Solar disconnect question

[ARW]

We just got our 2022 2529RG which has 190 watt solar panel. First time with solar so still reading up on it. We don't really boondock but I can see where it will be useful for us. We live in PA and in the winter we take the battery out and keep it in the garage. I figure with the battery disconnect off for the most part the solar would keep the battery up. However we can go weeks without sun or it could be snow covered for long periods. So question....I have read that you should not disconnect battery when solar is on. What do I need to do to pull the battery for the winter and not damage the solar? Or does solar pull enough on cloudy days to trickle charge? Thanks for helping out a solar dummy.

[DavidM]

Here in NW Connecticut, we get 2-3 feet of snow each winter. I keep my Thor Axis in an outdoor storage lot with the batteries in place and hooked up but with the disconnect switch off all winter. I have a 100 watt rooftop panel.

I went through the same logic as you and concluded I needed a separate panel that wouldn't be affected by the snow. So I bought a 50 watt panel on Amazon for about $60 and mounted it on the rear, south facing bumper with duct tape. I connected it's output in parallel with the rooftop panel to the existing Go Power controller.

The 50 watt panel is almost vertical so snow doesn't collect and it gets good sun all day. It has worked well to keep the batteries charged up during the winter. If I parked my RV the other way, I would have just propped the panel up on the dash inside.

David