Jayco Sterling 17.55.3 Solar Panel fitting
Submitted: Sunday, Dec 18, 2011 at 12:29
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90702
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Mapesy (QLD)
Folks,
I have a 2010 Jayco Sterling Poptop 17.55.3. I want to fit a 120 Watt Solar Panel/s to the roof and was wanting some expert advice on where to run the wires etc.
Can I run the wires directly into the back of the current Power regulator/charger fitted under the bed?
Also where are the wires run from the poptop to the regulator/charger.
Do I need to use the controller on the solar panels if running into the regulator charger?
Any advice here would be very much appreciated.
Reply By: guy007 - Sunday, Dec 18, 2011 at 16:21
Sunday, Dec 18, 2011 at 16:21
Hi Mapesy,
I have a 2008 Jayco Discovery Outback poptop 17.55.3 which would be the same layout as yours. It came with an 85w panel on the roof and the wires came down into the righthand front cupboard next to the bed. In the cupboard was a
junction box with wires leading down under the bed to the 15 amp Morningstar solar regulator which was mounted next to the battery with the output wires connected direct to the battery. I have since fitted a 50amp regulator and 3 more panels each 120w.
I hope you are not thinking of connecting the panels direct to the Setec Transformer as this will not work. You must have a dedicated solar regulator fitted between the panels and the battery.
If you have no provision for solar already on your poptop roof I would advise that you run the wires down into the left hand cupboard instead of the right as on the right the 240v wires from the airconditioning also come through and you should avoid drilling through the roof near the 240v.
You need a square plastic
junction box on the roof to run and join your wires in and be sure to use plenty of sixaflex to seal and penetrations.
Hope this helps
Guy
AnswerID:
472808
Follow Up By: Mapesy (QLD) - Sunday, Dec 18, 2011 at 20:49
Sunday, Dec 18, 2011 at 20:49
Hey Guy,
Thanks for the info. This is exactly what I was looking for.
Can I run the wires from the solar regulator to the Setec transformer or is this pointless? I was wanting to install a battery monitor between the setec transformer and batteries to monitor all charging and discharge.
Also did you run the wires from the roof down the curtain in one of the already provided channels (for want of a better description)?
Thanks again for the info.
FollowupID:
747660
Reply By: guy007 - Sunday, Dec 18, 2011 at 20:55
Sunday, Dec 18, 2011 at 20:55
Hi Mapesy,
Connect the solar regulator direct to the battery not the Setec.
Use the provided channels in the poptop curtain.
Guy
AnswerID:
472836
Reply By: Ross M - Tuesday, Dec 20, 2011 at 01:06
Tuesday, Dec 20, 2011 at 01:06
With all solar installations the wire cross section in both the pos and neg lines is very important. It is not much use fitting more and more panels unless the wire size is adequate to allow the extra current flow to reach the controller/regulator without much voltage drop VD. A small amount of voltage drop will wipe out an extra panels ability just because you have some unnecessary resistance in the circuit. A small resistance at this relative voltage makes a big percentage of loss if all is not ok. Once you get it set up, measure the voltage from the pos line at the panel and at the regulator at the same time. eg extend multimeter probes with a long wire to do this. Measure both lines. Every 0.1 of voltage drop will cause a continual loss of performance. Try to get it reading under 0.3 v drop in each of the panel to regulator lines for good output to batteries. VD is bad, low resistance is good and equates to more current flow to batteries and it is the current flow at a certain voltage level which you are trying to achieve.
Regards
Ross M
AnswerID:
472951