Solar panel

[Surfer]

We have been thinking of fitting a solar panel to our caravan for some time and Parksy has kindly shown me how his is fitted, but with cash needed for other things they were prioritised. We are hoping that early next year we will be able to have one fitted as I am unable to do it myself. I have contacted Lunar to inquire about our body shell warranty if we elect to have the hole drilled through the roof similar to Steve's fittting on his caravan.
We watch a lot of TV in the evenings so would need the battery to sufficiently charged up over the day. We do have a spare 85w battery. As we would mostly use the caravan in summer on non EHU sites, we should not have any issues even on dull days. We are considering a 120w solar battery, but when you check various web sites it all becomes very confusing, Obviously the panel will have to have a reasonable current range and voltage input and weigh probably maximum 12kgs.
Maplin is very expensive so at this stage I am looking around at websites and would appreciate any links especially if the the solar panel comes with all the necessary stuff like controller etc. I don't mind buyng from the EU or UK, but I am very wary of buying from an overseas market like China.
How long should it take an approved workshop or mobile technician to fit a solar panel? Thanks.

 

[Surfer]

I can't edit my post but I meant to say 85amp battery and not 85w!

 

[MichaelE]

I fitted a 95 w to my roof this year and took me approx 2 hrs in total. I have a Kyocera 50 w for sale these are good quality with toughened glass etc , i changed as i got fed up with getting it out and moving it around, i went for bigger panel as when flat not as efficient, old panel used to keep the battery topped up np.
I found it easy to fit

 

[Parksy]

Hi Surfer
E-bay is as good a place as any for buying solar panels and ancilliary equipment such as a charge controller.
A 120 watt Monocrystaline solar panel will cost £199 and you would need a 20amp solar regulator with it, (you'd get that regulator for £60 or less, try offering £55 because the postage is an extra fiver)
Go for the Moncrystaline panel with a MPPT regulator to get the best out of the solar panel.
A competent fitter should be able to do the job in a couple of hours, I spent an afternoon pottering around with mine but I was scared stiff of drilling the hole and I had to work out how to hide the cable.
If I can be of any help just drop me a line.

 

[Surfer]

Thanks Steve. It will probably be a couple days before I get an answer from Lunar however if we go ahead it will probnably only be fitted in March next year. May buy it now though.

 

[Parksy]

Don't foget to buy a cable entry gland.
After the hole is cut into the caravan roof (the fitter should use a small hole cutter rather than just drilling a hole) a sealed rubber cable grommet / gland will be the first line of defence against any water ingress, and the white cable entry housing gland can be filled with sealant such as Sikaflex after the cables have been inserted. The white housing gland is bonded to the roof giving a neat watertight finish.

 

[MichaelE]

The panel i have for sale is a Kyocera KC50t http://www.kyocerasolar.com/assets/001/5166.pdf , a really good panel if you are interested? I have a single entry gland as well. You would need some mounts and as Parksy already said Silkaflex, that is good stuff , you have one chance to place it in position as you cant move it after that.
I use a Steca solar controller placed inside the van.

 

[JimD1]

Hi Surfer,
Ealier in the year I fitted a 90W solar panel to the roof of our 2013 Lunar Clubman SE. I got the full kit for £199 fro Selectatech. This included the panel, 10m of cable, 10amp regulator & roof mounting brackets.

I see that you are waiting for a reply from Lunar as to who this might affect your warranty - Here is my email to them & their reply when I enquired back in April:

Hi,

I am hoping that you can answer a question for me - I plan to mount a 90W solar panel on the roof of a 2013 Lunar Clubman SE. I am told that the standard method of gaining cable entry is to drill through the roof in the area over a cupboard or wardrobe, then use a waterproof cable entry gland to effect entry. Will this impact the 6 year body shell integrity warranty?

One alternative would be to run the cable down the offside awning rail & gain entry through the floor behind the battery locker. Would this be preferable?

Thanks for your help in advance,
Jim

Dear Mr XXXX
Thank you for your email.
The only way in which your 6 year warranty would be affected is if damp occurred due to the fitment of the solar panel in either of the suggested locations. At present Lunar do not offer advice on fitting such as there are so many different types with varying weights and varying installation practises.
However, as noted above, the only way in which the warranty would be affected is if the caravan suffered structural damage or water ingress caused by the fitting of the panel.

Regards,
Claire

I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Jim

 

[RogerL]

Despite the Lunar Clubman and Lunar Delta appearing identical apart from layout and single/twin axle, there may be a further difference in that the Delta roof can take air conditioning as an option but the Clubman can't - this implies that the Delta has additional roof strengthening somewhere.
If you find out where that strengthening is, probably around the sunroof or kitchen skylight, then solar panel(s) could be fitted either side of that in a stronger position than elsewhere.

 

[Surfer]

Despite the Lunar Clubman and Lunar Delta appearing identical apart from layout and single/twin axle, there may be a further difference in that the Delta roof can take air conditioning as an option but the Clubman can't - this implies that the Delta has additional roof strengthening somewhere.
If you find out where that strengthening is, probably around the sunroof or kitchen skylight, then solar panel(s) could be fitted either side of that in a stronger position than elsewhere.

We also thought the above, but apparently the roof strengthening needs to be requested at time of build or so we were told by the dealer when we dropped off the caravan on Thursday. No intention of fitting a/c though.

