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Happy to be of service. I really like helping people realize these projects are completely doable. I spent the better part of a year researching mine and begging my electrician friends to let me pick their brains anytime we were hanging out. I'm happy to pass that on.

Yeah, if they're under a heavy charge (like an equalization cycle, which your MPPT will do every 14 days for several hours) or discharge, they vent hydrogen into the air. I should have bought AGMs. I bought FLAs. Mostly they just need checked every couple months for water levels.

I'd keep them in series like you are. I have mine setup differently because they're on a bus, and I can't control the shadows that hit them as much. So, I need them to be kind of independent. If you have a cabin, I'm sure you have a way to make sure they're always out of the shade.

Yep, that's true about the 4AWG interconnects. It's just such a short distance that it probably wouldn't cost much to make them a little beefier, and that gives you some future-proofing if you ever decide to throw an inverter on them.

You should download the manual for the MPPT before you buy it. Read it so you know what you're going to need as far as connectors and stuff.

Good point on the fuse. I forgot you were doing 150V when I typed that section. My apologies. Instead of an ANL fuse, look for a CC type fuse rated for 150VDC and 10-12A. Eaton/Bussmann makes them and they're like 5 or 6 bucks if you can find one cheap on Amazon. They're more like $25 if you have to buy from somewhere expensive like Grainger. Also, you need a special fuse box for them. They're basically what houses had before breakers.

This one might work... but it's only AC rated. Because the polarity on AC alternates 60 times a second, it's what's called "self-extinguishing." Meaning AC has a hard time to hold an arc for a long time. DC doesn't alternate, so it just burns an arc until the air-gap gets long enough that it can't sustain it. Typically you de-rate AC gear by 50% when using it for DC. This is a 600VAC fuse you'd be using for 150VDC. That's twice as much safety margin. It'll probably be fine, but I'm not an electrician or anything. Do your own research and shopping until you're comfortable.

As for that ANL fuse you found... Man, you found one of the most expensive fuses on Amazon. But, yes. That's exactly the type of thing I meant for everywhere else. Try this instead and use the leftover cash to take a couple cases of beer and a nice steak to the cabin with you. I'm using a few similar car-stereo grade ANL fuseholders in my system, but they're 400A fuses because of the big inverter.

And you only need to fuse your positive side. Negative DC should be grounded. Properly grounded. Look at your local building codes for grounding requirements. Ground moisture, soil composition, and lots of other factors affect grounding requirements.

If you build it well, it will be safe. :)
Just use fuses and / or breakers where appropriate.
If you live in a cold climate, insulate your battery box so it doesn't freeze.
Also, if you use AGM batteries, they are usually fine indoors. I wouldn't keep flooded batteries indoors though, they outgas too much for my comfort.
I always vent my indoor battery boxes to outside regardless of type though, just for extra safety.

Solar panels from Amazon are generally good, read the reviews though for each seller / item.
If they're still selling them, I can recommend the Newpowa brand as far as '12 volt' panels are concerned. Have two of those, and two HQST ones; the Newpowa branded ones outperform the others by a small bit. :)

Monocrystaline panels are more efficient space wise, more watts per sq. ft. Used most in mobile installs because they offer the best use of the limited space on say, a vehicle roof.

If you have enough space though, the Polycrystaline will be less expensive per watt on average.

What's your budget like, and how much power do you need total? I'm not sure how much you want to spend on the system, so for now I'll just recommend a 'middle of the road' unit.

If you need 500 watts or less total, I'd recommend one of EPsolar's Tracer 4215BN units:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00YCI48F4/

You'll also need the remote to monitor / configure it:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00YAB0UVO/

You also should grab the battery temp sensor for it:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016RU8JUY/

First off thank you for the time you put into your response, that was great and much appreciated.

I plan to be around enough that I COULD maintain the FLA batteries, but I have no idea how much effort that is. Also, I've been thinking of stashing them under a kitchen counter, and I think I read that gassing is an issue. So maybe the AGMs are the way to go.

I thought I'd put the 4 panels in series to keep the amperage down on the run over to the charge controller, but do you think it would be more advantageous to do 2 parallel series of 2 panels?

No huge loads on this system, so if 4AWG is good between the charge controller to the batteries, it certainly stands to reason that 4AWG would be good between the batteries also. I see now that I can buy 4 AWG battery cables with the right ends, but do I need any special connectors to attach a bare end of cable to the controller?

