4BeachCampers
Lakewood, CA
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I'm going to be boondocking for 7 days with only a G27 12V battery.
I have a 32 watt Solar Panel and was wondering if it would help or damage anything if I connected the solar panel directly to the battery to help maintain a charge.
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robatthelake
Vancouver Island
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It won't hurt one little bit! Truth is that You can connect about 100 Watts directly to Your Battery without any sort of "Controller" and all it will do is keep it topped up! Unless You have Direct Full Sunshine 24 /7 You will be taking out more than the PVP can put back!
Rob & Jean
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timjcarter9
Fort Macleod, Alberta Canada
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I have three 15 watters hooked together to give 45 total. I got them cheap and built a frame. Put them direct to the battery.
However when we had a seasonal spot I left them hooked up and returned a week later. Only the fridge was on during this time on propane. Half the water had boiled from the batteries.
So as long as you are drawing power no issue. If you were to leave it like that I would get a charge controller. I got a cheap little one at Canadian Tire for this eventuality.
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j-d
Sunny Florida USA
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Be sure the panel has a diode in line. It allows Charge but not Discharge. If it's missing or shorted the battery will try to heat the solar panel in the dark.
God Bless, jd
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2oldman
Winchester WA
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It should be fine, but keep in mind 32 watts is almost nothing.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Just connect during daytime only and it will provide a small trickle of power.
Keep it tilted to the sun for best performance. Absolutely no shade should hit the panel.
No controller needed while in use.
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Extenter
Cambridge Ont
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j-d wrote:Be sure the panel has a diode in line. It allows Charge but not Discharge. If it's missing or shorted the battery will try to heat the solar panel in the dark.
Will a diode be necessary with a charge controller,or will it itself stop reverse flow at night?
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2oldman
Winchester WA
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Controller acts as a diode.
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KendallP
Grants Pass, OR
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Agreed with all.
If no controller or diode, just disconnect at night. And yes... 32W is almost nothing. So unless you use practically no power, with just one G27, your going to need to run a generator.
For many of us here, 1-G27 will last about 24 hours before it hits 50%. You can get an extra day or two by running lean, but not much more.
Capacity is king. If you can fit and afford an extra battery or 3, start there. Peukert goes to work for you and you can increase your capacity somewhat exponentially, i.e. one extra battery can actually yield 125% more Amp hours or something to that effect. A chart is required to give you an accurate estimate on that, but you get the point. The slower you draw power from an FWC battery (to a degree) the greater the capacity.
.
* This post was
edited 06/18/12 02:04pm by KendallP *
Cheers,
Kendall
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milo
4 Corners
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Hey 4beachcampers ... I have only a 22 watt panel. It's more than next to nothing as some of em say. I have been using it 30+ years now. Also have a single G27 battery. I just clip it to the battery and we get our 4-5 days (if we have sun each day) out of the G27. I wired a diode + a 30A circut breaker to it. Very seldom have we had to use the generator to recharge. Of course we changed out all lights to LED's and do not use the microwave, furnace, Tv and limited water pump usage. 97% of our all cooking & dish washing is done on a 2 burner stove & propane grill outside of the TT. It can be done. PS. We have a solar shower.
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