{"id":1747,"date":"2023-07-19T18:16:45","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T22:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesolaraddict.com\/?p=1747"},"modified":"2023-07-20T03:00:35","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T07:00:35","slug":"charge-both-12v-and-solar-generator-batteries-with-this-renogy-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesolaraddict.com\/charge-both-12v-and-solar-generator-batteries-with-this-renogy-panel\/","title":{"rendered":"Charge Both 12V And Solar Generator Batteries With This Renogy Panel"},"content":{"rendered":"
More and more RVers are buying portable power stations, also known as solar generators.<\/p>\n
Power stations are great for when you’re dry camping in the wild, where you don’t have access to grid power.<\/p>\n
I travel full-time in an RV and spend most of the time boondocking.<\/p>\n
We have an EcoFlow Delta Max (click to view on Amazon)<\/a> to power everything in our RV, even the air conditioner.<\/p>\n Then we have several solar panels that recharge both our RV batteries and the EcoFlow battery.<\/p>\n The popular solar panel manufacturer Renogy has released a 200W panel that is perfect for this purpose<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Check Price at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n It comes with a solar charge controller so you can hook it up to a 12V battery, but it also has a bypass between the panel and charge controller to charge solar generators.<\/p>\n It’s compatible with pretty much any solar generator on the market. You might need to buy an additional adapter for brands like Goal Zero, Jackery, EcoFlow, and Rockpals though.<\/p>\n I’ll talk more about that further down, but you can also leave a comment and let me know which power station you have\/plan on buying and I’ll lead you to the correct adapter.<\/p>\n\n The reason it’s perfect for my needs is because of one single thing: the built-in bypass between the solar panel on the left and the solar charge controller.<\/p>\n Since solar generators already have built-in solar charge controllers, you should never connect an external panel via a charge controller.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n But you do need a charge controller when you connect panels to an RV battery. Otherwise nothing is going to regulate the generated power and overcharge the battery which will damage it permanently.<\/p>\n Renogy includes alligator clips that is used to connect the charge controller to your 12V batteries.<\/p>\n When you’ve connected the positive and negative clips, you need to choose what battery type you have on the solar charge controller.<\/p>\n Unless you have bought lithium batteries, you probably have flooded batteries.<\/p>\n Some solar generators come with MC4 to DC adapters, which lets you connect panels like these right out of the box.<\/p>\n My EcoFlow Delta Max did<\/a>, so I wouldn’t need to buy anything other than the panel and the power station.<\/p>\n If you have a Jackery or Goal Zero you need an MC4 to 8mm adapter<\/a>.<\/p>\n If your power station has a 5.5×2.1 input, this is the adapter you need<\/a>.<\/p>\n Technically it should be possible with an MC4 Y branch like this<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Check Price at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n One thing about doing this that will feel wrong is that you need to connect the black (negative) to the positive MC4 male coming straight from the panel.<\/p>\n Then you need to connect the red one to the negative female MC4 connector from the panel.<\/p>\n Finally, you’ll connect the black one to the red positive from the charge controller, and the red one to the black negative.<\/p>\n I haven’t done this myself so I can’t promise that it will work.<\/p>\n Yes, and I recommend using MC4 extension cables, the lower the gauge the better.<\/p>\n These 20ft 10 AWG extension cables by Renogy<\/a> are great.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\nWhat’s so great about it?<\/h3>\n
How do you connect the Renogy panel to a 12V battery?<\/h3>\n
How do you connect the Renogy panel to a solar generator\/power station battery?<\/h3>\n
Can you charge both a 12V battery and a solar generator at the same time?<\/h3>\n
The cable from the panel is too short, is there an extension cable?<\/h3>\n