I recently bought a small camper to do some weekend outings.  It says it has solar prep, but I am not well versed on solar at all.

Not really sure where to start on it.  I know I have a decent deep cycle battery and that is about it.  Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

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Should be easy on that.  The biggest panel you can fit on the roof, or get a big folding panel.  The controller is included with most, if not you’ll need to find a spot near the battery for it.  Solar goes into a controller, then to battery.  That’s it.


Advantage folding panel if you are camping under cover.  Remote the folder into the sun.

In my opinion, the 12v solar output should go right to the battery .
Some take it right to the 12v power bus.

Yours may have a designated solar input point.  Use it if it does.

Make sure your trailers "solar prep" can handle what you're going to put through it. My trailer is also solar ready, but all that includes a plug in the side of the trailer, that's only rated for 10 amps, and has no controller. Useless for my needs.

It really is a very simple process. Like was stated before, you only need a panel, a controller, and the wires.

Get an MPPT controller, they're well worth the little bit of extra money. I'd also recommend a lithium battery, which the MPPT controller is fully capable of charging and maintaining. For your trailer a 100 watt panel should be fine. Renogy makes a compact 100w panel for right around $100.

Hit me up if you have more questions. I literally just finished putting together a solar setup on my trailer. 300w of panels, MPPT controller, 2 100ah lithium batteries, nad ran all the cables on the outside of the trailer. Works flawlessly.

Solar prep in this context likely means a simple SAE plug direct wired to your battery. It might even be one of the small black ports, maybe the one right above your fender?

If so, it's designed for a static solar installation. Something like this to set up when you're parked:
https://www.renogy.com/100-watt-12-volt-monocrystalline-foldable-solar-suitcase-with-voyager/
https://expion360.com/products/expion360-e360-accessories-solar-cable-mc4-sae-10-inch-ex-ca-sae005  

Will allow you to plug right into it. The solar controller will regulate your battery and the charge. Beware that some of the "zamp" branded setups are proprietary. Their method of proprietary is simply reversing the polarity of the SAE plug. Very easy to correct.

You may also have pre-run wiring along the roof somewhere to install a gland and permanently affix panels to the roof. Those are nice because they allow charging while driving which typically does not occur from the tow vehicle. They're less nice once parked because you'll want to park in the sun to capture energy, but most campers feel better in the shade