Solar panels

[Hallyboy]

Morning everyone, has anyone got any advice on a Solar charging set up to keep my leisure battery topped up as I’m not using the van as much as I used to and I can’t connect to the mains to charge it before I take it away, nothing overly expensive but that won’t damage the battery
Thanks Hallyboy

 

[Niall_McIntosh]

There are a number of websites showing how this can be done. The Trudgians have one here: https://the-trudgians.com/caravan-solar-panels/

 

[Thingy]

I would be a little careful with taking advice from bloggers, which is basically what these guys are. I would be more inclinded to seek advice from somebody within the industry. That way you can get caravan specific advice.

 

[Dodger524]

Installing a small solar panel behind a window as Dan shows in his excellent video that Niall provided a link to. Propping up an internal panel is probably the cheapest way of achieving your requirement.

There have been several threads about this subject so it is worth doing a search to read them.

 

[Scorpy]

Hi
Depends what you want it to do-if it's just to cover the alarm etc then a little portable one propped up inside your window should keep it topped up once it's fully charge but won't charge it if low. If you want it to use while you're away off hookup then would suggest a solar panel on the roof, which will continuously charge all the daylight hours and even replenish a low battery (but not totally flat)
I have a 100 watt panel on the roof & a 110a battery and this gives us enough power for lights, tv, showers fans & pump on a daily basis but gets low if we have TV on more than about 3 hrs. However it will recharge in about 2 hrs in daylight so is back up by morning.
Our dealer had a special offer of £349 for the 100watt panel, regulator etc including fitting & VAT which so far has proved value for money.
We are off to Spain soon so will be interesting to find out if the electricity usage is less this year than previous years with this unit and not using the charger/hair straighteners/TV on mains etc.
Hope this helps
Mike

 

[Dodger524]

Hi
Depends what you want it to do-if it's just to cover the alarm etc then a little portable one propped up inside your window should keep it topped up once it's fully charge but won't charge it if low. If you want it to use while you're away off hookup then would suggest a solar panel on the roof, which will continuously charge all the daylight hours and even replenish a low battery (but not totally flat)
I have a 100 watt panel on the roof & a 110a battery and this gives us enough power for lights, tv, showers fans & pump on a daily basis but gets low if we have TV on more than about 3 hrs. However it will recharge in about 2 hrs in daylight so is back up by morning.
Our dealer had a special offer of £349 for the 100watt panel, regulator etc including fitting & VAT which so far has proved value for money.
We are off to Spain soon so will be interesting to find out if the electricity usage is less this year than previous years with this unit and not using the charger/hair straighteners/TV on mains etc.
Hope this helps
Mike

I also have a 100w roof panel supplying a 95 mAh battery and concur with your findings. Having fitted my panel myself I agree that your dealers offer is a good one but perhaps more than the OP anticipates spending.

 

[Raywood]

If you go for something like a 100 watt panel then make sure it has a regulator to avoid the risk of overcharging and ruining the battery.