Solar panel off season storage?

[lauraj]

We are putting up for the summer and have decided to take batteries to house for maintenance. Question is, what to do about the solar panels? can I just disconnect the wires that run from the box to the control panel or should we set up a inexp. battery to accept the charge and run a fan? Cover completely so they are not exposed to uv....possibly extend life? ideas/thoughts?

[belizesailor]

Never covered panels ashore or afloat and never had issues...after all sitting in the sun is what they are designed to do. Panels at home in the tropics are a decade old. Dont understand this practice.

I just drop my controller voltage down to 13.2 and leave batteries as is (gels).

If removing batteries, I think disconnecting panels would be better than a dummy load (battery).