Solar Set Up Help

[littleharbor]

I don't have room for another panel as this is going on top of my camper and the 300w is large, I know of people that have the same set up but their batteries are wired parallel, not sure if that makes a difference. I've heard that batteries should be wired in series.

Yes it does. If you had a 12 volt system this setup would work fine. Matter of fact you wouldn't be able to add another panel due to your relatively small 20 amp controller.

[tigerremod]

Yes it does. If you had a 12 volt system this setup would work fine. Matter of fact you wouldn't be able to add another panel due to your relatively small 20 amp controller.

So wire my batteries parallel and problem fixed?
Do I need a larger charge controller?

[littleharbor]

With a single panel you will be fine with the system at 12 volts. If you ever want to expand the controller needs to be replaced, UNLESS, you want to go 24 volts, then you need to add a panel. Of course your inverter is only good for it's designated system voltage.

[SunEagle]

So wire my batteries parallel and problem fixed?
Do I need a larger charge controller?

Your CC is limited if you decide to enlarge your system but your real issue is you now have a 12v battery system so a 24v inverter will not work.

You also now have a 400Ah battery system which will need about 40 amps of charging which comes to about 500 watts of panels.

[tigerremod]

Your CC is limited if you decide to enlarge your system but your real issue is you now have a 12v battery system so a 24v inverter will not work.

You also now have a 400Ah battery system which will need about 40 amps of charging which comes to about 500 watts of panels.

Thank you for all the feedback! I could get a different inverter.
I am also thinking of getting a battery combiner as a supplemental way for charging the battery bank. So could that make up for having only 300 watts of panels?

[Mike90250]

..........
I am also thinking of getting a battery combiner as a supplemental way for charging the battery bank. So could that make up for having only 300 watts of panels?

What is a Battery Combiner ?
A Solar PV Combiner is a fused junction box where several parallel PV panels are combined. It does not make any greater amount of electricity, it's merely a safe way to connect things together.

[tigerremod]

What is a Battery Combiner ?
A Solar PV Combiner is a fused junction box where several parallel PV panels are combined. It does not make any greater amount of electricity, it's merely a safe way to connect things together.

It's a device that connects your start battery and house batteries so that excess energy produced from the alternator will charge your house batteries but will also allow flow from house batteries to start battery when it sits. So you'll never have issues of draining the start battery

[ButchDeal]

It's a device that connects your start battery and house batteries so that excess energy produced from the alternator will charge your house batteries but will also allow flow from house batteries to start battery when it sits. So you'll never have issues of draining the start battery

That is actually called a battery isolator not a battery combiner.