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  1. #1
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    Question 2021 Transcend XPLOR 200MK Solar System

    I just purchased a new Transcend XPLOR 200MK trailer and my sales person showed me that it had a solar panel on the roof and a 12 volt refrigerator. He just said that the system powered the frig? I have no idea how this works? Do I need a special 12 volt battery? the trailer has a 12 volt battery, but i'm not sure if is not just a normal one. I have a manual for a MPPT Solar Charge Controller in my owners package, but cant find it on the trailer. In summary, im not sure what i have or how to learn more about it< HELP !!!

  2. #2
    Left The Driveway
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    We have a 2021 245RL. What we know so far... the solar panel charges the battery, the battery runs the fridge. Camped two times in ours so far but have been hooked up to shore power (which also charges the battery). So...our 12v has been ok. Nice thing about battery fridge.. cool it down b4 we leave, load it, and fridge runs while we travel keeping everything cold. We are considering getting another battery if/when we decide to boondock.

  3. #3
    Rolling Along
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    This is correct, the fridge is purely 12V. No matter where your power is sourced, ultimately the fridge only ever gets it from the 12V system. During the day, when the sun is overhead, clouds nonexistent, panel is unobstructed, and battery is charged -- the panel supplies enough juice to completely power the fridge. Takes about 90W while the compressor is running. When the generation ability of the solar panel drops below 90W, the battery will fill in the gap, until finally at sunset it will be 100% battery until sunrise.

    I will attach a screenshot of what the last 24 hours looked like for me. Right now my panel has an unobstructed view of mostly clear-ish skies (with hazy high clouds however). About 45 degrees latitude. It actually does better than I expected. For the record, this is with a pair of inexpensive Interstate 12V deep cycle group 24 batteries supplied by the dealership. I don't recall the capacity but I wouldn't be surprised if the usable capacity is around 50-60 Ah. They're not great batteries .

    The panel is the standard 165W (according to Furrion, GD might call it 150W) panel GD has been putting on Transcend trailers. I swapped the charge controller for a Victron SmartSolar 100/20, but the Furrion charge controller that comes with the trailer isn't terrible. It's also MPPT and can work with lithium batteries, but I wanted pretty graphs... thus the Victron.

    The trailer is sitting empty, but the fridge is running. It cycles once every half hour or so, depending on how hot it gets. You can see that change throughout the day. In the morning it takes until late morning before the battery reaches absorption, at which point the panel doesn't get to produce much power except when the fridge is running. Early afternoon the charger switches to float, and then the panel makes enough by itself to completely power the fridge, so there are no more voltage dips when it runs. Later in the afternoon it starts pulling from the battery again.

    Most I've seen from this panel is 150W. I have not decided what my plans are for panels, but I suspect I will end up adding at least one more, since it keeps up alright in pure sunlight but we don't camp purely in the sun. Really, that means replacing the panel while adding more because the Furrion panel is 1) backordered and 2) three times as expensive as a decent quality alternative. There's plenty of space on my RV roof to add a couple more, and with enough wiring I could probably put at least six up there. But if I go much above 300W total capacity I will want to change to a bigger controller.

    Coincidentally, tomorrow (as long as Fedex does not delay it again), my first lithium battery arrives. I will be interested to see how the graphs change .

    Quote Originally Posted by randy48diana55 View Post
    I have a manual for a MPPT Solar Charge Controller in my owners package, but cant find it on the trailer.
    It is almost certain to be located in the storage compartment at the front of the trailer, left hand side, above the "universal docking center" where your water hookups are. Great place for a plugin and electrical wiring, I know . It should be screwed into the wooden bed supports, you may have to poke your head in and look up to see it. It's pretty much fire-and-forget, there isn't anything for you to change on it until and unless you upgrade to a lithium battery. Then you'd want to change the charge profile to lithium, and there's a button on the front to do that.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails rv-solar-2021-06-04 -4.12.04-PM.png  
    Last edited by rootusrootus; 06-04-2021 at 05:40 PM.
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  4. #4
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    This is great information! Thanks for the post!

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