Thread: Traxide system, and solar charging.

I have used i simple system were i use a cable that is daisy chained with 6x anderson plugs that i have used to run 2x fridges and 2x 110ah batteries.
When i am travelling i plug into an anderson plug on the back of the truck and when i am camped up i plug in a couple of fold out solar pannels with built in regulators.
This has worked perfectly for the last couple of years

Originally Posted by LRD414

I use a good quality 15A MPPT regulator at either the rear Anderson plug on the D4 (Traxide kit) or at the camper draw bar Anderson plug.
The sketch shows the camper but it works the same at the rear of the D4. I have two panel sets but obviously it would work with just one.
I find this non-fixed option quite handy and it doesn't suffer much voltage loss thanks to the size of the cable running to the battery in both the D4 and camper.
Often the regulator that comes with the panel is not very good quality and the cables are small.
The little power meter is very handy for monitoring how much charge is coming in or I can move it to monitor what demand I am actually drawing.





Cheers,
Scott

As an improvement to this setup, I would make the Anderson plugs on the panel side of the regulator the RED Anderson plugs, which are a different pattern and not interchangable with the grey plugs. There would be no chance of miss-connecting a panel straight onto the vehicle then.

Hi Chris and while fitting RED Anderson plugs to avoid a wrong connection is a good suggestion, there can be advantages to having the same GREY Anderson plugs on all connections.


If you should, for what ever reason, end up with flat batteries in your caravan or camper trailer, many battery chargers and some solar regulators will not operate if the battery voltage is too low.


But by having the same connectors all round, you could bypass the solar regulator and connect the solar panel directly to the flat battery.


The solar panel can then be used to slowly raise the voltage high enough in the flat battery so that the charger or regulator will then be able to be used.


Since April last year, the same thing can be done if you have flat batteries in your D3, D4 or any other vehicle fitted with a new SC80 or DT90, as both of these now have a reverse charging feature, allowing all batteries to be charged via the Anderson plug at the rear.

In the light of what I have read in this thread, I am seriously considering buying one of these MPPT Bluesolar charge controllers. I will also be getting some foldable solar panels and these 250W ultralight ones from KickAss look good to my "novice" eyes. KickAss ULTRALIGHT 250W Solar Panel . The problem is I am not at all sure what one of the MPPT charge controllers would be suitable for use with these particular panels Solar Charge Controllers - Victron Energy. I have spent ages looking at all the numbers that are mentioned on the Bluesolar and the Kickass websites relating to these products, but in truth they mean almost nothing to me. I wouldn't want to damage the car, the charge controller or the Traxide dual battery system that I will be installing to support my use of these solar panels. So can anyone please offer advice on compatibility/correct pairing to select. Many thanks Peter

I also find solar charging something of a black art.
I've just received one of the controllers that Scott is using (along with the bluetooth dongle) and I have to say that it has a totally different feel to the $30 models on ebay.
I'm hoping to put my 200W panel with 20% advertised efficiency on the roof this weekend.
I'm happy to learn more from others who know.

Originally Posted by Mog60

In the light of what I have read in this thread, I am seriously considering buying one of these MPPT Bluesolar charge controllers. I will also be getting some foldable solar panels and these 250W ultralight ones from KickAss look good to my "novice" eyes. KickAss ULTRALIGHT 250W Solar Panel . The problem is I am not at all sure what one of the MPPT charge controllers would be suitable for use with these particular panels Solar Charge Controllers - Victron Energy. I have spent ages looking at all the numbers that are mentioned on the Bluesolar and the Kickass websites relating to these products, but in truth they mean almost nothing to me. I wouldn't want to damage the car, the charge controller or the Traxide dual battery system that I will be installing to support my use of these solar panels. So can anyone please offer advice on compatibility/correct pairing to select. Many thanks Peter

Originally Posted by Mog60

I will also be getting some foldable solar panels and these 250W ultralight ones from KickAss look good to my "novice" eyes. KickAss ULTRALIGHT 250W Solar Panel . The problem is I am not at all sure what one of the MPPT charge controllers would be suitable for use with these particular panels Solar Charge Controllers - Victron Energy. I have spent ages looking at all the numbers that are mentioned on the Bluesolar and the Kickass websites relating to these products, but in truth they mean almost nothing to me. I wouldn't want to damage the car, the charge controller or the Traxide dual battery system that I will be installing to support my use of these solar panels. So can anyone please offer advice on compatibility/correct pairing to select. Many thanks Peter

I look at it in simple terms; compare amps that the panel (or panels if you have multiple) can output to the amps that the controller can handle and ideally have a reasonably close match with some "headroom" in the controller for safety. The Kickass 250W panel you linked states a maximum output of 12A so the 15A Victron controller would be ideal and allow an additional smaller panel especially in less than full sunlight conditions (less amps produced). It's difficult to know if you'd need more than 250W because it depends on your power demands. In my case a combined output of 270W across two panels is more than sufficient for camp lighting and running a 57L fridge as well as charging of phones etc so the 15A controller is perfect for my needs. I rarely get 15A as it's rarely perfect conditions and more commonly I see 9-11A in real camping situations.

Cheers,
Scott

Brilliant. Thanks Scott.