I will mount the panel on a roof and connect to a 12 v battery, please advise what extras I will need to make it work correctly eg . Will I need alligator extra cable, connectors, regulator?
1134541
MC4 cables with MC4 connectors (male & female)-charge controller-two lengths of cable (pos & neg) with ring terminals or alligator clips-inline fuse of some kind (3 amp approx). You will need wire cutters/stripper/crimpers-butt connectors-electrical tape/heat shrink. Basic wiring knowledge is a plus. I use mine for battery maintenance. This panel will not provide more that maintenance levels of power.
1134542
You will need to get extra cable, 10 gauge will work, mc4 connectors (from Renogy.com or on Amazon from Renogy), a charge controller (aka regulator) and a power inverter that will give you a regular outlet plug. If you are going to use a inverter on your battery you may want a higher wattage panel. I would suggest a 50w solar panel, if you get the 30w panel it might not keep up with the load you plug into the inverter. You will want some Z brackets that come with roof screws, renogy.com has them very cheaply. You can optionally add a volt meter and hook it on your battery. It will give you a constant reading. You will need to get extra cable, 10 gauge will work, mc4 connectors (from Renogy.com or on Amazon from Renogy), a charge controller (aka regulator) and a power inverter that will give you a regular outlet plug. If you are going to use a inverter on your battery you may want a higher wattage panel. I would suggest a 50w solar panel, if you get the 30w panel it might not keep up with the load you plug into the inverter. You will want some Z brackets that come with roof screws, renogy.com has them very cheaply. You can optionally add a volt meter and hook it on your battery. It will give you... » Read More You will need to get extra cable, 10 gauge will work, mc4 connectors (from Renogy.com or on Amazon from Renogy), a charge controller (aka regulator) and a power inverter that will give you a regular outlet plug. If you are going to use a inverter on your battery you may want a higher wattage panel. I would suggest a 50w solar panel, if you get the 30w panel it might not keep up with the load you plug into the inverter. You will want some Z brackets that come with roof screws, renogy.com has them very cheaply. You can optionally add a volt meter and hook it on your battery. It will give you a constant reading. « Show Less
1134543
MC4 cables with MC4 connectors (male & female)-charge controller-two lengths of cable (pos & neg) with ring terminals or alligator clips-inline fuse of some kind (3 amp approx). You will need wire cutters/stripper/crimpers-butt connectors-electrical tape/heat shrink. Basic wiring knowledge is a plus.I use mine for battery maintenance. This panel will not provide more that maintenance levels of power.
1069726
sure. why not? you just need a 12 volt power supply for it, and the right sized cutout in the roof. make sure you can seal it well with roof sealant from an RV supplier.
1939570
Hello, In order to add 3 more panels you will need at least one pair of branch connectors, however this will boost your system to 24V. If you would like to maintain 12V you will need 3 pairs of the branch chain connectors. Thank you, Sam Evans Customer Service Representative
1562271
not knowing what your workink with leaves one scratching there HEAD ! do you relize you can styart a fire under the hood or where everyour battery is located... use the ring or have a machic do the job THE RIGHT WAY. don't try and CUT corners it will cost lives note here ! Alligator CLIPS are for quick test only. remember that !!! and REMEMBER. a BATTERY is A BOMB... ! it will BLOW up if an ARK Cross's it it
1186292
Buy a 12volt DC battery charger (preferably a smart charger).Make the connection soldering a 2 prong male connector on the battery and 2 prong female on the charger.You can also buy or solder alligator clips on the charger.If you put the connector system you also have a safe way of connecting to the device you are using the battery to power.
518848
You will need a marine (car size) battery or batteries to hook it up to and an inverter (I have a 450 watt inverter) that converts battery power (DC) to household current (AC). Very few companies sell these two parts with their kits because of weight (the battery) and individual preferences for inverters that come in small to very high watt capability. I not only liked the 30 watt panel I bought from Tektrum, but I ordered a 40 watt kit from them a few weeks later and they delivered each time in just 3 days. Best wishes. Ann C.
