2017 Springdale SRTWE Solar

[Byron360]

The unit came with a solar panel on the roof. Only indicator is a little red light in the unit. Not sure it does much the battery still drains. I ask Keystone and at first they told me it was not really there. Then came back later and stated it was to charge the battery. Has anyone recieved any info on this panel.

Thanks

[Rick]

Without more info about the solar panel, I'm gonna guess at this. You probably don't have enough panels (and it's undersized) to completely recharge your battery from normal use if dry camping. 1 panel is probably good enough to keep your battery up during storage. You have to take into account that it's spring, so the sun is lower on the horizon than summer which affects charging. With a panel lying flat, that will affect the amount of sun it gets (it should be tilted towards the sun). If there's clouds, that'll affect the panel's charging power. If the wiring's too small, that'll affect charging power. If you run lots of 12v items and/or lights that aren't led, that depletes the battery. Ultimately, you'll have to find a RV solar calculator to figure out how many panels/wattage you'll need. I'd call your dealer about the light. There should be some sort of solar controller mounted somewhere and it might have indicators on it.
After writing this, I did find a Forum link-
http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26238

Good luck!

[Byron360]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I will check a little further.

[Lundy]

I have the 232srt with the same solar panel, it is basically worthless. It would not keep my batteries up while stored unless I pulled the fuses on everything in the trailer. I put a 200 watt unit mounted to the roof. No problems now.

[SCSRT]

I know this is an older post, but I am hoping to learn more about the factory solar unit. I have a 2013 SRT with the factory panel. I would like to put a larger panel on the roof and use the existing wiring, but I cannot find any information about the system.

Keystone told me they don’t keep any records about the solar system, which seems odd. They said to call a dealer. I called 2 dealerships, but they did not know about it.

I cannot find any type of charging unit anywhere in our unit either. It may be easier to just run new wiring, but I thought I would check to see if anyone else has received better information.

Thanks

[Lundy]

After building my solar on my 232SRT, I have learned that the small panel Keystone used has wires that are to small to carry a solar load. Plus it is wired into the converter which robs power as well. I mounted bigger panels and ran the correct size wire down the frig vent to a dedicated controller in the front compartment. My 200 watts of solar keep my batts up under almost all uses unless the sun is absent for a few days. Putting solar on your trailer is not the mystical project that most people think. Do some research on rv.net and in a matter of a few hours you will have everything you need to know.

[SCSRT]

Thank you for the response. You are correct about how much you can learn with just a little research. Now that I know the factory system is too small, I will just wire everything independently. Thanks again