Basic solar charging system

[wildebus]

Through an inverter?

Mine was. Used the relay on a Victron BMV to control a mains Relay that enabled or disabled the AC circuit to the heater. You could use the load output instead of a BMV to control a relay.

 

[Martin P]

Mine was. Used the relay on a Victron BMV to control a mains Relay that enabled or disabled the AC circuit to the heater. You could use the load output instead of a BMV to control a relay.

What a beautifully elegant solution .
Going to take me down the road to more batteries and an inverter.

 

[rugbyken]

this came up looks like a good deal six foot by four foot 435w i have one this side across the front of my roof bonded on with silkaflex i also put aluminium angle iron across the front so there was no uplift, been up there four years now i tested the bond last month when i fitted an additional 2 x 100W panels solid , be aware marin David (wildebus ) told me having power is like having a sports car more you have more you use !

 

[bartman]

Re using the load terminals on the controller, I have found this article which describes the idea that the terminals are powered by the panels as "a common misunderstanding".

Everything About the Load Output Terminal on Your Controller

Have you ever stared at your solar charge controller, wondering if you should connect your devices to that mysterious "load" terminal? You're not alone.

voltanic.solar

The Victron controllers may be different, in view of Wildebus's post, but with my controller and it seems many others the power in fact comes from the battery. I suppose if the panels are replenishing the battery at the same rate it makes no difference.
I found it convenient to use the output to power the computer fans I fitted on the fridge vent. As the power comes from the leisure battery they don't shut down at night!

 

[wildebus]

Re using the load terminals on the controller, I have found this article which describes the idea that the terminals are powered by the panels as "a common misunderstanding".

Everything About the Load Output Terminal on Your Controller

Have you ever stared at your solar charge controller, wondering if you should connect your devices to that mysterious "load" terminal? You're not alone.

voltanic.solar

The Victron controllers may be different, in view of Wildebus's post, but with my controller and it seems many others the power in fact comes from the battery. I suppose if the panels are replenishing the battery at the same rate it makes no difference.
I found it convenient to use the output to power the computer fans I fitted on the fridge vent. As the power comes from the leisure battery they don't shut down at night!

That description in the link is pretty good and informative I would say and the Victron LOAD works the same way pretty much.
One possible difference is that the Victron Solar Controller can actually work as a Power Supply as well and the power out the load can potentially come from the solar alone if there was no battery connected (an unusual situation, but possible and one I have had).

 

[barryd]

Re using the load terminals on the controller, I have found this article which describes the idea that the terminals are powered by the panels as "a common misunderstanding".

Everything About the Load Output Terminal on Your Controller

Have you ever stared at your solar charge controller, wondering if you should connect your devices to that mysterious "load" terminal? You're not alone.

voltanic.solar

The Victron controllers may be different, in view of Wildebus's post, but with my controller and it seems many others the power in fact comes from the battery. I suppose if the panels are replenishing the battery at the same rate it makes no difference.
I found it convenient to use the output to power the computer fans I fitted on the fridge vent. As the power comes from the leisure battery they don't shut down at night!

That's exactly how the load terminals worked on my old mppt controller on my last van. They would be pretty useless if they only worked in sunny daylight hours when you think about it..

I had a four bank of 12v sockets in mine.

 

[Robmac]

this came up looks like a good deal six foot by four foot 435w i have one this side across the front of my roof bonded on with silkaflex i also put aluminium angle iron across the front so there was no uplift, been up there four years now i tested the bond last month when i fitted an additional 2 x 100W panels solid , be aware marin David (wildebus ) told me having power is like having a sports car more you have more you use !
View attachment 134148

That's good to hear about the bond Ken, I have 2 of the same except mine are 425W and have been a bit anxious about the fixings. I too plan to put an air dam across the front, do you get any wind noise at all?

 

[rugbyken]

nothing i’ve ever noticed i actually had a piece of plastic quadrant that i glued in the harris of the angle iron to help it over no science to it just had it to hand lol