2022 Micro Minnie 2108FBS Electrical/Solar/Construction Documents

[2108_FBS]

Hello All, I requested these documents from Winnebago Customer Service a few weeks ago. They finally came to my email. I figured they would be of use to people here.

[Marine359]

Thanks Detroit

[SactoSteve]

Greatly appreciated!
- steve

[souki83]

This is so so so good. Thanks for this.

I have 2022 2108TB coming my way mid-April, and was wondering if the "Solar on the Side" port was connected to the onboard Charge Controller or was wired directly to the battery. I intend to buy a portable solar panel and, thanks to the diagram, I now know that it doesn't have to include its own Charge Controller as both, the roof mounted 190W panel AND the side port both share connection to the door side front wall 30A Charge Controller.

The 12V and 110V diagrams are going to come in super handy as we.

Again, thanks for this.

[SactoSteve]

Here’s a link to a post in a thread that discusses “Solar on the Side”, we are not currently using that capability so I have no experience or expertise but Rovinmedics, creativepart and marine359 do.



https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...ml#post3922240

[Senior]

Thanks for sharing!

[Marine359]

Souki83,
This solar on the side thing is new for Winnebago towables. It’s a great feature that most other brands don’t have. Most other brands give you just a port connected to the battery, which means the port is only useable with a portable panel equipped with an onboard charge controller. Onboard portable panel charge controllers are bad news because the cable between panel and port has to be very short, or much of the power is lost due to voltage drop. With internal mppt, such as yours, you can run a long cable to the panel, which enables you to more easily place it in the sun. I run a 30ft cable to my sidewall port with mppt inside the trailer. Virtually no voltage drop.

[ZottHart]

THANK YOU! I tried to get these from Winnebago and got the run around and gave up. Really helpful.

[Desert Taco]

Thanks for the info. It will come in handy!
Terry

[Bcborn]

Now we know if the roof consists of multiple the roof panels they should be wired in Series. Two roof panels wired in Series would then output 24 volts to the charge controller. In a series setup, every panel you add increases the voltage by 12. Ie three panels = 36 volts output

Note: Single or multiple Parallel wired panels output 12 volts.

In our case 2 series wired panels on the roof and a single portable panel would equate as follows. 24 + 12 = 36 Volts. The charge controller would need to be able to handle 36 volts and the total amperage of the 3 panels. It states in the drawing notes to this regard.

Jim can you shed more light on this combination.

[Marine359]

Yah,
But you need to redo the math. A 12v 100w monocrystalline panel nominally outputs 18v, not 12v. To calculate the maximum amount of voltage a charge controller can handle, you must multiply Voc (voltage open circuit) times the number of panels, if they are wired in series. Voc is always higher than rated voltage output to the controller, and should be used for computations. So, 3 x 100w panels with 21v Voc each = 63v. In series, max current stays the same (5amps), so need to worry about the controller being able to handle the current. In my example, the minimum size mppt controller for the array would be 75/15.

It is not always best to wire in series. Yes, in series, the array will output more useable voltage, but that’s only good if you have a mppt controller. Additionally, series wiring can reduce the charge voltage of the array if any one of the panels is shaded. The output of all panels will be the same as the one shaded panel. The other panels are immune to voltage loss if only one panel is shaded in a parallel configuration. So choose the configuration which is best suited for the shade conditions you expect to encounter. And, of course, you can’t wire 3 panels in parallel. You can do 2 or 4, or a series/parallel config with 4 panels.

Measure Voc by placing multimeter probes across the panel’s mc4 connectors while panel is in the sun.

But note if you ever decided to add another panel to the array, you would exceed the controller capacity if you wired in series. So you’d then be left with the decision to buy a bigger controller, or wire 4 panels as series/series, parallel/parallel. In the case of SS/PP, a 4x 100w array would output 10amps @ 36v.

There’s also the issue of panel construction. 9BB panels are much more forgiving of shading than the standard 5BB panels that you can buy under $100. 9BB panels will also collect more power during lower light conditions, like morning and evening. The same is true for CIGS panels.

[Marine359]

Error correction:
You CAN actually wire 3 panel in parallel, but it’s hard to do on rooftop solar unless you buy a 3-way mc4 to gland harness, or 4x 2 to 1 mc4 harnesses. IMO, series is better. And if you have 4 panels, SS/PP is superior.

[Bcborn]

If the Winnebago 190 watt roof panel is a single panel, serial/parallel doesn't come into play. If an additional roof panel was added and wired in parallel with the original the voltage doesn't increase

If the portable add on at ground level is a single panel, serial/parallel doesn't come into play here either. If the ground panel is a 2 or 3 panel suitcase wired in parallel (which many are) I would think all should be good on the FLX with the SOTS Port wired into the OEM Controller. (Jim please comment on this).

As Jim said it's when the voltage increases through serial wiring that the controller needs attention.

If the ground add on is the same brand (Go Power) it would likely match the SOTS plug. It when you go third party such as Zamp, Renogy, Coleman, Rich Solar, Sunthysis etc... who knows. Remember no Charge Controller at panel, panel uses onboard controller if the SOTS plug is wired to FLX Controller.

As Jim mentioned a polarity changer is available if needed.