Truck Camper Panel Wiring Question

[misterpat]

Hey everyone.

I'm in the process of upgrading my solar setup from 480 watts to 800 watts. I'm going to be running 4 200 watt panels in a 2s2p setup. With the panels I'm going to be running that will give me about 75 volts and 10.6 amps to the controller. My question is, which 2 panels should I put in series? Front and back, left and right, or front left and back right?

Picture of my current setup with 480 watts.

 

[Samsonite801]

Shading is probably the biggest concern...

"When panels are wired in series, they all in a sense depend on each other. If one panel is shaded it will affect the whole string. This will not happen in a parallel connection."


So I would say a pair of panels closest to each other should be series, so if some shade hits the back of the rig and blocks a panel, the front series pair will still provide good amps, and the other way around, respectively...

 

[misterpat]

Shading is probably the biggest concern...

"When panels are wired in series, they all in a sense depend on each other. If one panel is shaded it will affect the whole string. This will not happen in a parallel connection."


So I would say a pair of panels closest to each other should be series, so if some shade hits the back of the rig and blocks a panel, the front series pair will still provide good amps, and the other way around, respectively...

Excellent! I will try that setup first. Easy enough to change in the combiner box if I find out it doesn't work out.