Keeping my leisure batteries full for my trip.

Rich c

Guest
im nearly there now almost ready to leave home and wild camp in europe for as long as i can at the end of march.
i just have this one last thing to sort out and there are so many opinions out there i just dont know who to trust/listen to :confused:
but im sure the wild camping friends can help!!

At the moment my truck has a zig unit with built in split charger so all is fine when driving but not enough, if im not running the engine every day (tight budget once on the move)
I have 2x 180ah batteries 360 ah total and would like some one to tell me what size solar pannel watt/amp i will need and which solar regulator to go for?
Id rather my money spent on what is right with your advice. (will be traveling west coast down to morocco slowly)
i will be running general
lightsb 12v very few
12v tv
maybe propex heater now and then.
whale gulper waste pump
water pump
and mybe 12v outlet to charge mob and batteries.
would consider inverter use if needed.

Your help would be much appriciated
Rich.
maybe even my batteries are to big ill let you decide.
 
hi think i would get 2x80wt panels from ebay . who ever is the cheapest and a reg from therapy 2000 in stoke prior . not a fancy gizmo reg but works fine just lights and its a pulse mode i use 2x30amp .yes one of them exceeds what you need but you can add more panels as you want. . i have six panels . all could be sworked on one but if one goes down i just transfer them all to one reg. hopefully working easy will make the regs last longer. i hope. you may find afterthis trip you want more and more batteries . have a good time .i,m sure you will .there,s somewhere in france and another in germany offering panels cheap last time i looked.
 
Good luck with your trip. We are heading off same direction in July like you for as long as we can till the money runs out -- fingers crossed about a year :cheers:

We picked up two 80w panels and a regulator from ebay totalling around 250 quid a few months back. I just need to get an additional battery and i should have similar capacity to you.
 
Def 2 panels as big as you can buy. 2 X 100w or 3 X 80 or 100W even. Those big batteries can soak up plenty of charge. And if you get big panels you can also catch better whatever winter sun is available too in the off season.
 
Agree about solar, get as much as your roof, payload and budget will allow coupled with a mppt controller.

Sterling B2B charger is a good investment and will fully charge your batteries quickly whilst on the move.

LEDlights are cheap and reduce power useage considerably.

Paul.
 
Bud said:
Agree about solar, get as much as your roof, payload and budget will allow coupled with a mppt controller.

Sterling B2B charger is a good investment and will fully charge your batteries quickly whilst on the move.

LEDlights are cheap and reduce power useage considerably.

Paul.
Click to expand...

All of that... except if he only had one 85Ah batter one 70 or 80W panel would be fine. No harm in extra, but it's a poorer invetsment as much of the time he wouldn't be able to store his harvest.
 
does he not have a charging system fitted already . while on the move . havent looked back but thought he said he had one . i use a durite charging system . think they are far cheaper than the sterling.
mine is a 24 v to 12v charging system . very good . most of my travelling mates have gone for the durite units because of price . durite is a gordon industries trade name for their electrical stuff. uzsed alot in the truck commercial industry.
 
Thanks for sharing your knowledge yes your right at the moment i have a zig unit where you can flick the switches over to engine battery and charge which will then act like a split charger when engine is running. i do have 2x 180amp batterys which id like to keep topped up more pannels for poor light and winter days would make sense.
i have just purchased a 120w max 7.5amp panel looking to add another plus a decent regulator like therapy 2000's 30amp one.
any more info would be great its amazing how many panels have great wattage but poor amp's
greatfull for any more info
many thanks Rich
 
It should be the wattage of the panel that counts.

Ie Your solar regulator is a transformer so, neglecting losses

V input x I input = V output X I output

V output is a constant (14v or so for charging) so

I output (charge current) = V input x I input / 14

ie Both the voltage and current of the panel are important.
 
Firefox said:
It should be the wattage of the panel that counts.

Ie Your solar regulator is a transformer so, neglecting losses

V input x I input = V output X I output

V output is a constant (14v or so for charging) so

I output (charge current) = V input x I input / 14

ie Both the voltage and current of the panel are important.
Click to expand...

so i have to look for wattage and current not amp so much sorry havent a clue about this kind of thing being a carpenter
the solar panel i just bought was 120w 6.6amp
looking around theres alot of large home harvesting style pannels 185w and even higher would these be any good?
 
Just the wattage (volts x amps) is important.

If it's a lower current, for a given wattage, the voltage will be higher to make up for it. Your regulator will transform the output voltage to what the battery needs but you'll have the benefit of the same power at the output end (minus losses in the regulator)
 
As the Americans say, no specification for solar panels means didley-squat in the real world, least of all Panel Output Watts.

It is a complete fabrication that bears no resemblance to real-world situations because it refers to the power the panel outputs under strict laboratory conditions - radiation level of 1kw/square metre at right angles to the panel with the panel at standard temperature (25C???) and the measurement is taken over a few millisecond period so the cells don't heat up.
Still, the method is standardised so it is useful for comparing solar panels and getting some idea of what power they will deliver.

In the real world you can count on x% of the rated power where x is a figure between zero and about 70. Zero in northern Scotland on a dreary winter day and 70 in the middle of summer in the middle of Morocco - neither being very nice places to be.

