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SCC choice for these panels?

offroad

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Mar 22, 2022
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Considering used solar panels for our RV, and trying to see what MPPT SCC would work best with them.
I have an SOK 12v LFP battery bank, currently charged by a Victron Multiplus and monitored with a BMV-712.
There is room for four panels with little to no shading issues (flat mounting), but will likely install one series pair now and the other later.

Polycrystalline STC rated at 260w
Peak Efficiency 15.76%
Number of Cells 60
Imp 8.5A
Vmp 30.7V
Isc 9.01A
Voc 37.8V
NOCT 45.7°C

Victron doesn't offer a cost effective 100v input 40a SCC which it seems would be best for each pair. (520w / 13.6v = 38.2a)
Since they will be flat mounted could a couple of 100/30 Victron SCC's be overpaneled to cover a potential 520w?
Is 75.6v (Voc x2) high enough to give good performance on a 100v max input SCC?

Other SCC's I've considered are Rich Solar and Epever 40a, but neither have Victron's nice interface.
Whatever SCC I end up with I want to be able to plug in specific charging values to make sure they place nice with my current setup.

All advice appreciated.
 
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With an RV roof, you need to get as many watts out of the space you have. I would buy new panels because they're going to produce the rated watts. With a used panel you may be down to 80% of the rated watts. But, if the four panels you plan to install can produce the amount of watts you need then that works.

If you plan to eventually put up four panels then size the initial solar charge controller for that (if you want just one controller). It will be loafing along until all four panels are in place. The first two panels will be wired 2s for ~80 volts @ 9 amps (using the optimistic numbers). The second set of panels will also be wired 2s but tied into the two existing panels with a 2:1 Y connection for ~80 volts at 18 amps and 1040 watts. You'll be over-paneled for a Victron 100/50 but your used panels aren't likely to produce 100% of their rating. Alternatively, you could go with dual 100/30 solar charge controllers or a single 150/70 to capture all the watts. If it was me, I probably would go with the dual 100/30 option.

The Victron solar charge controllers will fit in well with the rest of your Victron gear.
 
While I agree with @HRTKD about maximizing solar panel input - I found 4 x 300w used panels thru @SanTan Solar that were at least 95% of original specs at <1/2 the cost and they completely covered my 7 x 14 cargo trailer conversion to a camper. They go right up to the edge but it's OK (in my opinion).

I wired them 2s2p into a combiner box inside. This let's 1/2 of the panels work at full power even if the other 1/2 is in shade. Almost every camp site I've visited has small or large shade!

Unfortunately I had to mount them flat which causes 'power loss' due to angle toward the sun. The flatness also causes water trapped by the edges to build up leaving dirt residue when the water evaporates reducing effectiveness until cleaned. *If you can somehow mount them at even a small angle this might help :)
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With an RV roof, you need to get as many watts out of the space you have. I would buy new panels because they're going to produce the rated watts. With a used panel you may be down to 80% of the rated watts.
I've looked at new 200w panels and they are about $1 per watt or slightly more.
The 260w used panels are .25 per watt, and at 75-80% output would be roughly the same as 4x 200w panels.

I have space for 4 panels regardless without putting them in places I really don't want to due to shading or making roof service difficult.
We are also only part time boondockers, although that could increase a bit if we really like our setup.
 
Unfortunately I had to mount them flat which causes 'power loss' due to angle toward the sun. The flatness also causes water trapped by the edges to build up leaving dirt residue when the water evaporates reducing effectiveness until cleaned. *If you can somehow mount them at even a small angle this might help :)

Mine are at maybe a 4° angle. I still get that accumulation of dirt in the corners. I pushed my 640 watts of panels hard today in a test of my system. Before cleaning them I was getting no more than 495 watts. After cleaning them the watts went up to about 545. A clean panel is a happy panel.
 
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