Solar Panel

[johnandrew70]

Hi guys the cable entry gland, cable and corner feet came yesterday, i wasnt too happy with the gland to be honest, it felt very thin and flimsy. So i bought one of these

This looks like a good bit of kit where the box is tightened down to the roof by the coller inside the van, it will still require sikaflex but looks like its a bit stronger. its also made by CBE who make a lot of the electrical bits in the van.
John

 

[MichaelE]

That looks quite a big hole to cut in the roof? I would say approx 25-30mm , best to usse a hole cutter for that size?

 

[johnandrew70]

yea i have a set here, the good thing is that you can open it up and add more cables if you need to, so next project will be to take the rear view camera cables out of the awning rail and feed them through that.
I just wished i saw that it the first place.

 

[johnandrew70]

I know this is an old thread now but thought i would let you all know i have finally had enough good weather to fit the panels.

Drilling a hole in the roof was daunting.

I am happy with the results.

This went up to 14 amps as the day went on. All in all very pleased so far.

 

[Sproket]

John

That looks a tidy job well done

 

[johnandrew70]

Thanks Sproket,
what i would like to do next is wire an inverter but not sure how to do it, Do i wire it to the Load side of the controller? some say yes and some say no. also is there a way i can wire it so that all the 240v sockets in the van use the inverter when not connected to the mains??

 

[Sproket]

John

Sorry but I know nothing about inverters, no doubt plenty of others do use them and find them ok.

 

[johnandrew70]

I know hoe inverters work but not sure if and how to wire it so that all 240v sockets, i was expecting a few replies but nothing, Probably all out enjoying the sunshine in there vans

 

[Parksy]

I use an inverter when I'm off grid to watch tv but I just plug it into the 12v socket outlet which is close to the tv point in the caravan and use the 230v socket which is on the end of the inverter to power the tv.
If I wanted to use my laptop I'd use the inverter to keep it's internal battery charged and run the laptop off that rather than off the inverter.

 

[johnandrew70]

What size inverter do you have Parksy?
The reason i was asking about running an inverter through vans existing 240v sockets is because i have just fitted a 240v socket in an overhead locker so that the TV can be plugged in with the cables hidden.

i no longer have the power cable trailing accross the dresser

The socket is now in the locker above the tv with the cable hidden, only when the locker is closed though :lol:

 

[Sproket]

John

Are you thinking of putting power to all of your 240v sockets with the inverter ?

That's the part that I did not fully understand in your earlier post

 

[johnandrew70]

the reason i asked that question was because i have hidden the socket for the tv in an overhead locker as you can see, so i was thinking that powering all the sockets in the van with an inverter might be easier than running yet another cable up to that locker to another socket from the inverter. Does that make sense??

 

[Sproket]

If you had a big enough inverter I would suggest having a shortened EHU cable to plug into the van as normal & then plug the other end into the inverter, your problem then would be not to overload the inverter as you will only have a limited amount of time before the battery is flat. Obviously switching the unnecessary items off would gain you a bit more time ..

It's feasable but will it work ok ?

 

[johnandrew70]

good idea, didnt think of that, fridge would need to be switched to gas and would have to buy a whistling gas kettle for the OH hmy:
Can anyone recommend a good inverter?

 

[Parksy]

Our inverter is in the caravan which is in storage but off the top of my head I think that ours is something like 500watt, it runs a 15" flat screen tv anyway but obviously we limit out tv viewing in the caravan anyway.
Hard wiring an inverter is beyond my experience so I'm sorry that I can't offer any advice, had you considered adding a 12v socket inside the locker and just putting the inverter in there?. You would still be able to conceal the cable.
Our inverter can seem noisy at times, the fan is running, which also draws power, and an alarm sounds when the voltage drops toward the lower limit. The only other 230v applications that it's used for is charging the solar lights in dull weather, phone and laptop charging and the solar panel system copes with these plus the lighting, pump and toilet flush easily. With no tv we could last indefinitely during the summer months.

 

[johnandrew70]

i have a feeling the solar panels will keep my battery full quite easily, judging by the readings i am getting. I noticed that the onboard battery charger wasn't as good as the panels, I am wondering weather the panels are more powerful than the rated output.

 

[Sproket]

Before you decide to buy a inverter have a look at this for some usefull information

 

[johnandrew70]

how spooky is that, i was reading that when you sent that link looking at the price of large pure sine wave inverters i think its going to be a modified sine wave.
Not going to jump into anything just yet,

 

[ProfJohnL]

i have a feeling the solar panels will keep my battery full quite easily, judging by the readings i am getting. I noticed that the onboard battery charger wasn't as good as the panels, I am wondering weather the panels are more powerful than the rated output.

Hello John,

The electrical output from the panels will relate to the intensity of the light falling on them. If the panels were marketed as say 60W, but were only capable of that under the most intense sunlight, many UK users would be very disappointed with the their systems under typical UK weather conditions. So I suspect the responsible manufacturers specify their panels outputs under a known intensity of light which would be more typical of UK conditions. Over the last few days we have seen some very fine weather with lots of sunshine, and of course the sun is at its apogee (Longest day and all that) so the suns rays are at their most intense at this time of year. SO PV panels may produce more power than average at the moment.

To know for certain you need to consult the manufacturers specification , or speak to their technical departments.

 

[johnandrew70]

The rated output is meant to be 80w per panel so 160w in total but as you can see from the readings i got on saturday the output would be that of 200w in total. as you say though the weather has been exceptional so will have to see what output i get on an overcast day. very pleased with them though. lets hope they stay on the roof :lol: i have grabbed hold of them and they seem stuck solid.