Psssst. You can't get the current by dividing the power rating by 12 either.

the solar panel i just bought was 120w 6.6amp
Click to expand...

With a good regulator and a battery in a state to receive maximum input, you might get around 100Watts out of your panel. The 6.6Amps likely refers to the short circuit current the panel delivers, which is also a "funny" figure for some purposes, but the full specification should elaborate on the conditions applying when these values were measured.

Regardless of the technicalities, 120W with a good regulator WILL give you useful power into your batteries and WILL extend the period you can wildcamp before heading to a caravan park to do the washing and fully charge the battery. If you usage is fairly frugal and the sun is shining and you move on every few days, it may result in your batteries actually getting to a fully charged state every few days and you can give the expensive caravan parks a complete miss.
Of course, TWO 120W panels would be even better, but you may not have roof space anyway, and your RVing lifestyle may not need that much.

BTW try to keep the panels away from anything on the roof that casts a shadow on any part of the panel. Roof hatches, vent pipes, satellite dishes and even radio aerials can all cast enough shadow to reduce the panel output to near zero.
 
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I can give you my own real world solar panel/battery experience as alluded to in other posts.
Since year 2000 I have;

2 x 60W panels
2 x 110 Amp starter batteries (replaced after 10 years)
High quality Regulator/Battery Manager.

Usage has been for;
Water pump
Lighting
TV,CRT and in recent years LCD
Video and in recent years Hard Dive media centre
Satellite Receiver
Propex heater fan
PROBABLY on average 12 Amp hours a day
Obviously power usage is a very subjective issue, some like TV on 24 hours a day, and run a washing machine.

Where and when used:
c. 5 winter months mainly Spain Portugal France Morocco for the last 20 years, 10 years with the above set up and almost 100% wildcamping.
I have never run out of power in that time, but bearing obvious caveats in mind such as when the weather has been unfavourable I cutdown usage, eg TV viewing.
 
I can give you my own real world solar panel/battery experience as alluded to in other posts.
Since year 2000 I have;

2 x 60W panels
2 x 110 Amp starter batteries (replaced after 10 years)not leisure batts so can be used to start van in emergency.
High quality Regulator/Battery Manager 20Amp

Usage has been for;
Water pump
Lighting
TV,CRT and in recent years LCD
Video and in recent years Hard Dive media centre
Satellite Receiver
Propex heater fan
PROBABLY on average 12 Amp hours a day
Obviously power usage is a very subjective issue, some like TV on 24 hours a day, and run a washing machine.

Where and when used:
c. 5 winter months mainly Spain Portugal France Morocco for the last 20 years, 10 years with the above set up and almost 100% wildcamping.
I have never run out of power in that time, but bearing caveats in mind such as when the weather has been unfavourable I cutdown usage, eg TV viewing.

If you have the Zig CF8 charging unit watch out when using some campsite mains power in Morocco Portugal
and Spain, by the time the supply reaches your Zig it can drop as low as 190v, this isn't enough to charge your batts. Some campers have thrown away good batts. in error.
Personally I would not buy a cheap regulator, I'm convinced management regime of the batteries given by the Steca Charge Controller extends battery useful life.
 
Just a question to this thread. Is it essential and worth buying a solar power display panel i.e. CS Evolution Solar Power Display Panel priced at £53.00?

Or is it considered by you guys, who already have the system up and running, to be a waste of time?

Thanks in anticipation.

arch.
 
all sorted now i hope have a panel rated 120w tested voltage out of box in sunlight it read 21v. shaded the whole panel not in direct sunlight read 17.5v
then layed over a table cloth not blackout quality but still serious shading and it read 14v. im very impressed.
called therapy 2000 and spoke to lovely lady very helpfull explained to her my plans she said to go a little larger with 20amp regulator to be safe and maybe add more panels in the future.
this unit has no screen, smiley face or tank style battery level guage just simple regulator with leds.
ill let all know how i get on with fixing into truck and testing.
Thankyou to all Rich.
:cheers:
 
archdeak said:
Just a question to this thread. Is it essential and worth buying a solar power display panel i.e. CS Evolution Solar Power Display Panel priced at £53.00?

Or is it considered by you guys, who already have the system up and running, to be a waste of time?

Thanks in anticipation.

arch.
Click to expand...

You can................................. but I don't see the point. The importance is knowing that the batteries are up to, rather than what the panel is doing, after all it's nice to know you may be putting a couple of amps in, but what if you are consuming more than your producing!!
Battery computers are a better investment rather than solar panel displays. Here are a few examples;

Good Budget unit; Amazon.co.uk: nasa battery monitor

Unit which comes with good recomendations; Power on the move - Victron BMV 600S Battery Monitor - quallty, ultra high resolution, lower cost.

Unit fitted to my bus, for the individual 200A "shunts" that can be fitted; Sterling Power Products: Power Management Panel

Not the cheapest of things, but you will get more out of such a device and know where you stand on your battery capacity. WARNING, when fitted these things for the first few months will rule your life, as you cannot resist in watching the thing :lol-049:
 
Nicknclair - Thank you for your advice, I've listened to it and will not be buying the power panel. I will look at your recommendations. Cheers, arch.
 
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