 wire is inadequate all the way from the roof to the battery.

I have 400 watts on my roof, and as you can see, I'm connected using the "solar ready" wiring (#10 AWG), my panels are in parallel (to allow for individual panels to be in shade and not compromise the output of the ones in the sun), and my solar performance is extraordinary. My battery bank (2x6-volt GC2s) is typically topped off by about 1 PM or so.

Good luck.
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Old 10-11-2021, 05:26 PM   #7
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My understanding is that the charge controllers charge differently depending on the temperature of the battery. I believe that is why they recommend installing close to the battery. My system has a battery temperature monitor, so it doesn't matter where it is installed, except for the voltage loss in the lines. There are tables on the internet that will tell you the voltage drop over distance for different sized wires. If there is too much voltage drop between the panels and the controller, or the controller and the batteries, you don't get the full charge you paid for. With 200 watts, you'll probably be fine, but if you install more panels later, this may become an issue.
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Old 10-11-2021, 08:43 PM   #8
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Long story short, you need both wires, + & - from the solar panels ran and hooked to the controller.
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Old 10-12-2021, 10:13 AM   #9
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Yes, that is correct. Sorry if I misled. I believe both wires from the solar panels need to go to the input of the controller. It is the output of the controller to the batteries that can use chassis for ground (negative).
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