rbertalotto Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 I have a full Bogart system in my travel trailer. Trimetric and chargecontroller with three 140w panels on the roof. At times I’m camped where panels are shaded. I want to add 100w portable panel that I can better position toward the sun. It comes with its own charge controller. What is the best way to connect this to my existing system? Attach new controller to battery or run the charge controller through the existing Bogart charge controller? iwant the trimetric to still monitor the entire system. Thank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldjohnt Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 Good questions, I've seen several do the same thing you are. For sure you don't need two controllers, so if the portable has its own I've seen many successfully attach the portable panel with its own controller to their battery bank (NOT mess with your in place system). Its like using two hoses instead of one to fill the pool lol. Of course, for a battery monitor to sense and measure all in and all out you wire the potable system negative to the shunt (if you have that type of monitor) where everything else is. If you try and connect to mix n match different panels (rooftop plus portable) as I'm sure you already know they would need to be properly matched. John T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 4 minutes ago, oldjohnt said: ...I've seen many successfully attach the portable panel with its own controller to their battery bank That's what we do with our portable solar panel (we have one 160-watt solar panel on the roof). The portable solar panel came with a cable that's attached directly to the battery to which we then attach the portable panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podwerkz Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 If those 3, 140 watt panels on the roof are wired in parallel ( I assume they are) and if the VoC voltage ratings of those panels and the 100 watt panel are about the same, (around 20-22v) and if the controller will handle the additional amps, then you can simply wire the portable panel in parallel with the existing panels. A lot of 'ifs'....so it is usually much easier to simply wire in the portable panel with its own controller to the existing bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbertalotto Posted October 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 Thanks, I'll hook it in through the shunt....using it's own controller. In this way I'll be able to.monitor in and out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_M Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 If the panel and controller are separate, mount the controller near your batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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