How should levelling be planned in an RV charged by solar panels?
Solar is a source that fills the battery slowly over the course of the day; levelling is a load that demands high current for seconds to minutes. The correct plan is to take the levelling energy from the battery rather than the panel, and to keep a lead-acid/AGM battery above the 50% discharge limit. Levelling when the battery charge is in good shape, rather than the moment you arrive at the camp site, keeps the system working properly.
The power of a solar system, in watts, is spread across the whole day; levelling asks for a short peak current. Trying to match these two directly is the wrong setup. The panel fills the battery, and the battery supplies the levelling current.
Practical plan:
- Try to arrive at the camp site while there is daylight; levelling in the evening, when the battery is already tired, is the worst case.
- Calculate the usable capacity of your house battery realistically: roughly half the label value in lead-acid/AGM. At 50% DoD you typically get 500-1000 cycles, while at 80% DoD this is roughly halved.
- Make sure the charge controller is set correctly for the battery chemistry; a wrong charge profile leaves the battery chronically half full.
- Finish levelling in one go. Constantly changing position and levelling over and over burns unnecessary cycles.
- Remember that the Retract Jacks function also needs energy before you set off; do not run the battery all the way down.
On long stationary camps solar alone may be enough; but if you move frequently, diversifying the charging source (vehicle alternator or mains charging) makes the system work far more comfortably.
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