Hi All. I am a first time caravan owner looking for some advice.

[JohnC26]

I have recently bought a Lunar Quasar 462. Would like add a solar panel but due to the 3 roof lights there is not sufficient room on the roof.
Is there a foldaway panel you could recommend that could stand a lone but not take up to much space when travelling and run an inverter to top up battery and occasionally run a 900w microwave. Many thanks John.

 

[RogerL]

How enormous is your planned solar panel? There's plenty of room to fit a conventionally-sized panel - they don't have to be fittedon the centre line.

A 900w microwave will draw 1500-1650 watts from the battery, taking microwave and inverter efficiency into account, more than 125 amps from a 12v battery - not impossible but a hard task.

 

[IanB1485]

I am always amazed how some folk think they can use high power appliances from the humble leisure battery but then I have grown up with electrical calculations ( mind you I still make mistakes !) I have a 280A.hr Li-PO4 battery and a 3kW inverter to compliment the caravans leisure battery. My 1200W heat gun takes about 150A from the battery no problem ( big cables to inverter) and I will use 260W of solar to try and keep the battery from going flat over about a week off grid , with judicious use of the electrical items (No TV or microwave , but a 60W electric cool box).
Re fitting solars on the roof I suggest you measure the roof and the fittings on it and then find out the sizes of various solar panels and see if you can squeeze them on in between the skylights . I have done this using a CAD program called nanocad 5 and played about with various panels until I found the best fit. i managed to squeeze on 260W onto the roof , even on my little 2 berth caravan.
RogerL may be a bit off in his calculations ( but close enough) as microwave ovens are highly inductive loads and will appear to take more current than the power rating plate details , the voltage and current are slightly out of phase ( current lagging the voltage) so a simple A.C current meter and separate voltmeter will show a higher wattage the the actual wattage being taken>For an accurate measurement you need a true RMS power meter which takes into account the phase angle

 

[JohnC26]

How enormous is your planned solar panel? There's plenty of room to fit a conventionally-sized panel - they don't have to be fittedon the centre line.

A 900w microwave will draw 1500-1650 watts from the battery, taking microwave and inverter efficiency into account, more than 125 amps from a 12v battery - not impossible but a hard task.

Thanks for the reply. The caravan has not got the space for a conventional S. Panel as it has 3 roof lights plus the vents, ariel etc so was hoping a fold up one might do the job.

 

[JohnC26]

I am always amazed how some folk think they can use high power appliances from the humble leisure battery but then I have grown up with electrical calculations ( mind you I still make mistakes !) I have a 280A.hr Li-PO4 battery and a 3kW inverter to compliment the caravans leisure battery. My 1200W heat gun takes about 150A from the battery no problem ( big cables to inverter) and I will use 260W of solar to try and keep the battery from going flat over about a week off grid , with judicious use of the electrical items (No TV or microwave , but a 60W electric cool box).
Re fitting solars on the roof I suggest you measure the roof and the fittings on it and then find out the sizes of various solar panels and see if you can squeeze them on in between the skylights . I have done this using a CAD program called nanocad 5 and played about with various panels until I found the best fit. i managed to squeeze on 260W onto the roof , even on my little 2 berth caravan.
RogerL may be a bit off in his calculations ( but close enough) as microwave ovens are highly inductive loads and will appear to take more current than the power rating plate details , the voltage and current are slightly out of phase ( current lagging the voltage) so a simple A.C current meter and separate voltmeter will show a higher wattage the the actual wattage being taken>For an accurate measurement you need a true RMS power meter which takes into account the phase angle

Thanks for the reply. We have a camper van which has a 300w S.Panel a 3000w inverter plus 2 large batteries which runs TV, Lights, 4kw Plannar diesel heater plus an 800w microwave but sadly the caravan has not got the space for a roof mounted S.Panel due to the Heike roof lights. But was hoping a 220w folding Solar linked to a 2000w inverter and 1 decent size battery just run a microwave.

 

[Woodentop]

No-one has mentioned inverter type.
Most of the inexpensive end of the market will produce a 'modified square wave output' where the approximate sinewave shape of the mains is replicated by a series of variable sized steps. They will work with, say, incandescent mains lights, heater and fridge (essentially resistive loads) but can do damage to inductive and other loads. Things like phone/laptop chargers, possibly your TV etc are the main risks.

The solution is to get a sine wave inverter which will do the job properly at the penalty of cost - maybe 50-100% more expensive.

Good luck.