Just picked up a used Viking tent trailer and it’s listed as solar ready.

Found the SAE connector and am wondering if I can use my little 28w panel to keep the batt charged.

1) 28 may be a little low but is something.

2 the little panel has USB out.

Can’t seem to find a USB male to SAE male to connect.

Any input?

In to trailer


Output from solar panel, USB is female.


Pic of better half

USB is not the 12vdc that your battery needs.

Find the other end of that connector and get a pic of what it connects to.  Hopefully it's a solar charge controller.

Thanks,

I followed the white and pink lines to the panel. This what that looks like. Manual says it’s “Zamp Solar” ready. I did find some of those online.

I would save that tiny panel for something else.  Get at least 100w and a controller and hook it up.   Also consider a folding panel so it can be in the full sun.

Thanks, been doing some reading. I may just get a 100w as you listed with a controller and just plug to battery. Simple.

Appreciate the replies.

Harbor Freight has panels with that same connector.  Get one of their cheap voltmeters to make sure polarity is right.

ETA-  that panel has no solar input of its own.  You might be better off grabbing a solar charge controller,  hook the battery to it parallel to the converter, and connect that pass thru to the panel input of the solar charge controller.

The trick here is to not overcharge your battery by just hooking the panel straight to it, as I suspect you found it connected.  This is how my vintage U-Hail Camper handles having a 120v converter and a small solar panel to trickle charge ( Originally intended to top it off while it sat on the lot between weekend rentals).

Good luck!

I would first figure out if you already have a solar controller downstream of that plug. I.e., can you plug a panel directly into it or are you going to need a solar controller upstream of it?  Either way I wouldn’t be fooling with the 28 W panel.  They sell lots of bigger panels with or without a controller that come with a stand that you could easily pack up for storage while driving and not have to worry about hard mounting