solar chargers

[martin_374571331]

do solar chargers work. I want to use sites with no electrics.

would a charger recharge my 80 ah battery during a day. I accept sunlight would not be optimum all the time.

 

[JTQ]

Absolutely they work but like many things "size matters".

We have an 85 watt panel and a 90Ah battery and throughout most of the year can be autonomous; winter where lighting and pumped heating is needed for a large period of time sometimes catches us out.

Clearly it all depends on when you camp, for how long and in particular how glued to a TV you are.

I would suggest for Mr & Mrs Typical who camp during the season for up to a week, that anything below 40Watts is not going to be adequate, but every little undoubtedly helps. Ours is probably and deliberately OTT because we have a power hungry design of van and push the season boundaries to the limit. The up grade we need now is to add a supplementary battery to bridge longer periods of winter dull weather.

 

[Tony-Porthcawl]

Hi we have used solar panels for 15 yrs and had no problems it keeps our 110amp topped up but you still have to watch what you use we have a 14watt panel.We also use a 5 watt when van is in storage as it fits in the heki roof light and it just keeps out battery topped up and keeps the burgular alarm running.

 

[Parksy]

I'm collecting our 80 watt panel today, many of the members of our district association now have solar panels which are much less intrusive than generators when rallying away from ehu.

After talking to those around us who have them and endorsed them we will no longer need to lug a spare leisure battery around 'just in case' and by using the caravan away from the comforts of ehu we are utilising our caravan to it's maximum potential and staying in places where we would never have imagined before.

 

[Mikey1]

I have a 60w and never have a problem awau from EH,i use a Avtec tv which is round 60 w so does use a fair bit of juice but battery is always fully charged up,maybe not so much on a cloudy day say 80-90 % but have never had a failure.

Always go for the best you can afford as the cheaper ones have glass fronts,are only weather proof, are not so good in cloudy days and tend to be bigger in size as they say you do pay for what you get.

 

[ChrisUK]

I would like to go the solar route but where do you put a large heavy 60W+ panel? Are they really OK on the roof of a caravan (I'm thinking in particular of the weight) and are the fixings safe if only glued on? Drilling holes would I assume invalidate my water ingress warrenty.

We are off tomorrow on a 6 week trip without hookups and changing the batteries van to car boot, is a pain.

 

[JTQ]

I would like to go the solar route but where do you put a large heavy 60W+ panel? Are they really OK on the roof of a caravan".

Our solution for safe storage and transport was to make a light plywood "cassette" and mount this under the rear of the caravan. This fits nicely between the chassis and its drop-down access door has a locked harps. Our panel is 8kgs and the cassette 3 kgs. This has proved to be a good solution.

They are fine on the roof and throughout the summer, being horizontal has minimal real performance degradation at that time of the year.

Our own need included winter use during which being horizontal has a big detrimental performance impact, hence going for a free standing unit.

On the roof there are two other important considerations; first you must be able to clean it frequently as dust, bird poo etc has a disproportionately big impact on performance.Secondly you need to consider where the shade can fall when placing your van on any site.

 

[JTQ]

I would like to go the solar route but where do you put a large heavy 60W+ panel? Are they really OK on the roof of a caravan".

Our solution for safe storage and transport was to make a light plywood "cassette" and mount this under the rear of the caravan. This fits nicely between the chassis and its drop-down access door has a locked harps. Our panel is 8kgs and the cassette 3 kgs. This has proved to be a good solution.

They are fine on the roof and throughout the summer, being horizontal has minimal real performance degradation at that time of the year.

Our own need included winter use during which being horizontal has a big detrimental performance impact, hence going for a free standing unit.

On the roof there are two other important considerations; first you must be able to clean it frequently as dust, bird poo etc has a disproportionately big impact on performance.Secondly you need to consider where the shade can fall when placing your van on any site.

The solar cell slides in and out of the fixed cassette, the chassis rails being open at the van's rear.

I made the cassette out of B&Q's 6 mm exterior plywood. It has internal rails and top fixings made of 20mm square softwood glued in place. These serve to stiffen the box structure and screws are used to fix the top fixings up into the van's floor.

 

[ChrisUK]

JTQ - When on site do you simply lay it on the roof? Where we go we get a lot of gales. (Highlands and Islands).

 

[JTQ]

chris,

no I built and easel like stand in the back of it so I can stand it up if needed to face the sun and locate it clear of shadows.

However in the summer being horizontal is very effective so lay it proped up on my fire bucket so it also can cool underneath. In this position there is no need to move it much during the day; ideal if off site. It has a long security cable had madeup at boatyard to stop it being taken too readily.

 

[LadyC]

Hi!

I have 2 solar panels,a 20w which serves an 85amp leisure battery soley for tv use and inverter to charge up phones etc and a 60w panels which serves an 110amp battery for main caravan usage.

Both these go on the roof with no bother.They have that rubber non slip matting underneath them which keeps them in place,even in gusty winds.

Lady C

 

[Martin24]

I have 55w panel which has never left us without a fully topped up battery, continues okay on cloudy days as even with cloud you get the necessary UV coming through to the panel. It travels between the backseat of the car and the dog guard and is free standing. To get the best from a solar panel it should be positioned at a 45 degree angle and as such free standing is better than roof mounting for efficiency. It is advised that you double the wattage if you are roof mounting.

 

[LadyC]

martin24

I do not fully understand the "ins and outs" of solar panels so please could you explain why its advised to double wattage for roof mounting?

We have had them on stands but they seem to work better on the roof.

Lady C

 

[swpostie]

If you're solar panel is lying flat on the roof it will almost never be pointing directly at the sun - the sun will be striking it at an angle thus reducing its efficiency.

By mounting the panel on a stand it can be angled towards the sun, and moved to follow the sun, to charge the battery more effectively.