been caravanning for years but due to older van have never really gone without hook up, now we have a newer van with a bran new battery the 12v system works great but we want to buy a solar pannel to charge the battery during the day, i understand the limitations of 12v and would only really be looking to keep 1-2 lights on after darkc not bothered about the pump (can always use water carrier) . so which one do i need, how does it work and does it simply clip on to the battery, PS what is the reality of 12volt only caravanning, how long can i expect the van to have 12v power? 1 day 2 days????? cheers
solar pannel question
- Thread starter ww2nut
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Parksy
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- Nov 12, 2009
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As far as caravans are concerned a lot depends on what you want the solar panel to do.
If all you want is to trickle charge your battery to prevent it becoming discharged by the alarm whilst the caravan is unused something like a relatively inexpensive small 5 watt solar panel which would clip directly to your battery would do the trick.
If on the other hand you want to use your caravan away from ehu's and want to maintain some usable battery power a larger (and proportionately more expensive) solar panel and a charge controller will do the job. A charge controller is needed for anything above 18 watts to prevent overcharging which would damage your leisure battery.
Have a read about solar energy Here. Prices vary greatly for larger solar panels, if you decide to install a roof mounted panel (common amongst rally goers, mines going on the roof this winter while I'm not using the caravan so much) I'd suggest a fairly large 80 watt panel with a ten amp charge controller, always go for mono-crystalline (as opposed to polycrystalline) because they deliver more charge and last longer.(I paid £200 for my set up which is considered fairly cheap for an 80w panel, controller and cables from Greener Electric, Bromsgrove on the recommendation of C&CC rally goers) My solar panel normally keeps my 110 amp/hour leisure battery topped up ok, we use our lights, radio, water pump, we can watch our flat screen portable tv (via an inverter) for a couple of hours every night so we're reasonably well equipped if we decide to stay at a rally with no ehu. Obviously all solar panels work really well in bright sunshine, most will give some sort of charge on cloudy days but during the colder darker months (we use the caravan all year) we revert to ehu sites. If you don't bother with tv you could expect a 110 a/h leisure battery without solar power to last for two or three days before charging became necessary. If you replace halogen and ordinary 12v interior bulbs with led bulbs the battery power will last longer because led's use little power.
If all you want is to trickle charge your battery to prevent it becoming discharged by the alarm whilst the caravan is unused something like a relatively inexpensive small 5 watt solar panel which would clip directly to your battery would do the trick.
If on the other hand you want to use your caravan away from ehu's and want to maintain some usable battery power a larger (and proportionately more expensive) solar panel and a charge controller will do the job. A charge controller is needed for anything above 18 watts to prevent overcharging which would damage your leisure battery.
Have a read about solar energy Here. Prices vary greatly for larger solar panels, if you decide to install a roof mounted panel (common amongst rally goers, mines going on the roof this winter while I'm not using the caravan so much) I'd suggest a fairly large 80 watt panel with a ten amp charge controller, always go for mono-crystalline (as opposed to polycrystalline) because they deliver more charge and last longer.(I paid £200 for my set up which is considered fairly cheap for an 80w panel, controller and cables from Greener Electric, Bromsgrove on the recommendation of C&CC rally goers) My solar panel normally keeps my 110 amp/hour leisure battery topped up ok, we use our lights, radio, water pump, we can watch our flat screen portable tv (via an inverter) for a couple of hours every night so we're reasonably well equipped if we decide to stay at a rally with no ehu. Obviously all solar panels work really well in bright sunshine, most will give some sort of charge on cloudy days but during the colder darker months (we use the caravan all year) we revert to ehu sites. If you don't bother with tv you could expect a 110 a/h leisure battery without solar power to last for two or three days before charging became necessary. If you replace halogen and ordinary 12v interior bulbs with led bulbs the battery power will last longer because led's use little power.
thanks for that comprehensive and helpfull reply, i thorght that the 15 pound ebay solar pannel was too good to be true! yes it looks like we need a good one with controler to power lights and pump, cheers for the reply
Parksy
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The charge controller that came with the panel was a bit flimsy for touring caravan use so I bought a more robust model which will charge two leisure batteries simultaneously from Maplins
The panel is quite large but not too heavy, I hope to install it permanently on the caravan roof out of the way.
The panel is quite large but not too heavy, I hope to install it permanently on the caravan roof out of the way.
Hi Ww2nut
I would suggest that, before you shell out hefty sums for a solar panel, you experiment with simply using the battery without a hookup.
We use our van (with a 110AH battery) all the year around, mainly on CLs without EHUs. We have stayed on one site for up to 5 nights without the battery indicator going anywhere near the lower limit of the 'green'. We use the lights fairly liberally (altho I have changed the halogen bulbs to LEDs), the electric pump as required, and the TV for up to 2hrs/night. The car will also recharge the battery on journeys of a reasonable length between successive sites.
Cheers
Paul
I would suggest that, before you shell out hefty sums for a solar panel, you experiment with simply using the battery without a hookup.
We use our van (with a 110AH battery) all the year around, mainly on CLs without EHUs. We have stayed on one site for up to 5 nights without the battery indicator going anywhere near the lower limit of the 'green'. We use the lights fairly liberally (altho I have changed the halogen bulbs to LEDs), the electric pump as required, and the TV for up to 2hrs/night. The car will also recharge the battery on journeys of a reasonable length between successive sites.
Cheers
Paul
thats really intresting and helpfull. i am sure the battery will last, and if it dosent there is always a local garage who for a few bob will Recharge it for me? i am really looking forward to going without hookup. my grandparents toured for 40 years and only twice used hook up! she calls it proper caravanning! so with her in mind we want to prove that we too have what it takes to become self sufficient. nice to hear that its is quite possible without the pannel, we have a bran new leisure battery (small car size one) and a 21 foot 4 birth van, and so far the systm holds full charge for ages so its looking good!
cheers
cheers
- Aug 23, 2009
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Haven't used EHU for two years now and relied solely on 12v and a 55w solar panel. All lights have been changed over to LED which dramatically reduces consumption. My daughter has her bunk light on all night. Have been all year round between weekends and up to two weeks with no issues at all. Still use pump, toilet, television, phone charger etc without issues. I would say don't mount your panel on the roof as you will need a bigger one. The optimum angle to the sun is 45 degrees so free standing is better. I did the omnivent changed for a mini heki when I changed the van this year. The only thing I don't use is the microwave and tend to use gas for fridge, water etc. I would say the panel had paid for itself in the cheaper site fees within 6 months. Since my wife died I use the motor mover to hook up and no problems with this at the end of a fortnight either despite being a heavy twin axle.
i only have single elec on the car, would it be cost effective to add the extra connection, thinking about taking 2 batteries with me?? get one charged while i use the other, many non elec sites offer battery charging
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