Solar panel to rickle feed the battery.

[Jellygirl0]

RHiya all, very new to all of this caravan malarkey and even posting on forums so please excuse me if I'm posting in the wrong section or asking silly questions but we are walking blind here.
Having exchanged our two smaller cars for a suitable tow car and purchased a sterling Eccles Sport which is now in storage, we have attached a solar panel to trickle feed the leisure battery. We were going to get a small 20 volt initially but eventually ended up with a120 volt. The idea being that sometimes we could use it later to give is led lighting whilst camping without the need to always use an electrical hook up. At the moment we have left the van with a very large solar panel at the front attached to the leisure battery via a cigarette lighter which was kindly installed by the dealer for us.

I'd very much appreciate your feedback on this cause I hope that all will be okey dokey for a few weeks before we can go and check on the van in January.
Thanks Jellygirl

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

I hope you mean 20 and 120 'watts' and not 'volts'. Solar panels provide power and not voltage.

 

[JTQ]

A 20 Watt panel even placed in an optimum position is unlikely to be large enough during winter.
Purchased off that well known auction site panels are in relative terms now "cheap", so buy a reasonable sized panel. By that I believe you need to think at least a 40Watt for in storage over winter use, and only if you place it outside angled south, near upright and where there is little or no shadow.
For all panels of the size worth having they must be used with a solar Controller, ideally this should not be mounted on the panel itself but close to the battery. [ to compensate for battery temperature and losses in the wiring].

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello jellygirl

Welcome to the forum, and be assured that no genuine question is silly, it's those who don't ask that are silly!

120 Watt panel is quite large, so it should be capable of doing more than trickle charge the battery, in fact with such a large panel it is highly recommended you have a charge regulator to prevent the panel overcharging the battery, and to prevent the battery discharging into the panel.

I am also concerned the cigarette lighter socket is not 'man' enough to handle the full power the panel can produce, it may over heat. You should arrange to have a high current connector fitted, I'm sure a good solar panel supplier should be able to advise you of a suitable one.

 

[Parksy]

Hi Jelllygirl, happy new year.
Don't worry too much about making mistakes on the forum such as which section to post in, we can sort it all out.
If your solar panel is 12 volt 120 watts it's imperative that you connect it to the leisure battery via a solar regulator to avoid damaging the battery.
For at 12v / 120 amp solar panel you'll need at least a 10 amp regulator, a 15 amp would allow extra capacity to be on the safe side.
These regulators can be fairly inexpensive but are vital to operate your solar system.
E-bay sell them, CLICK HERE
If you need more information just ask

 

[Trainop]

Hi jellygirl, we were in the same position and fitted a 100w panel on the roof of our sterling eccles ruby because our battery was going flat after 4 weeks in storage, it's now constantly fully charged but as the other guys have mentioned you must fit a regulater to to it. Make sure your roof fitting where the cable comes through the roof is sealed and tightened properly though, cos the idiot that fitted ours didn't and we had rain water dripping through into the cupboard. I had to tighten it myself and put Sealant over the cables where they enter the cowl and the screw nuts and seals, no longer leaking so all seems OK. Good luck with your new van and enjoy yourself

 

[Jellygirl0]

Silly me yes I mean 120 watts. The panel is laying in the front window of the van and is pretty big. It folds in half and fits nicely under the double bed when not in use. The solar panel (puchased from ECO WORTHY on ebay) came fitted with a regulator and we had an electrician fit the cigarette lighter attachment which also had crocodile clips attached so that we can use either one. But I think the regulator is actually attached to the back of the panel which also has a cut-out safety mode.

As the windows on the caravan are tinted we thought that a larger solar panel might be better. The current is 12 volt. Will check this further. I have heard that it is better to use the battery every now and then to maintain the cells. So would that mean going down and turning a few appliances on I would guess.

Thanks again
Jellygirl

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

As the windows on the caravan are tinted we thought that a larger solar panel might be better. The current is 12 volt. Will check this further. I have heard that it is better to use the battery every now and then to maintain the cells. So would that mean going down and turning a few appliances on I would guess.

No 'appliances', if you mean heater, fridge, cooker, etc, operate directly from 12 volts but control panels of such may do. The water pump will run from 12 volts, but DON'T run that dry (ie not in water). About the only thing to drain the battery on purpose are the lights, but if they are LED it may take some time.

 

[Jellygirl0]

Yes I did mean just the lights and our are LED and thank you to every one who has helped me. We have run all the water out of the caravan (I think it was in case the water freezes) Ha ha another thing learned then about the lights.

I dont think Ive made any major mistakes yet. But I am aware mistakes made in the caravan lark can be quite costly.

Thank you All.
Jellygirl

 

[Trainop]

Just out of interest,, I assume if you have a solar panel fitted, it's not necessary to have the charger button switched on when towing or on EHU