Newbie here, What MPPT would you recommend?

[Dirtydeeds]

Hi! I currently have 5x 100 watt solar panels from Renogy and I'd like to install them on my rig. What MPPT would you recommend to have the panels in parallel?
'm using a 1000 watt inverter, and I have 3 155ah Batteries. Thanks!

[Yet another Yeti]

Voltage of the batteries ?

[Dirtydeeds]

12v

[SunEagle]

With the 5 100w panels wired in parallel you will need at least a 40amp MPPT CC and a combiner box & fuses to protect each of those 5 panels.

The 40amps of charging should work for your 465Ah battery system but may not equally charge all 3 batteries the same.

[Ho jo]

I don't no which renogy 100 watt panels you have mine are rng's 5.29 imp. With 4 of them on a 30 mppt the highest amps I ever seen is on a 35f day an extremely low battery is 25 amps. Pole mounted at 3500 feet elevation.

[Ho jo]

Mppt needs a higher voltage than 18 to work properly why are you running in parallel shade issues? with 6 panels you could wire them 3s2p and use a cheaper 100 volt 45 or 50 amp charge controller. No combiner box or fusing. Closer match to your batteries.

[Dirtydeeds]

Thanks for the input guys! Shade can be an issue, yes. This is for an RV and a lot of the time I'll be parked in an area with lots of Vegetation.

[littleharbor]

Thanks for the input guys! Shade can be an issue, yes. This is for an RV and a lot of the time I'll be parked in an area with lots of Vegetation.

Keep in mind these are SOLAR panels, not shade panels. as long as you are parked in a shaded area you will get negligible charging, at best. Consider adding free standing panels that can be deployed in full sun while your van is in the cooler shaded area.

[Dirtydeeds]

Keep in mind these are SOLAR panels, not shade panels. as long as you are parked in a shaded area you will get negligible charging, at best. Consider adding free standing panels that can be deployed in full sun while your van is in the cooler shaded area.

Good observation! Question, is there a benefit to wiring in series as opposed to parallel?

[Ho jo]

Yes with long distance from panels to charge controller. Such as panels in sun rv in shade that's how I do it. Higher voltage in series you can use cheaper smaller wire. Less voltage drop. Also mppt needs higher than 18 volts to operate effectively. Also panels mounted flat on a rV roof puts out less power 9 months a year. But may- july flat put out close to full power . IMHO

[littleharbor]

But may- july flat put out close to full power . IMHO

I disagree here. The heat on the roof of the van in summer will definitely reduce output of the panels. You need very cold conditions to see STC rated power.

[Ho jo]

Agreed on the heat on top of rv. Need space under the panels my rv is white rubber. Less heat than black shingles. I meant in summer flat is closer to the sun angle. Than in winter.

[Dirtydeeds]

The panels will have 1" airflow under them on top of the roof

[SunEagle]

Good observation! Question, is there a benefit to wiring in series as opposed to parallel?

Yes. Series wiring reduces the wire size between the panels and CC and works better for a MPPT type..
The first problem is not to exceed the maximum DC input voltage.
The second problem is if you can't wire all of the panels in one series string then you need to be able to have a second string with an equal number of panels.
That is why having a odd number of panels works against you.

[sdold]

OP: What's the open-circuit voltage (Voc) of the panels?