Hard Panels, Flexible Panels, or Suitcase?

[frater secessus]

>"Built-in controllers svck."

hmmm.... is that not mostly a personal opinion?
They are quite likely to actually do their job, right?

Windshield wipers on the inside of the windshield would work, in the sense they would turn on and go back and forth.  They just wouldn't do their job very well due to poorly chosen mounting location.  They would, in formal terms, svck. 

As you surmised it's mainly a voltage drop issue but there are other problems. The built-ins are usually unconfigurable.  And exposed to the elements.  And more expensive than separate components.  And controller failure might require panel replacement rather than controller replacement.  The strongest argument for a built-in controller would be a very short run (panel leaned against vehicle) and extremely limited interior space for mounting a controller. 

For grid-tie systems built in electronics make a lot of sense:  invert that panel DC to 110ac and run that back to the house for minimal losses.  For our purposes the panel-to-controller run really should be the long one and the controller-to-bank should be short. 

SC = solar charge controller

 

[MrAlvinDude]

Ah, I see it more clearly now.

Many details in technical systems are often a matter of choice, cost and  a number of compromises. 

And when it comes to solar systems, where several/different panel types and/or several controllers are being used, then one will benefit from knowing what compromises are used in the standard store bought (lowest cost) design, or if it might make more sense to chose my own types of compromises, so my complete setup works easiest and most convenient as a complete system, from my particular perspective.
 
Like having solar charge controllers (SC) that are configurable, so they play well together. 

And for several reasons, the built in controllers on for example suit case panels, hardly ever are configurable, and thus do not do an optimal job. It might still work as is, but does so on a level 1-of-5. 

That makes sense.


Likewise, it is easy, simple and convenient, to have the charge controller attached to the suitcase panels, but it is not the optimal placement from a power or  technical perspective. 
It is mainly done for the sake of simplicity and ease of use for the novice solar user. 


So for a few dollars extra, one would actually be able to harvest more power from the same amount of sun, if one were to place the controller close to the batteries, and get a controller that is configurable, so the two controllers play better together.  

Good to know 



I just discovered that this thread also discusses the challenges (and best compromises) of doing a combined setup. 
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=23933