Quote:
Originally Posted by rmschooner
I am a new TM owner and have been enjoying the forum here. I am interested in the concept of adding flexible Renogy 160 watt flex panels w/ MPPT controller on top of my TM and to the Leer canopy of my F150. I could add batteries in the back of the pickup truck to gain some battery capacity beyond the two lead acid batteries on the tongue. We don't have factory air, so we will be adding some sort of A/c in the future. I have a Champion 3100 dual/fuel gen set that will also live in the pick up under the canopy. It will be vented for exhaust. Thoughts on wiring the two battery banks and panel arrays together? Two MPPT controllers?
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First, I don't think that any TM owners have installed more than 480W of panels (with the current record holder probably being
lerderhos). What power demands do you expect to have, requiring 160 more watts of "rated" panel power?
Second, I think that separating into two separate power banks (each 320W, with 2 batteries and a dedicated MPPT, and a pair of high current DURABLE cables between them, with a Circuit Breaker on the "+" cable) is sort of weird. If the Truck isn't under the sun frequently, the batteries need to be maintained by plugging into the TM.
As an alternative: Maybe put all of your panels on the TM, with a bigger MPPT - upgrading your batteries as required. You could convert a portion of a storage compartment into an SLA/AGM battery box (sealed and vented through the floor). Or for the case of a Lithium upgrade - merely a couple of clamps to to hold the battery(s) in place, plus some electric tape and wire clamps to keep other things from contacting current-carrying surfaces.
The correct MPPT controller for a 400-720 "Maximum Rated Solar Watts" is probably this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Epever-MPPT...A/351875294014 That's the 'Tracer4215BN 40A'. In this particular listing (which I have used), the BTS ins included (although I didn't use it , because I have Lithium batteries) .You must buy a BN model ("Battery Negative" Grounding), and
absolutely not a different model (e.g., model "AN" with "Common Grounding" to "Battery +"). An Amazon seller has them all mixed up within a single product listing, don't go there.
This way, you need only one MPPT controller, and no weird interconnect wires.