Hi, I'm sure this has been asked before but I couldn't find anything in the forum. I keep my van in storage and the solar panel doesn't keep the battery topped up during winter. Is there any reason why I couldn't by a £50 car battery to use during winter when the van is in storage so I charge my leisure battery at home? Thanks, Mike
Cheap battery over winter
- Thread starter tartan-caravan
- Start date
What size is the solar panel? We have a 100w and no issue with it keeping the battery topped up. Do you have a MPPT controller fitted for the solar panel?
If the current solar panel is not adequate enough to keep a leisure battery topped up, it probably would have issues topping up the car battery. Also if the car battery goes too low, there may be issues recharging it.
I assume that your storage is inside (out of sunlight) otherwise a reasonable sized solar panel would keep it topped up - the battery drain in storage should be negligible.
There's no reason why you couldn't use any 12v battery, but lead acid batteries don't like being fully discharged. A £50 car battery would probably be half the capacity of your leisure battery so would last half as long. Below a certain level the plates begin to 'sulphate' and the battery may not recharge - this applies to your leisure battery as well assuming that it's AGM.
There's no reason why you couldn't use any 12v battery, but lead acid batteries don't like being fully discharged. A £50 car battery would probably be half the capacity of your leisure battery so would last half as long. Below a certain level the plates begin to 'sulphate' and the battery may not recharge - this applies to your leisure battery as well assuming that it's AGM.
Hi, It's a 100w panel and the controller is a Sargent 3amp Solar RegulatorProduct no: SSR-3A which I'm guessing is a budget model. The van is booked for a service in a couple of weeks so I'll ask them to check the panel etc are working OK. Will look at the mppt controllers again as they're not exorbitant, compared to a new leisure battery!
Thanks, it's stored outside so thinking there might be something up with the solar charging system.
The 100w panel should be more than adequate to keep the 12v battery topped up. As you state there may be an issue with the controller. I have read very good reports about Sargent being very helpful in resolving issues. Give them a ring on Monday and have a chat.
Firstly, a 12v car battery will be fine for the purposes you have described.
A 3 amp solar charge controller is way undersized for a 100 amp solar panel.
A 10 amp solar charge controller would suffice (theoritecally this is still very slightly undersized but you will rarely if ever see maximum output from your solar panel). Having too large a capacity solar charge controller can have detrimental effects. I would suggest not having anything greater than a 20 amp controller for your 100 watt panel.
It is generally accepted that mppt controllers bring little benefit on small solar arrays such as a 100 watt panel, however an mppt controller would be especially advantageous if you decided to expand your solar array.
With that in mind I link some 20 amp solar charge controller options:
PWM 20 amp solar charge controller
MPPT 20 amp without bluetooth
MPPT 20 amp with bluetooth
I keep ours hooked up to a 50 watt suitcase panel during storage and the battery is kept fully charged.
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