Hard wired solar panel on roof

I recently purchased a 2020 Landmark 360 Concord 5th wheel, love it!, however I decided to go up on the roof to check things out and found a hard wired solar panel embedded in the roof near the front cap area. I was unable to locate any material in my owners zip folder that contained a whole bunch of booklets on electronics, etc...Can someone tell me how this works or do I need to turn it on somehow....? Thanks Gary

Hi garelli,

I think Heartland is installing a solar panel with a small voltage regulator that's intended to help keep your batteries charged. Check your front compartment for small devices connected to the batteries. I'm guessing the regulator might have a display that shows the charging voltage.

You could also call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. They should be able to fill in the blanks.

Can you post a few pictures of your batter compartment area? This way we can find the solar controller and determine how it is wired.

Thank you for your quick replies, very much appreciated, so glad I joined this forum, I will add pics soon...

Forum software won't let you post pics directly until you get a few more posts done. In the meantime, you can upload the pics to google drive or another free cloud storage location and put a link in your post.

I sent a pic to your email, thank you again for your help!

Ok, thank you!🤗

garelli said:

I sent a pic to your email, thank you again for your help!

Click to expand...

Ok folks, here is the controller image he sent to my email. It is a PWM not MPPT, so this would be categorized as an "entry level" solar controller.

While the panel is in direct sunlight, you should/could see over 14v on the battery. Then (say at night) the batter will drop back to normal resting voltage of around 12.9 to 13.1 volts. Note...if you drop below 12v, you have passed the 50% DOD (depth of discharge) level for any battery other than Lithium. You should not use a battery (other than Lithium) below 50% DOD.

If you'd like a LOT more info, you could join my Facebook group for Solar and Boondocking.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/solarpoweredrvsandboondocking/

If you'd like a LOT more info, you could join my Facebook group for Solar and Boondocking.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/solarpoweredrvsandboondocking/


I'm interested in learning more about the subject BUT
I'm also concerned about privacy and so won't join Facebook. Have you any plans towards making this info available elsewhere?

Fox said:

If you'd like a LOT more info, you could join my Facebook group for Solar and Boondocking.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/solarpoweredrvsandboondocking/


I'm interested in learning more about the subject BUT
I'm also concerned about privacy and so won't join Facebook. Have you any plans towards making this info available elsewhere?

Click to expand...

I would if I could, but with 1,400 members (and growing daily) the value of the group is the collective knowledge of the group (Just like this forum).

I like the consider myself knowledgeable on solar, but I am amazed by the shear volume of knowledge shared on the Facebook group.

Heck...when Jim Beletti joined, he got a TON of great information for his new solar build.