This a good idea?

[waverider1987]

My electric system is quite simple.  Battery charger when plugged into shore power charges my marine/rv battery.  Then in order to use the electricity from the battery, I have a 2000 watt power inverter connected to it by cables.  Right now I'm running my lights, laptop, and phone off of it to see how long it lasts before I need to recharge it with shore power.  So far so good, but who wants to rely on shore power all the time?  SO....i'm looking into portable solar panels.  I specifically am going for the folding/portable/suitcase style for a few reasons.  One, my roof is one big curve, just like the rest of my van, confusing curves all around...it's been super fun to modify  :dodgy:  Other reason is I like the idea of being able to park it anywhere and move the panels around to face the sun without having to move the van.  But the question is this: I would like to eventually get a small dometic fridge or other small electric cooler thingy, as well as run my laptop, phone, and other small etc's off of the power from my battery and inverter system.  BUT, I'm not sure which wattage to go with.  I was thinking of 300 watt so I can just not worry about it if it's cloudy, but those seem to not come in neat little folding suitcase style panels.  At least not on Amazon.  

Bottom line, if anyone knows of a good 300 watt suitcase style panel for me...please send a link!  I'm heading for the mountains on monday and would like to try it out with the panels if possible.  Thanks much.

 

[Blanch]

200 watts is the biggest I have seen. The weight of a 300 watt suitcase would be maybe 75 pounds and pretty awkward to move around.

Two 160 watt suitcases or two 100 watt suitcases perhaps?


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[Moxadox]

You can daisy chain multiple sets. For instance, you can get a 200w suitcase set and add another, or add a 100w set.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[waverider1987]

Or I wonder if getting some flexible panels would be lighter. Yeah, maybe that.

 

[B and C]

I have two 100 watt flexible panels on the roof and two I can put anywhere. I use a MPPT controller. You can bend the flexibles a little bit but not much. They are relatively light though. I treat mine like they are made of glass just to be sure I don't get a crease in them. They're really not that delicate though.

 

[Almost There]

I started out with a solar suitcase. The 100 W Renogy weighed in at somewhere around 34lbs IIRC.

I sold it and now use a pair of Renogy Eclipse 100W panels that weigh 17 lbs each. I hook them up to an inlet on my van which runs to the solar controller located inside the van.

Aside from doubling my solar wattage without having more weight to lug (and carry each panel separately!!), the other advantage is that my controller is INSIDE the van protected from rain. The solar suitcases have the controller attached to the panel and are not truly waterproof so I was having to put the suitcase away any time rain threatened...now I don't have to worry!

 

[waverider1987]

You can daisy chain multiple sets.  For instance, you can get a 200w suitcase set and add another, or add a 100w set.

The Dire Wolfess

So for example I could get 3 of these 100 watts and connect them to each other (i assume using the cables provided in the photos?)

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Extre...=1-1-spons&keywords=flexible+solar+panel&th=1

 

[Almost There]

You would use pig tail kits available from Renogy to combine the panels...you don't actually link a panel to another panel, rather you link the panels in to one cord going to the solar controller.

Think of it like a power bar, each panel gets 'plugged in' to the power bar'.

I used the short pig tail sets to hook up my panels to a specially wired extension cord. I have too much arthritis in my  hands to be able to undo the connectors used. The outdoor extension cord needed new ends on it both to have the correct ends in place but also to be able to guarantee polarity which has to match the panels.

Personally, I'd be wary of using the very lightweight panels you showed in the link. They will definitely need a frame to make them rigid. Those panels are bendable so that you can use them on a curved surface, not bendable as in you can let them bend all the time.

I also prefer to buy directly from Renogy rather than through someplace like Amazon. Renogy is known to match prices if you find a better price than on their website.

 

[B and C]

Yes you can. You will also need a solar controller .

 

[29chico]

You can run everything that you mentioned with a 12 volt system w/o the power loss of running an inverter.  I would be surprised if you can’t get a power brick to boost 12v battery power up to what volts your laptop requires, way more efficient.   A decent 12v fridge will sip power compared to a 120 volt ac dorm style unit which has the double whammy of being inefficient buy itself and also being powered by an inverter with it’s power loss.

Running everything thru a 2000w inverter off a single marine/rv battery that is not really capable of deep cycles is going to end up with you dissatisfied with your system.  A continuous duty solenoid so that you could charge off the alternator while driving would help.  Going with a pair of 6v golf cart deep cycle batteries would be a big help also.  LED lighting.  Doing the above and going to only 12v loads almost all the time with your stated 300 watts of solar along with a decent charge controller would be a solid system.  Please correctly size and fuse the wiring.   A fuse block from Blue Sea Systems would be a
great start.

You don’t have to give up the inverter.  Just use it for short periods of time when you have to. Inverters can draw a surprising amount of power when switched off. So correctly disconnecting a large inverter like yours after switching it off can save a lot of power.