Well, I finally got around to getting solar setup on my camper. Went with one of the closeout Unisolar 68-watt stick on types and a Morningstar Sunsaver 10 solar charge controller.
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Decided to put the solar panel leads at the front in order to shorten the length of cable to my house battery, which is under the hood on the passenger side. Don't have a great mounting of the solar cable coming off of it and down the edge of the front windshield, but hopefully I can get some advice on a good alignment? Right now I'm just thinking a couple clips on the underside and front of the cabover and maybe getting the windshield replacement guys to use some of their great adhesive to mount the cable a little better alongside the front windshield when I get it replaced in the next few weeks.
Charge controller is mounted behind the 68 amp hour house battery on the firewall of the engine compartment. ARB fridge wiring loom is connected to the "load" terminals on the charge controller. Not the best wiring job with crimp connectors, but I got fuses in-line from the panel and to the battery. Will look into borrowing a soldering iron sometime soon and making the connections better.
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I'm really impressed with the performance thus far. I have been making a point to park in the sun in the driveway, but I'm definitely seeing a full battery in the early afternoon everyday. That's with my ARB 50L fridge constantly set at 39 degrees and running in 90-95 degree heat (ambient outside) in my truck cab. I do see about 50% battery in the early mornings before the sun. Placement of the panel does mean that I get shading from my canoe with it on the Yakima bars on top, unless I mount the canoe on the extreme driver side with straps barely on the load bars. I'm not expecting great performance (or even adequate voltage for running the fridge and/or charging the battery) with the canoe mounted center or with my Yakima Megawarrior cargo basket, but those aren't on very much.
I was thinking before of getting one of the AM solar 100 watt panels, but that would have increased my initial investment by about $140 dollars and would have meant months more waiting to get a solar setup installed (money and time for more involved install on roof). I may go with one of these panels in the future (even this winter), with an under cabover slide-out tray and removable option for angling with the lower sun angles when I'm depleting my house battery with the furnace. I figure I'll just unplug the 68-watt and plug in the new panel if I do go in that direction (the morningstar 10 PWM controller will still suffice).
Overall, with the great deal on the Unisolar stick on panel ($100 on simpleray.com, though without warranty with the manufacturer out of business), the PWM charge controller, solar cables and assorted other electrical components (crimp butt connectors, 10 gauge wire, fuse holders, fuses, etc.), I think I made out with an investment under $220. Upgrade of the panel will only require a new panel, itself. I think this will work for me for the near future - and give me peace of mind that my homebrew keg will stay cold in my fridge for those longer backpacks away from the truck!
-joe D.
