On June 18th 2025 I bought a small starter kit to experiment with.
It was described as:
Renogy 200 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panel Starter Kit with 2 Pcs 100W Solar Panel and 30A PWM Charge Controller for RV, Boats, Trailer, Camper, Marine ,Off-Grid System
Originally I hooked it up to a 12 volt riding lawnmower battery and used it to power a ICOM 7300 Amatuer radio and it worked fine and I always had power to listen in the evenings when I had time.
On 12 February 2026 I ordered this kit to experiment with.
It was described as:
Renogy 200 Watt 12V Complete Solar Panel Starter Kit: 2pcs 100W Solar Panel + 30A Charge Controller + 100Ah Lithium Battery + 600W Premium Solar Inverter for RV Off Grid with Battery and Inverter
As you can see, I now had 2 more solar panels, another controller and a inverter and battery.
I have been slowly purchasing a fuse and a breaker to shut off the power from the solar panels.
It was described as:
Solar Panel Disconnect Switch 1000V 30A PV Disconnect Switch Outdoor Miniature Circuit Breaker IP65 for Solar PV Homes Battery (1000V 30 Amp)
Now all I needed was a fuse terminal:
And a fuse:
I now have all the pieces and will be putting it together soon with the purpose of running a small 4.4 refrigerator that I brought from lowes a year or two ago.
If that works ok, I’m looking at building a similar system using Victron components to see how they compare against each other as I have an additional refrigerator and a small chest type freezer that I want to take offline first.
No idea if it will work, so stay tuned.