Extra Leisure Battery or Solar Panels Off Grid?

[Phil M]

I may not be looking properly, but I can't seem to find any discussion on this topic- but it will have been covered to death I imagine...
I have an 80 aH Leisure Battery in my '98 Autosleepr Legend.
I will be using it UK only, and across all four seasons, for between 2 - 20 days at a time.
Off grid, I only use 12 v for water pump/gas heater pump/lights , and to charge phone/i pad etc.....possibly an electric bike in future... and a 12v TV perhaps.....everything else gas....
I had some excellent advice on the autosleeper Facebook page, and am toying with the idea of 2 x Leisure Batteries 120aH (need to both be new and AGM type), or sometihing like a 200w solar panel- clearly a lot more expensive though...
My question, as a novice to all this..... is a Solar Panel for all year use in the UK worth it, given the variability of UK weather? ....And- not using stuff like kettles/microwaves etc as do so many of you....do I need to go to these lengths please?
I suspect Solar is the best option, that said...
My hope is to be able to be off grid at all times, moving on every so often (which will charge the battery...)
Hope this makes sense and any wise words on the way to go would be much appreciated, thanks...

 

[oppy]

Hi, there are many on here with wise suggestions so just wait; but in the meantime, I think that most of us have dual leisure batteries (at least 120a each) and a minimum 120 solar panel. In my somewhat limited experience it is more than adequate pootling about the UK. Even in overcast conditions the solar panel puts some leccy back into the batteries. Our van is a little older than yours, but the above seems to work for us, but we are of the mindset that if something fails and we can manage without it, we do, but that's the daft old oppys.
But, as I said, there's a wealth of knowledge on this site and all are willing to help / advise you.
Stay safe

 

[jagmanx]

solar and battery
and if not in summer some EHU and driving

 

[colinm]

We have used solar for decades, atm we have similar usage to your proposed, ie, lights, pump, tv (little used), and bikes. With this van for several years we had 80Ah battery and 85w solar, this was ok before getting bikes, but have now changed batteries to 2x75Ah when we got bikes, from late spring throu to early autumn this works well with the 85w solar, but as we head into winter any prolonged use of bikes will make it struggle, 200w panel would extend it somewhat, but middle of winter would probably still struggle with bikes, but I think it would be a sensible balance.

 

[r4dent]

Both.

The batteries (both should be same spec and age) hold power and allow you to use 12v overnight.
The solar charges the batteries during the day.

This may help.

 

[wildebus]

Solar in winter in Britain is pretty ornamental. It tends to be of most benefit in reducing the noise of the rain hitting the roof.
Solar in Summer is a different proposition and is always worth having unless your preferred camping pattern is driving long distances every day or you use campsites with hookup every day. (nothing wrong with doing either if that is what you want to do).
If you are going to fit solar, you may as well pack the roof with as much as you can fit on from the start. The cabling is the same; the controller is going to be very similar so the only notable extra is the extra panel/s themselves, but once done, you can forget them.

Batteries are less of a no-brainer, but if you think you may need a pair rather than one, you may as well bit the bullet and avoid doing one and then revisiting some time in the future and doing all that work again to install. Fit once and enjoy (unless you like tinkering of course, and again nothing wrong with that )

 

[trevskoda]

Solar will give some charge in winter but only for a few hrs if lucky from nov to end of jan, problem is the sun is to low, but if you have 200w or more of solar it will charge, without going bonkers on ex batteries id go for the lead carbon these days, forget the so called les batts, listen to wildbus as he is by far the expert on here, helped me a lot with his posts.

 

[Phil M]

Both.

The batteries (both should be same spec and age) hold power and allow you to use 12v overnight.
The solar charges the batteries during the day.

This may help.

How did you know I was a dummie! Brilliant, thanks....

 

[Trotter]

Solar in winter in Britain is pretty ornamental. It tends to be of most benefit in reducing the noise of the rain hitting the roof.
Solar in Summer is a different proposition and is always worth having unless your preferred camping pattern is driving long distances every day or you use campsites with hookup every day. (nothing wrong with doing either if that is what you want to do).
If you are going to fit solar, you may as well pack the roof with as much as you can fit on from the start. The cabling is the same; the controller is going to be very similar so the only notable extra is the extra panel/s themselves, but once done, you can forget them.

Batteries are less of a no-brainer, but if you think you may need a pair rather than one, you may as well bit the bullet and avoid doing one and then revisiting some time in the future and doing all that work again to install. Fit once and enjoy (unless you like tinkering of course, and again nothing wrong with that )

Wot he said

 

[witzend]

Add the solar first see how you get on with the battery you got You can always add more battery's if and when needed.

 

[barryd]

We have similar usage although to be fair we cane laptops and smartphones. We have a single 100w (or is it 120, can't remember) panel and a very good mppt controller and a single AGM 120ah battery. May to end of September we don't need EHU. However we often spend a week or three in the same place. If your moving on a fair bit even better. June, July and most of August it's like being on EHU. Fill your boots. Outside those times I go looking for hookup.

