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« on: August 04, 2015, 10:49:43 pm »
I went with a fairly simple approach, which may or may not work for others. We bought an 80 watt Sunforce panel on Amazon a few years ago on a whim. As luck would have it, the panel fit the width of the EVC perfectly. I spent many months trying to figure out how to mount it without putting holes in my roof. A friend helped fashion some brackets that we attached to the side of the roof without going through the roof. I opted for a permanent mount and sacrificed optimal sun positioning so as not to hassle with kids and dogs knocking over the panel. Plus, again as luck would have it, the skylight in my garage is positioned right over the panel, so I actually get a charged while parked. (Living in the sunny Southwest helps.)
Also, while there are certainly advantages to the higher quality controllers, I went with a $20-$25 Sunforce controller that seems to work just fine. Also opted to run the wires along the outside of the rear hatch to under the battery compartment then up through an existing hole the previous owner put in for a since-removed rear view camera. Again, wanted to avoid any holes.
While this simple set up may not be for everyone, I've found it to be a trouble- and hassle-free design that didn't break the bank. The house battery is always charged -- I only plug into shore power the night before a trip to cool the fridge -- and I never have to set up or move the panel.
Happy camping,
John