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Old 10-01-2022, 10:28 AM   #1
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Solar on the PUP

Hi All,

As I'm finished with my upgrades (Bat monitor, 500VA inverter and MMPT charger) I've been toying with the idea of what to do for solar panels.

The original thought was to get a 200W suitcase. Now I'm thinking about getting a larger residential panel and mounting on the roof rack on the PUP. Its a standard ski rack type rack. Both solutions would not be hardwires, but rather deployed/wired when we land at our site.

This way I could use wither a suitcase, or the larger (or both) panels depending on where I am and how much solar exposure I have.

I'm aware the 75/15 can only handle so much power. I can always upgrade the charger, or feed it more than it can handle and be inefficient.

Thoughts?
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Old 10-01-2022, 03:43 PM   #2
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We had a Coleman popup for 20 years, and always tried to set it up in the shade to keep it cooler. The tent ends would heat up quickly. I would go with the suit case solar panel so I could park in the shade and still be able to use the solar.
Earlier this year, we bought a 2022 Surveyor travel trailer. I upgraded the solar panel on the roof from 80 to 150W. But since we still plan on using shade as much as we can, also have 180W of solar to set up on the ground in the sun. ( 100W suit case and an 80W free standing panel )

Which is best for you, that depends on what type of camp site you prefer.
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Old 10-01-2022, 07:02 PM   #3
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IMO if you mount to the roof over panel so the wattage is about 20% more than the controller's max input. If multiple panels wire in parallel so if one panel is shaded the
output of the other(s) won't be affected. When we had our popup we installed popup gizmos on the bunk ends and they worked well.
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Old 10-03-2022, 06:38 AM   #4
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The thought was to have an oversized panel on the roof permanently mounted.
This would hopefully get me close to the max capacity of the charger in poor sun conditions.

I would also have a suitcase for days when I want to deploy an option in direct sun, and not rely on the rooftop panel.

As its a PUP, the panels would get "plugged" in to the charge port when we land at our site, or when the PUP is stored between trips.

I guess at that point I might as well get a larger charger that could handle both panels at the same time in full sun....
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