26869
That depends on what you want to use it for. For charging a battery I would use a separate charge controller. A 12 volt panel can put out 20 volts in peak sunlight which would over charge and damage your battery. For something like an DC attic ventilation fan you can just run it direct. The fan will spin faster or slower depending on the amount of sunlight / voltage, which is not a problem.
863749
Run the 2 leads to your battery terminal or to your fuse panel, battery is easier. I used Velcro to mount my lights, but you could use self tapping screws if you'd like if you need to extend the wires you'll need a set of wire strippers and some additional 24 ga stranded wire and butt connectors.
1224563
i used 12 gauge from the solar panels to the controller and from the controller to the batteries i used no 6 awg i already had here The no 6 is probably overkill i wouldnt go any less than 8 from the controller to the batteries what is your battery bank at least 24v i hope
63412
You Need A Charge Controller. Connect Your Battery And YourSolar Panel(S) To The Charge Controller.The Gauge(Thickness) Of The Wire Depends On The Distance From The Charge Controller To The Solar Panel And The Battery.You Should Be Able To Find Some Images online.
592386
The short answer is: A pair of alligator clips to connect the wires to the battery. If you or a friend have any mechanical ability at all, it is easy. You get 40' of wire that becomes 20' because you run two conductors, a positive and a negative. You will cut the desired length of wires to run from the panel to the controller. The wire remaining will be used to go from the controller to the battery. The terminals on the panel, the controller and the battery are clearly marked as to what goes where. (I used a piece of red tape to mark the hot (positive) wire at all ends. (the wires are all black.) This system is superb. We use two batteries and have all the power we need in our RV. (Lights, pump, tv, computers.) We are thrilled with it. (The price is unbelievable. $600 in RV stores) If I can be of any other help please don't hesitate to holler: Ivor ivorthomas316@aol.com
860205
You'll need something to mount the panels to. The batteries will need to be connected with heavy gauge battery cables. I keep my batteries in a ventilated box out on the deck, so you might want to have a container in mind. It appears to me that this kit will provide charge for 12V batteries in parallel. You will need an inverter to turn that battery power into AC power so you can plug things in. AC inverters come in a wide range of power outputs. 200W inverter will power a laptop. Do a google search for "how many watts do appliances draw." This will help you pick out an inverter. (A space heater might need a 1500 W inverter for example. Cell phone charging can be done off of a 150 watt invert. Buy a bigger inverter than you think you will need. Good luck.
1152737
I was not aware of one and I hooked it up without breaking it.If you have a panel in the sun however, I would think that hooking up the batteries and any accessories first would be the right thing to do, followed by the panels connection
2129617
MC4 connectors are nice, but not necessary. The most important thing is the size of the wire you use. With DC power, the longer the wires, the heavier they must be. On my rv, I am using #4 wire from my panels to my controller, a distance of about 12 feet to minimize the power loss from the wires. As far as connectors are concerned, many people use two poled automotive connectors. No need to try to connect heavy gauge wire into the box on the back of the panel. Its much easier to splice (waterproof) the wires supplied with the panel to the wires going to the controller or use connector plugs. Hope this helps.
480363
When you say you want to "Keep it topped off", is that without using any power from it (like storing it in your car and wanting a panel to give it a bit of power during the day)? A panel that costs $25 or under 5 watt unit can do that job. You may not need a voltage regulator with a small panel like that, but still any panel can take the voltage above 15V and risk damaging the battery, so it may be best to include a regulator in your system (unless there is one in this battery pack and you can feed the power thru it).
1425076
I will answer as complete as I can for you. Can you make a wire run with jumper clips on it That can attach to your boat battery and to a terminal on the wall inside of boat house and attach the solar panel to that no more then 8-10 ft. The panel comes with several different types of connectors for the panel end good luck it should be easy to do ?
1157990
It's pretty straight forward just keep in mind that you should use at least 10 gauge wires to connect unit to 12v battery,if you use wire less than that you could have a problem as with any of these units.