Thanks Jim and also others, very helpful posts.

 

[Surfer]

Our 12v Kogan 16" TV uses less than 35 watt on average and the Sky HD box uses about 42w maximum so would a 90w solar panel be more than adequate or should we hold out for a 120w panel?

 

[Parksy]

I'm useless at maths but the charging ability and time that the battery will retain the charge depends on a set of variables.
The amp/hour capacity of the leisure battery is one variable for different users, the length of time that your tv and Sky box is in use will be another.
The main variables will be the amount of light that the solar cells can convert into power and the ambient temperature.
Cooler temperatures mean that a leisure battery will become discharged more quickly while paradoxically solar panels are more efficient in bright cool weather. A good solar regulator is as important as a good solar panel if you want to get the best from the system. A Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) solar regulator is more expensive than the more common Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) regulator because the MPPT unit 'tracks' the charging state of the battery (nothing to do with moving the panel about to track the suns path) and some models also measure the ambient temperature via a probe in the battery compartment to get the best from the solar panel if you're a serious off grid user. More on how MPPT works here.

 

[JTQ]

An aspect to consider with roof mounted solar panels is whether the roof is a bonded sandwich or simply an aluminium skin layed over the insulltion.
In the former case the panel mounting brackets have a firm substrate to dissipate the whole range of loading forces, of greatest concern to me would be wind buffeting during towing but not here with a bonded construction..
If the roof outer skin is only a non structural weather membrane over the insulation, then it has no ability to handle the loads.
I am not aware of how current Lunars are constructed.

 

[RogerL]

Lunars still retain the old "loose-skinned" roof so it's only attached round the awning rails and round the skylights.
I have seen pictures of roof fitments where two strips of aluminium 50x5mm were bonded across the full width of the caravan and then various accesssories bonded to the strip.
On the subject of SikaFlex - they make many adhesives for different purposes, chose the wrong one and it'll be no better than Blu-Tac !!

 

[MichaelE]

How big is a 120W one as you may not have the room to fit it, my 95 w one only just fitted between the front Heki and the omnivent, its well protected and i used more brackets that they recommend, i stuck them down with Sika252

 

[Surfer]

I have had a an email reply similar to the one the JimD received stating on issue with warranty as long as the hole in te roof was not the cause. Now looking around at various solar panels and at the links already supplied. Seen some flexible panels which may be a better option.

 

[JimD1]

I have had a an email reply similar to the one the JimD received stating on issue with warranty as long as the hole in te roof was not the cause. Now looking around at various solar panels and at the links already supplied. Seen some flexible panels which may be a better option.

Hi Surfer,
We very nearly went with a flexible panel which had a self adhesive backing.
Whatever you go with, you still have to get the cable from the roof of the caravan into either the battery box or a locker directly behind it. This means getting from the outside to the inside. I originally planned to route the cable through the offside awning channel, but when I saw how thick the cable was, there was no way in which it would fit, so ended up having to drill through the roof & use a waterproof gland. Fortunately I was able to driil through inside the wardrobe, then route the cable through the lockers over the kitchen, then down into the underseat locker behind the battery box using an existing trunking which Lunar had alraedy used.
Unless you look inside the lockers, there is nothing to see inside the caravan.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[MichaelE]

Solar panels get warm when in use and they recomend a 10mm air gap underneath normal panels to aid cooling, you dont have this on the flexable panels as they stick directly to the surface , why are flexable panels different?
I would have thought a black panel directly in the sun would get very hot and try to expand?

 

[Surfer]

I have had a an email reply similar to the one the JimD received stating on issue with warranty as long as the hole in te roof was not the cause. Now looking around at various solar panels and at the links already supplied. Seen some flexible panels which may be a better option.

Hi Surfer,
We very nearly went with a flexible panel which had a self adhesive backing.
Whatever you go with, you still have to get the cable from the roof of the caravan into either the battery box or a locker directly behind it. This means getting from the outside to the inside. I originally planned to route the cable through the offside awning channel, but when I saw how thick the cable was, there was no way in which it would fit, so ended up having to drill through the roof & use a waterproof gland. Fortunately I was able to driil through inside the wardrobe, then route the cable through the lockers over the kitchen, then down into the underseat locker behind the battery box using an existing trunking which Lunar had alraedy used.
Unless you look inside the lockers, there is nothing to see inside the caravan.

Cheers,
Jim

Thanks for highlighting the gap issue for me. Withour caravan we have an electrical conduit "pillar between the kitchen work top and the battery box. The idea would be to dril into the roof above it and run the cabling down inside it so it is hidden and then route it into the battery box which is accessible from inside the caravan.
If you look at this link you will see the electric conduit which is opposite the doorway. It has a 13amp socket on it. The one in our caravan is square allowing more room. I guess a lot of careful measurements will need to be made on the roof to make sure that one drills directly above the conduit however if you miss you come into a cupboard area and can then tap into the conduit.

 

[Surfer]

BTW in the summer could the excess power which is wasted once the battery is charged up be used to heat the hot water? We are really looking forward to going off grid in the summer. Maybe even attend a rally in some muddy field. LOL. (Sorry Steve for the dig

)

 

[Parksy]

No problem, we don't go when it's muddy now