About those solar generators
- Thread starter JohnC
- Start date
The Postman
Ranger
I see that. Goal Zero makes good stuff. A little more pricey and falling behind a bit on all the fancy features per a couple reviews. I'm less interested in blue tooth apps to control things as that adds another layer of complexity, things to go wrong. The Victron ios app for ac charger and shunt is great when it works on the Precision 110 bat/tree but often requires cellular to update software...
Murphys Law of Technology ...
while boondocking...in-op when you need it most.
My Victron built in solar charger requires cellular for app firmware updates but it works on Bluetooth anywhere. And firmware updates can be delayed without interfering with its usage.
Received both in great shape the panels were double boxed great condition The Anker battery looks like it will fit perfectly under the back seat. We should be able to run the fridge and not worry if we’re parked somewhere.
Question I have…. Between the XT60 connector to the baterry / charging unit and the MC4 connectors on the solar panels which would be better for an extension cord?
Reading up on this there doesn’t seem to be a big difference in drop of charge. I am thinking of getting a 50 ft. XT60 extension cord to the pigtail MC4 connectors, the supplied cord is about 10 feet. Not only would barely make it to the other side of the camper it would probably come up short of moving it out of the shade into the sun!
Question I have…. Between the XT60 connector to the baterry / charging unit and the MC4 connectors on the solar panels which would be better for an extension cord?
Reading up on this there doesn’t seem to be a big difference in drop of charge. I am thinking of getting a 50 ft. XT60 extension cord to the pigtail MC4 connectors, the supplied cord is about 10 feet. Not only would barely make it to the other side of the camper it would probably come up short of moving it out of the shade into the sun!
The Postman
Ranger
I've fooled with running one or two 100w panels in parallel, with 100ah sogen in car, cables routed out a window....you're right, you want enough cable to be able to move panels 2-3 times a day to make them perpendicular to sun.
I've tried bungee-cording a 100w folding soft brief case type panel to the roof rack hanging off side of car, so all I had to do was move the car, but it was awkward and ran the risk of scratching car.
And I needed 200w of panels to fully recharge the sogen in 8-10 hrs of sun, probly as mine are a mix of a soft briefcase and a harder 100w folder, plus the extra cables and connectors to run in parallel. The more connectors, and the more cable, the more resistance and time to charge. And these are older panels, not as efficient as some newer.
From what I read MC4 are preferred for outdoor use. A short xt60 to mc4 for the cable inside the vehicle, connected by a long mc4 to mc4 cable run out to the panels would be most weather proof.
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This is what I was looking at
The Postman
Ranger
Nice! I think you'll be all set, with an mc4 on the panel end of your extension cable.
Very interested on how long the Anker 2000 runs the CI AC...that's the killer app: nothing beats sleeping in a cool cave after hiking all sweaty in desert or being out in muggy swamp weather...
Looking forward to field report with pics!
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Personally I wouldn’t buy a long extension without an MC4 on one end. But you really have to ask yourself what else you may use it for. If your panel has MC4 connectors already then the one you linked to isn’t going to work.
If the panel has MC4 connectors off the back this would definitely be the right one depending on length and gauge preference.
Based on those photos you definitely should not buy the extension you linked to above. The one Dustin linked to is what you need.
Hey all, new owner of 903 thanks to @Lipster. I bought an Anker C2000 Gen 2 plus the expansion pack as a mini home backup prior to getting the our 550. During our first weekend camping at the factory tried some different ways to connect the sogen and feel there has to be some improvements.
Started with sogen with about 4096wh. I left this in the car connected to a Goal Zero Alta 50 fridge via DC cig lighter. I then ran an extension cable from the car to the trailer's shore power.
With the maxxair fan, phone charging, and CPAP connected via AC I was using about 74w on the AC cord. The Fridge would use 30-40w on the DC port when it was cooling. Overall for the night the expandable battery dropped to 50%, so about 25% of total capacity or 1000wh which seems way excessive. The thought is the shore power is continuously topping up the trailer battery and losing the efficiency converting DC - AC - DC.
To alleviate some of the loss I'm moving my CPAP to a DC charger, but the question is how can I best utilize my Anker. I would love to run the CI AC and the thought would be to connect the AC directly to the sogen while somehow charging the rest of the system via DC.
We did have the Cary retrofit the CTEK controller which works well with our RAV4 hybrid but for some reason does not work with the Renogy 100w solar panel (separate issue where the charger sees 21v then immediately drops)
One other note, there is also this pigtail which goes directly to the pos/neg terminals of the trailer battery. Not sure what this plug is, but could be another option in trying to make the system more efficient.
Started with sogen with about 4096wh. I left this in the car connected to a Goal Zero Alta 50 fridge via DC cig lighter. I then ran an extension cable from the car to the trailer's shore power.
With the maxxair fan, phone charging, and CPAP connected via AC I was using about 74w on the AC cord. The Fridge would use 30-40w on the DC port when it was cooling. Overall for the night the expandable battery dropped to 50%, so about 25% of total capacity or 1000wh which seems way excessive. The thought is the shore power is continuously topping up the trailer battery and losing the efficiency converting DC - AC - DC.
To alleviate some of the loss I'm moving my CPAP to a DC charger, but the question is how can I best utilize my Anker. I would love to run the CI AC and the thought would be to connect the AC directly to the sogen while somehow charging the rest of the system via DC.
We did have the Cary retrofit the CTEK controller which works well with our RAV4 hybrid but for some reason does not work with the Renogy 100w solar panel (separate issue where the charger sees 21v then immediately drops)
One other note, there is also this pigtail which goes directly to the pos/neg terminals of the trailer battery. Not sure what this plug is, but could be another option in trying to make the system more efficient.
Sweeney
Administrator
Was the CTEK set to 'smart battery' --- I seem to remember something about that --- Oh, for the days of a simple voltage regulator!
I did not see anything about the ability to change any settings.
Below is the tech spec and I was seeing voltage across the solar and ground of the CTEK go to 21v then immediately drop to 9v then 0. It was a 100w solar panel only getting about 30w. Thought I should at least see some charging.
Any thoughts on how best to do DC to DC for the sogen or just suck up the DC to AC conversion?
View attachment 1786993867573.png
Below is the tech spec and I was seeing voltage across the solar and ground of the CTEK go to 21v then immediately drop to 9v then 0. It was a 100w solar panel only getting about 30w. Thought I should at least see some charging.
Any thoughts on how best to do DC to DC for the sogen or just suck up the DC to AC conversion?
View attachment 1786993867573.png
SethB
Ranger
We have the same setup with CTEK DC/DC and Renogy 100w panel. Just to confirm, you *are* bypassing the controller on the Renogy to connect the panel(s) directly to the CTEK solar inputs?
Our use is a little different than @Ericp , on extended trips I charge a dedicated cpap 50ah lipo battery with a shore power charger or with the Renogy panel/controller.
I’ve only charged the CI battery on solar once, bypassing the Renogy controller, panel goes directly to the CTEK 12v charger.
I was trying to connect the Renogy to the 3 prong solar input which was getting to the solar terminal on the CTEK. To measure the voltage I had the panel in the sun at around 30 watts, had someone plug in the 3 prong on the outside then measured the voltage on the solar to ground terminal on the CTEK.