What 100-200 Watt Solar Panel System Would Go Well With An 80 Watt Solar Panel System

Question:

Hi, I have a roof mounted Go Power Eco solar power kit I think it is GP-ECO-80 installed on my RV and would like to add an additional panel with 100-200 watts of power and a new controller. I would also like some guidance on which panel and controller I should buy and how to hook up my existing panel with the new panel and controller? Thank you!

asked by: Mark F

Expert Reply:

If you're going to go with a 100-200 watt panel then you'll actually need to run the new panel's system directly to the battery and not tie it into the 80 watt panel's system. When you wire together two solar panels with different wattage ratings the higher wattage panel is limited down to the lower wattage panel's rating. This means that tying in a 200 watt and 80 watt panel together would only give you 160 watts instead of 280 watts if they were ran separately. Luckily, the solar charge controllers can read the battery's charge level and adjust their charge to fit the battery's needs, making it ok to have both systems charging the battery simultaneously.

You can go with a kit like the Go Power Overlander Solar Charging System with Digital Solar Controller - 200 Watt # 34282181 for a roof mounted system and you'll run the connection to the battery straight from the charge controller without splicing into anything else.

expert reply by: Kevin C