Seeking Solar Panel Advice for 2023 Leprechaun 260DS

[zike]

Hi all,

I have a 2023 Coachmen Leprechaun 260DS and want to install solar panels. I notice that there is a solar connector on the roof, but can't seem to find a lot of information regarding solar for this RV.

My questions are:
1. Can I connect 2 200 Watt panels via this connection?
2. Is there anything special that I need to do regarding a controller?
3. What panels would folks recommend?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[kenandterry]

Posting a photo of the connector on your roof might help here too.

 

[Aussieguy]

determine a layout on your roof for panels
My roof allowed me to put 2 x 370w residential sized panels
+ still got more room to add a second string if I ever needed it

I used my existing wire which was rated at 30amps
looked like 10g wire

I used that wire to go to the battery compartment ... moved battery into pass through
my panels produce 33 to 34v @10 amps so the higher voltage was good for the wire

I put a 50 amp MPPT controller next to the battery and used correct 4g wire to connect battery to controller.


if you going to add solar work out:
the strings of panels you can have on the roof
the controller size for the string
then the wire size... using a MPPT allows you yo play with the panel voltage (series/parrallel connection) the higher the voltage the LOWER the amps required for the WATTS your panel produces

MPPT are rated - sold with numbers 100/30
100 = max volts (configure panels in series to increase volts)
30 = amps max amps the controller can output

depending on where you live max volts may be affected by low temperature
volts will increase as temp drops so make sure your panel voltage takes into account temperature if you are CLOSE to max volts

I bought my panels from Facebook no shipping
because of the bigger size... added 2 more mounting Z brackets just to be safe

most people design a system based on price FIRST... so they end up with a undersized system that does not perform well

My thoughts ... you can't get a lot of panels on the roof and the extra cost is not that high so get enough panels to maximise the string/controller size.


don't try piecemeal approach ... I'll add a 200w panel and then if I need more will add another etc Do it once and forget about it!


Battery is another consideartion...
How much battery power do you use each night
Solar needs to be big enough to recharge the usage within about 5 hours
Lifepo4 makes it easier to get good charging performance from solar


If you don't have Lifepo4 ... consider switching BEFORE you add solar
then you can get a more accurate measurement of how much power you use over night ... get batteries that have BLUETOOTH


................. EDIT additional..
PS.... it is easy enough to add another string of panels later on
you just add a second set of wires and another controller

Or if your controller is HUGE you can conbine strings into one controller
keeping in mind wire size

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