As for the fuses, I found this guy that can go between the MMPT and batteries, but wouldn't the voltage be too high coming into the MMPT for this type of fuse?

Thanks!

Argh, no clue how i managed to mess up theblinks there, I’m sorry.
Inremember the expensive ine : https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Charger-PowerPort-iPhone-Galaxy/dp/B012YUJJM8/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=2B1BSRO8HYJYC&keywords=anker+portable+solar+charger&qid=1556487644&s=gateway&sprefix=anker+portable+solar&sr=8-3

Not sure if ghe cost is worth it but it can serve as a benchmark

Just rey and get the most wattage you can confortably fit on your backpack and definiately condider the dual usb charger power banks, they seem really ideal in combo with most of ghe solar chargers out there

The one you linked has usb-c built in which could be really interesting for powering your cam directly. This would be more efficient than going trough power banks, so definiately check that out. Dont be afraid go use your 30 day return policy to test stuff out.

Do report back on your findings and give a shout when you’re heading off! Gl out there!

Your best bet is to replace your TV with a 12V LED TV. They only use 18watts-30watts

example: https://www.amazon.com/SuperSonic-1080p-Widescreen-Compatible-22-Inch/dp/B0066AE4M8/

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You connect them directly to a 12V battery. No inverter or solar panels necessary. (Inverters waste about 20% of battery power converting DC to AC (and then the TV adaptor itself wastes another 10% converting BACK to DC) Just get a deep-cycle battery and charge it at home before leaving, and you'll be good for 8 to 12 hours. If you want to, you can bring along a 50W solar panel and a cheap little 5-amp charge controller to keep it running all day as well.

Alternatively, if you feel like a workout, get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/K-TOR-Generator-Emergency-Lightweight-Polycarbonate/dp/B00EZS8VQS. (20W max) The advantage is it will work rain-or-shine and you can keep that TV running a long long time

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best of all, they use a lot less power. Even a nice 40" LED TV uses only 30 watts or so. you'll be good to go all night.

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80w is just too much power requirement to make sense for solar.

I used this

https://www.amazon.com/Install-Your-Own-Solar-Panels-ebook/dp/B01L83TSZ0/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1550777772&sr=1-11&keywords=solar+do+it+yourself

I felt it had good info but lacked a bit for String Inverter with Optimizers.

I also watched a ton of the videos SolarEdge has on their equipment on youtube. Seriously, super helpful.

Yeah, the cord this is actually the setup I have right now. But it's annoying.

Bulky would definitely be off putting to this, but slow I could handle considering it would always be plugged in, so even when I'm not using the helmet it would be "trickle charging."

Is there a minimum voltage/panel size required to charge the headset? Like you mentioned a garden lamp would have 1.8 volts, what would happen if it was something even less clunky that had, say, an output of 1 volt (25ma)?

A quick look at the technical specification of my headset show that the battery has a charging time of 2.5hrs, I assume this is from a wall outlet using micro USB.

On the other hand, while riding my motorcycle, my current setup runs at 2.1A at 5V and I rode from North Carolina to New York multiple times and it kept my headset at maximum charge just by keeping it plugged in. So following that logic, could a tiny solar panel with a ~1 volt keep the unit charged if it was literally plugged in 24/7.

EDIT: This Mini Solar Panel has a draw of 5V at 60mA at a size 2in^2. Surely something like this would have enough power to keep a helmet charged?

Thanks for the responses.. I have ensured that the positive and negative are aligned the same between the lamps. I've connected to each with in sequence terminating at the controller.

This was my first attempt with a solar panel (20W).. Bought this : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XWTKYDC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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I see now that I should have purchased on with a variable load output. Any suggestions?

I would this work? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G4ZWX3F/ref=twister_B07JW87L4G?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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Again thanks for the help.

I would get whatever speaker you like and run a USB cable from something like the panel below mounted on the roof to the speaker. Unless you are using the speaker for several days in a row or the battery in the speaker is really small I think anything above 10w or so should be fine. A 5v panel is the key.

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https://www.amazon.com/SUNKINGDOM-13W-5V-Port-USB/dp/B018I0MJT8/

I'm handicapped by only knowing English, but that device appears to be the correct item. Is that the same as this? If so, it's the right item.

P.S. I agree with pyromaster114 about the sizing of the system.

I installed this controller: Solar Controller, ALLPOWERS... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MU0WMGT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Hopefully that link works. We are in Ontario Canada.