 

[Derekoak]

I may not be looking properly, but I can't seem to find any discussion on this topic- but it will have been covered to death I imagine...
I have an 80 aH Leisure Battery in my '98 Autosleepr Legend.
I will be using it UK only, and across all four seasons, for between 2 - 20 days at a time.
Off grid, I only use 12 v for water pump/gas heater pump/lights , and to charge phone/i pad etc.....possibly an electric bike in future... and a 12v TV perhaps.....everything else gas....
I had some excellent advice on the autosleeper Facebook page, and am toying with the idea of 2 x Leisure Batteries 120aH (need to both be new and AGM type), or sometihing like a 200w solar panel- clearly a lot more expensive though...
My question, as a novice to all this..... is a Solar Panel for all year use in the UK worth it, given the variability of UK weather? ....And- not using stuff like kettles/microwaves etc as do so many of you....do I need to go to these lengths please?
I suspect Solar is the best option, that said...
My hope is to be able to be off grid at all times, moving on every so often (which will charge the battery...)
Hope this makes sense and any wise words on the way to go would be much appreciated, thanks...

You don't mention your capacity to charge from the alternator. If like us you move on nearly every day we have gained most from charging at up to 60 amps from the alternator. As opposed to 30 amp before. To keep our load satisfied we only need to drive half an hour. We ha e solar 160 watt but that does not help in winter and we only use our bigger 200ah battery when we stand still for days. Our faster charging is very important but our lithium battery helps in that regard.

 

[trevskoda]

Im running 200w solar through a Votronic 250 with 1 amp to starter batt, and two les batts at 90ah each, it dont keep the tv running too long before the sound goes off with low voltage, next job is fitting a voltage buck unit to increase volts to about 15.

 

[Phil M]

Wot he said

Thanks- sounds expensive too ! Good advice

 

[Phil M]

You don't mention your capacity to charge from the alternator. If like us you move on nearly every day we have gained most from charging at up to 60 amps from the alternator. As opposed to 30 amp before. To keep our load satisfied we only need to drive half an hour. We ha e solar 160 watt but that does not help in winter and we only use our bigger 200ah battery when we stand still for days. Our faster charging is very important but our lithium battery helps in that regard.

Good advice

 

[Phil M]

Add the solar first see how you get on with the battery you got You can always add more battery's if and when needed.

Thanks .

 

[barryd]

Im running 200w solar through a Votronic 250 with 1 amp to starter batt, and two les batts at 90ah each, it dont keep the tv running too long before the sound goes off with low voltage, next job is fitting a voltage buck unit to increase volts to about 15.

Something wrong there Trev. I could keep my TV on 24/7 in mid summer with my setup which is way less than your capacity. Sensitive TV Maybe?

 

[Trotter]

Thanks- sounds expensive too ! Good advice

Depends what you consider expensive. Some think a tenner's a lot.
Solar panels, and even lithium batteries have never been cheaper. The way I look at the solar/lithium setup is, pay once, reap the benefit later.
I think the point Wildebus was making when he said , " fill your roof with panels", is that adding more at another date would end up as a miss matched set of panels, all entering the van through one gland (hole in the roof). I have a set of miss matched panels, and although they work well, they ain't pretty.
If you're having them fitted professionally again, more expense.
Replacing stuff for aesthetic reasons? Now that is expensive. I know I'll end up doing that.
It's also worth considering being able to tilt the panels into the sun. On a good sunny day, I think I'm getting about a third more amps than when they are laying flat. A hazy day? Leave them flat and hope

 

[wildebus]

Depends what you consider expensive. Some think a tenner's a lot.
Solar panels, and even lithium batteries have never been cheaper. The way I look at the solar/lithium setup is, pay once, reap the benefit later.
I think the point Wildebus was making when he said , " fill your roof with panels", is that adding more at another date would end up as a miss matched set of panels, all entering the van through one gland (hole in the roof). I have a set of miss matched panels, and although they work well, they ain't pretty.
If you're having them fitted professionally again, more expense.
Replacing stuff for aesthetic reasons? Now that is expensive. I know I'll end up doing that.
It's also worth considering being able to tilt the panels into the sun. On a good sunny day, I think I'm getting about a third more amps than when they are laying flat. A hazy day? Leave them flat and hope

The comment about the panels covered a few thoughts, mismatched panels was one of them (did you know .... it is possible to actually LOWER the total possible wattage of an array by ADDING a different panel in the wrong way!)

Other reasons to fill your roof with panels ....
1) avoid getting on top of the roof again and falling off (I hate getting on van roofs - which is why I never bother with tilting systems!)
2) avoid having to mess around moving/removing existing panels if you are adding to an array later.
At the very least, keep the physical footprint for another panel free if you think it is remotely possible you may add a panel. Too many people (and mostly in the VW Transporter world) fit a panel dead central to keep everything symmetrical (I can relate to that desire) but it means if they want a second panel they have to move the first one - usually a messy and awkward job and sometimes with flexipanels cannot be done without destroying it. If the panels are fixed to the roof, then position for future-proofing, or use a intermediate fixing system such as a rack or rails so they can be moved/repositioned by undoing a couple of bolts (That is the best option by far IMO).

 

[wildebus]

Something wrong there Trev. I could keep my TV on 24/7 in mid summer with my setup which is way less than your capacity. Sensitive TV Maybe?

TVs can draw a remarkable amount of power - if I left my Avtex TV on in my van 24/7, it would consume 120Ah a day (draws 5A in use). In the summer on a nice day, the solar array should put that much power back into the batteries for sure, but it is more power than you would maybe expect to be used (and there are all the other loads as well of course taking their share out the batteries)