solar panals

pam

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happy new year everyone.
Has anyone got a solar panal ? are they worth having ? do you get much power from them ? We do a bit of wild camping over winter and find that the battery doesnt last very long even when been very careful .Last time we had to resort to torches to keep heating on !:(
 
Hi Pam and happy new year.

No doubt people will be along to say how wonderful they are, but to be honest in the UK in winter they are of limited value and very expensive. If I was you I'd double up on your battery any get some L.E.D. bulbs for your lights, 1/10 of the cost and much more effective.
 
As Geoff says they are expensive and give less output in the winter but I am still surprised at how much on a relatively grey day.

We have one and it does nicely keep the battery topped up especially in between trips. Also have replaced most of the lamps with LED's.

We have also got a second leisure battery wired separately from the first as a back up. Personally I am not in favour of running batteries in parallel even if of the same make and age.
 
Solar panel

Hello Pam,

We have had a 75 watt panel on the Murvi for 10 years which
has been faultless and kept the batteries topped up regardless of weather conditions.
If you are serious about wild camping i.e. six weeks on the road without using sites then I think they are essential.

Just my opinion.

Regards Dezi
 
Hi Pam,
I use a roof mounted 55watt panel, wired through a control unit and feeding two 85amp/h auxilliary battery's. We go away for weeks on end, and never had a problem. They are expensive to buy, but in a year or two will pay for themselves. Depends on what you are going to run from the charged battery's. I run Sky box and TV/DVD, lighting and water pump. Run your fridge off Gas when static, these take a lot of power.

Happy Camping:)
 
Hi, I've been thinking of solar panels for a while, but electrics are not my best point, can you recomend any websites thet will have all the info I need, eg. price, what I will need etc.
I will be going to Manchester next weekend for the Motorhome show, maybe there will be something there.
Cheers, Pete.
 
zeezee16 said:
Hi, I've been thinking of solar panels for a while, but electrics are not my best point, can you recomend any websites thet will have all the info I need, eg. price, what I will need etc.
I will be going to Manchester next weekend for the Motorhome show, maybe there will be something there.
Cheers, Pete.
Click to expand...

Hi Pete, get in touch with Air and Sun Power Systems based in Keighley, I have used them in the past, guys name is Stephen Gilmour tel: 01535 665424 He will send you an up to date catalogue, always found him helpful, and can't get any closer to home than that.

Happy Camping:)
 
They are not cheap, have you thought of a silent suitcase generator? You can top up your batteries as and when you need to. Doubling up your batteries is a good idea, I have 2 x 110a/h in my van and the genny as a back up if away from hook up.
 
I have a micro-camper (car conversion) and fitted a small 2w solar panel to an 85amp leisure battery (also used occasionally to add a trickle charge to the engine battery). At a cost of just £17 and in a dull, cloudy 'summer' I had doubts that there would be much if any benefit. However, I've been pleasantly surprised and it's helped to eek out the battery during trips away.

This will probably be a very much smaller set-up than you're considering but when 'wild-camping' and having to rely solely on a 12v battery for lighting, recharging camera, phone and other batteries and powering a few appliances, I would recommend one.
 
I was advised not to buy small solar panels as they were not effective. One website (can't remember which one) suggested that a 50 watts roof mounted panel would produce 20 amps per day in high summer. If this is correct your 2w panel should only provide about 1 amp per day. I am confused:confused:
 
orian said:
I was advised not to buy small solar panels as they were not effective. One website (can't remember which one) suggested that a 50 watts roof mounted panel would produce 20 amps per day in high summer. If this is correct your 2w panel should only provide about 1 amp per day. I am confused:confused:
Click to expand...
Small solars are effective, but the sun in our regions is not ! In winter (low sun..) they could only trickle charge a very little. The least to keep your leisure battery loaded would be a 50 W solar. And even then in winter you'll never reach that, unless you could point it directly towards the sun.
 
useless !!

hi all. horses for courses.
i have a roof mount 75 w panel which is just ok !
don't expect too much. the angle of attack on the sun is important so in winter when the sun is low, you don't get the efficiency but if you can stand the initial outlay, they are good for 'passive' charging. you install and that's it. probably the best way to get some charge is to run the engine. decide what your needs are and what your purse will allow. i found the cheapest panels were found on ebay but as usual, be prepared to trawl and wait for a bargain, they can be found.
 
pam said:
happy new year everyone.
Has anyone got a solar panal ? are they worth having ? do you get much power from them ? We do a bit of wild camping over winter and find that the battery doesnt last very long even when been very careful .Last time we had to resort to torches to keep heating on !:(
Click to expand...
A well concieved solar / battery / inverter system gives you total power independance even under grey British skies. Our system was not designed with any pre-knowledge, but an engineering approach. We have a 60W solar panel flat on the roof of the van, an inexpensive charge controller and two 100Ah leisure batteries, plus a standby battery which we have never needed to use yet. There is also a 600W inverter to provide 240V AC for small mains appliances. Changing all the interior lighting to LEDs cuts their power consumption by 80%. Use gas for the fridge when static. We run a laptop and stereo for hours each evening. So far we've always had more than sufficient supplies even when away for 2 weeks at a time.
 
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Pam

2 questions. What battery or batteries to you have installed. What sort of wildcamping do you do? Im no technical expert and can only speak of our own experiences. We wildcamp all the time and have one 110AH Battery. We do tend to move around a lot and rarely spend more than two or three nights in one place followed by a drive of at least an hour. If your curcumstances are similar then it may be worth having your battery checked as it could be on its way out.

I am pretty careful about power consumption. I wont have an invertor in the van and dont see why I would need one. Everything is 12 volt. I plug my laptop into the cab battery not the leisure battery and charge it and phones etc while on the move (I know Im starting to sound anal now). This seems to work for us. We recently did 3 months in Europe and were only on hookup for 4 or 5 nights so by staying a short period either 1,2 sometimes 3 or occasionally 4 nights and driving inbetween you should be able to be self sufficient with one 110AH battery and no panels.

Having said all that we are currently on the Isle of Arran and been here since Wednesday and only moved 15 miles. I am watching the little battery meter all the time now! I know however that an hours drive round the island will soon boost it back up again.
 
2 leisure batteries, led lights and an 80w solar panel. Works in Scotland in the winter. Keeps the water pump, heater blower and lights on. Works better if it's pointing at the sun.
 
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