are these cables for a solar panel?

schew

Well-known member
I've been reading up on solar and find that I have many unanswered questions...

Can someone confirm that the cables picturedd are for connecting a solar panel(s)?

If so, are the connectors a common type?

My trailer came "solar prepped", does this mean all that's needed to trickle charge my battery would be a solar panel and controller?

I envision a typical night would be to have the ability to run LED lights, listen to the radio and cycle the furnace at night, is this type of usage beyond a trickle charge? If so, what would be a good setup for this type usage?
(I do have an onan 5500 genset)
Thanks for your input!
 

Attachments

  • 20170317_155120.jpg
    20170317_155120.jpg
    74.3 KB · Views: 152
  • 20170317_155128.jpg
    20170317_155128.jpg
    134 KB · Views: 139
  • 20170317_155148.jpg
    20170317_155148.jpg
    145.8 KB · Views: 135
  • 20170317_155155.jpg
    20170317_155155.jpg
    70.1 KB · Views: 128

Dennyha

Well-known member
Yes, those are solar cable connectors. The connectors are called MC4 connectors, male and female. If you do connect these, be careful to line up barbed tabs on the side. They bend easily, and will break off if not correctly lined up. Once the connectors lock together, they will be difficult to separate.
 

schew

Well-known member
so I have a dumb question,
On the roof of my trailer one cable that has the male connector is labeled "-". The other cable is not marked.
But on my solar panel, the connector on the negative wire has the same connector. I will not be able to connect the two as the connectors are the same. In order to make a circuit, I would need to connect the positive connector into the wire marked "negative" on my roof cable.

From what I have read, my solar panel has the correct connectors, female = positive, male = negative .
What am I missing??? Is the roof cable mislabeled?
 
Last edited:

avvidclif

Well-known member
Rather than worry about what the factory called them I would install the panel and hook it up using the connectors. Then go inside and with your voltmeter figure out which is + and - and hope they match the controller correctly.
 

schew

Well-known member
Rather than worry about what the factory called them I would install the panel and hook it up using the connectors. Then go inside and with your voltmeter figure out which is + and - and hope they match the controller correctly.

Yes, that's exactly what was thinking!
 
I've been reading up on solar and find that I have many unanswered questions...

Can someone confirm that the cables picturedd are for connecting a solar panel(s)?

If so, are the connectors a common type?

My trailer came "solar prepped", does this mean all that's needed to trickle charge my battery would be a solar panel and controller?

I envision a typical night would be to have the ability to run LED lights, listen to the radio and cycle the furnace at night, is this type of usage beyond a trickle charge? If so, what would be a good setup for this type usage?
(I do have an onan 5500 genset)
Thanks for your input!

Where did you find the location the cables on the roof where ran too? I'm having a heck of a time locating these solar cables
 
Top