Solar Panel Operation Question

[Boxy]

Good Afternoon fellow campers,
After our last two RV's were stolen from different storage facilities around Houston, we recently downgraded to a smaller Coachman Spirit 2963BH.
This one came with a 100W solar panel preinstalled on the roof, and we attached the loose cables near the battery to the +\- poles as labelled.
What is required for the operation of a solar panel, how much does it help charge the battery etc.? We received zero documentation with the unit.
We typically only go to full hookup sites, so some brief insights on the value/usage is appreciated.

 

[calvin99]

Connecting a solar panel directly to a battery won’t work. You need something called a solar charge controller to convert the output of the panel into something the battery can use.

 

[Boxy]

TY. All of this was preinstalled, and the wires run in the walls of the RV, presumably also the controller?
Would it matter to leave the cables just hooked up?

 

[calvin99]

If the wires were left unconnected, I wonder if they took the charge controller with them. (High quality controllers can be expensive, so they might have wanted to move it to another RV).

It's a bad idea to connect a panel directly to the battery as it can overcharge the battery and cause permanent damage. If it's the type of battery that requires water (AKA flooded cell), overcharging will cause the water to boil off. A charge controller regulates the power to the battery and gives it the correct amount to charge it without overcharging it. (It's essentially a battery charger, but uses solar panels for its power source)

I'm not familiar with your paricular model RV, so I don't know if there's a controller somewhere between the panels and the battery. It's a bit suspicious they left it disconnected. If there's a controller somewhere in between, they should have left it connected. Are you able to contact the previous owners? If purchased from a dealership, they likely don't know much about it. In which case, someone with knowlege of how solar power systems work would have to figure it all out.

If you mainly use your RV with hookups, it might be best to leave it disconnected. A single panel is typically used to keep the battery maintained/charged during storage rather than for off-grid use. (For off grid use, multiple panels are usually needed, along with multiple batteries).

 

[Boxy]

TY - I disconnected and contacted the seller (Ron Hoover RV), we'll see where this gets us. Txs for the input.