It seems the panels are gone from amazon but they’re still on eBay.
2 160w solar panels I paid $150 each.
Genasun waterproof boost charge controller $180. Little pricey but completely waterproof keep in mind this charge controller maxes at 325 watts so there is no room for expansion or bigger panels.
I thought I needed 10 ga wiring for the panels but that’s completely overkill. I would go with 12ga if I did it again.
3/4 x 3/4 aluminum angle $22 Used this for bolting to two panels together. Would go with 1.5 x1.5 angle. $42 just so it’s a little more ridged. Mine flexes a little bit and I’ll be redoing it with 1.5
I have ammeters with shunts monitoring the power in ($18) from the panels and power out ($23) to the motor. Not really necessary but I like it. These also show me the voltage so I can keep and eye on the state of charge. If you don’t use these I would highly recommend at least a voltmeter ($11) just so you know the state of your batteries
With all the various wire I had laying around terminals and hardware for bolting the panels to the cart. it would come out to around $600. Minus 50 if you don’t want the monitoring capabilities.
I’m on the Texas coast so I’m not far from you.
I plan on doubling the panels so I’ll have 640 watts. Adding a 36v inverter and powering things in my house while it’s parked. So it’s like a massive “solar generator” that I can drive around.
To measure the current, such as high current during starting, most people use a shunt style measurement. It's a wide, thin piece of metal that has an exact, and very low resistance. Then the meter measures the voltage drop across that shunt and the circuitry displays the current draw using ohm's law E/R=I Check this out at Amazon (and a zillion other Chinese sellers: https://www.amazon.com/bayite-6-5-100V-Display-Multimeter-Voltmeter/dp/B013PKYILS/ref=sr_1_6
So I shouldn't be trusting what this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013PKYILS tells me when hooked up to my tank?
DC-DC converter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D5QVPWK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Battery Mount:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/143045778375
I'm using this to measure while testing, and will leave out once it all works:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013PKYILS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Everything connected via XT60 plugs. I swapped the 40v side fuse for a 25amp. On the 12v side is 40 amp fuses.
I wonder if the more stable lithium power is too much where a lead acid has a dip initially under load. Or maybe the DC-DC converter has a resetting fuse and I am going over 30 amps. I think I read you can add DC-DC converters , I wonder if adding another one on would solve the issue.. but then its getting expensive.
There’s little to gain from reducing absorb time. I never go below 2-1/2 hours and I’m at 3-1/2 hours now, I’ll reduce it soon as hot weather approaches.
So you have a 24v 400ah battery bank. Mines 470ah at 12v and I use a single Outback fx60 which is more than enough for my 2kw Solar array. Twin 80a controllers seems like overkill.
I highly recommend this hydrometer, it’s about $35, is temperature compensated and makes checking SG easy as pie.
https://smile.amazon.com/MNHYDROMETER-Hydro-Volt-Temperature-Compensated-Hydrometer/dp/B007CW8Y9S
As good as that is it’s annoying to do frequently. It’s best to monitor the charge state with an amp/hour meter that you can glance at. The cheapest one is this one for like $16, I use one on the trolling motor battery in my boat and it’s a little inaccurate but still very useful. It even comes with a 100 amp shunt.
https://smile.amazon.com/bayite-6-5-100V-Display-Multimeter-Voltmeter/dp/B013PKYILS
A much better one is this which I have in my cabin, it’s rock solid and easy to read from across the room. It’s expensive, does not come with the required shunt or wiring (which I made myself, it’s 4-wires and not proprietary).
https://smile.amazon.com/Bogart-Engineering-TM-2030RV-F-TRIMETRIC-Battery/dp/B07537GGKD
The shunt I use is this.
https://smile.amazon.com/AMMETER-SHUNT-500-AMP-MILLIVOLT/dp/B005BHPG6K
You might find them cheaper on Arizona wind and solar
What’s the voltage of the charging battery? That MPT is a boost converter, for a pint or xr you should be using a 36 or 48v as your source. W a 60v source you may nuke your pint, the 2 batteries will try to equalize.
Consider Getting one of these to checkout what is going on between the mpt and ow: amp meter
I charge and ride plus models and use a meter like that to see what’s going on. Also I use the mpt to limit charging my fender mount batteries to 55.5v (plus is a 58v max battery rather than xr/pint 63v). Not topping off the fender battery seems to really bring down the initial surge when I parallel the batteries.