Maxing Out Solar Capacity

[Jimbo163]

Folks,
Here's my question to you all. Apologizes if it's rather elemental.
We’ve invested a significant amount of money into the electrical system of our RV and feel like we’re not getting as much out of the current system/setup as we should.
We have a 2010 Jayco Octane ZX (T26Y). We’ve upgraded the RV to include four roof mounted 100 watt Renegy solar panels. Two panels are arranged in series with the pairs connected in parallel. They feed into a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 Charge Controller which in turn feeds a pair of Battle Born 100 AMP 12 V LiFePO batteries. We also installed a Victron BMV-712 Smart Monitor. Our home base is the east coast and our thinking was a hybrid configuration of the solar panels might serve us better in a semi shaded scenario. (Your thoughts?)

Thanks,

Jim

 

[snoobler]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm honestly not sure what you mean by a hybrid configuration. 2S2P already has some shading tolerance. If you find that two panels are more likely to be shaded, they should be put in series and put the other two panels with less shading in series, then parallel the two sets. That way at least half of your array is compromised less. If you want even more tolerance shading, you can go 4P, but you'll lose a little of the efficiency benefit of MPPT.

A 50A controller should be able to handle over 700W, and the Victrons are tolerant of over-paneling. your solution may simply be MOAR PANELZ!

Doubling your panel wattage should go a long way to improving your harvest.

 

[Jimbo163]

Hybrid was probably the wrong choice of words but you nailed it when you mentioned 2S2P. Thanks for the quick response. We are planning an extended trip out west next fall where shade will be in short supply. Thinking about moving the solar array from 2S2P to 4S. We'll see how that goes.

 

[snoobler]

The benefit of a switch from 2S2P to 4S would be negligible.

 

[Supervstech]

Hybrid was probably the wrong choice of words but you nailed it when you mentioned 2S2P. Thanks for the quick response. We are planning an extended trip out west next fall where shade will be in short supply. Thinking about moving the solar array from 2S2P to 4S. We'll see how that goes.

4s would be MORE susceptible to shading losses, as then ANY shade on ANY panel would cut production...

 

[Rocketman]

I have.similar a similar setup on my MotorHome- except four 200 watt panels. (Same 2s2p setup. On your Victron Connect app for the mppt - under history - it shows the last 30 days of solar harvest history- along with the lowest voltage of the day.
When using the rig- does it make it to float most days? What does the low voltage look like? How much power are you using (from the BMV712).

Those are the clues that help you know what’s going on with the batteries; are you?
Using too much power?
Need more solar?
Too much shade?
Batteries failing?
Need more battery capacity?

Good Luck