Solar panel Vs generator

toymaker

Guest
Hi
I am ditherering whether to buy a roof mounted solar panel, about 85 watts, or a small generator. We will probably never spend more than 3 or 4 nights away from a hook up and have two 90 amp/hr batteries fitted. Any thoughts based on experience greatfully recieved. :confused:

Cheers all, hope the rain stops soon.
 
Hi Toymaker.

Seeing as you've posted this on a wildcamping forum I guess there's only one answer.

From experience I'd recommend the solar option. I have a Kipor I bought & carried about in the van before I installed the solar panels. Irrespective how quiet these things are meant to be I always find them intrusive. I used mine twice & then started looking at the solar options.

A lot depends on how heavy a user of power you are. Do you use any 240V ? If you're going to use lots of amps then you might need a genny. Personally I've optimised things so I don't use any 240V & can run comfortably from 2 X 85 Ah/hr batteries & 2 X 90W solar panels.

Pro's with solar power. Silent in operation. Works all the time that there's light & it's maintenance free.

The Genny gives you lots of 240V power but for me I find the noise disturbs the tranquility.

A quality solar panel of about 90 W will give you about 5A under "ideal" conditions, usually much less. There's an easy way to increase this though. Install more panels :)

Have a look at this http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-42369-hymer.html+solar for a look at the instalation I did on my own van. It took a couple of afternoons to complete but has given us freedom from hook-ups & noisy generators.

Dave.
 
Please go down the solar panel route - I have just spent a weekend on a site and have had to put up with several generators.

It was so bad that we had to ask one person to either turn the thing off or leave the site. The genny was a Wolf and was not that loud but the F---ing fumes were a different matter
 
I agree with baloothebear. The noise you can just about live with, the fumes are killing. I used to run a genny, now I am on 120 x 2 panels. It is a god send. Just be careful not to load too much 230v at any one time. I have 100AH x 3 batts: that keeps me safe from running out of juice. I always check my batt: indicator daily.
 
Hi,

Hi, It all depends on what power you want, and the time spend off mains,
after spending 100,s on solar panels, I found that this just did not do the job, we have two pug dogs so do not go away in high season to much just around feb to may.
I obtained an honda EU20i, which does not give out any fumes at all, gives out lots of power etc etc, I have fitted the gen in an outer case and fitted a better exhaust system so it cuts down the noise, I never run the thing at night, just a few hours mid day to keep the batterys up and the air con on for the dogs if its to hot for them.
This year was down in italy on a camper stop over, and the temp inside the van was over 34c, the power hock up was under 3amps, and I needed that gen on most of the day and evening to power the air con, a power pull of 4amps, Boy was it nice to be able to get into the van at a nice cool 20c.
solar panels just would not give the power needed, and that would mean a return trip.
terry
 
You need to do the sums;

Add up the watts that each appliance draws and the volts that they operate at.
Convert the watts to amps using the formula (watts/volts) = amps.
Estimate the number of hours each appliance will operate.
Multiply the amps for each appliance by the hours of operation to give you a total number of amp hours (amps * hours) = amp hours

If any appliances have to be operated through an inverter you have to factor in the inverter efficiency - say 80% efficient then any 240V appliances need to have another 20% amp hours added. The inverter spec plate will say exactly what the efficiency is.

Then look at using no more than 70% of battery storage, eg 2 x 100amp hour batteries should give you 140 amp hours of useful battery life. Try not to draw down below that amount as it can reduce the life of the batteries, although true deep cycle batteries thrive on being drawn down.

Then you need to size your solar panels to ensure that they can keep the batteries topped up.

Same formulas, but in reverse.

eg your appliances draw 90amp hours
You have 12 volt solar panels.
The sun shines 6 hours
(90amps * 12 volts)/ hours = 180 watts of solar panels

Bear in mind that solar panels mounted on the roof are not working at their best efficiency until the sun is more or less overhead.
 
terry1956 said:
Hi, It all depends on what power you want, and the time spend off mains,
after spending 100,s on solar panels, I found that this just did not do the job, we have two pug dogs so do not go away in high season to much just around feb to may.
I obtained an honda EU20i, which does not give out any fumes at all, gives out lots of power etc etc, I have fitted the gen in an outer case and fitted a better exhaust system so it cuts down the noise, I never run the thing at night, just a few hours mid day to keep the batterys up and the air con on for the dogs if its to hot for them.
This year was down in italy on a camper stop over, and the temp inside the van was over 34c, the power hock up was under 3amps, and I needed that gen on most of the day and evening to power the air con, a power pull of 4amps, Boy was it nice to be able to get into the van at a nice cool 20c.
solar panels just would not give the power needed, and that would mean a return trip.
terry
Click to expand...

You have a valid point with the airconditioning Terry. It really boils down to what you want and what you can afford. I must say all the advice given is robust, which is why this site has a good following.
 
In answer

After playing around trying to get the best system to protect the pugs, who just can,t take the heat, and the way the weather is these days, we just had to have power on tap for the air con, and before some wise person comes up with keep the windows open, etc. try it on a boiling hot day.
I notice that some sites in france have power points reated at under .4amps, just enough to keep the lights on ??
I think its about time that elec power rates became part of the info given out along with the prices.
terry
 
.4 amps why would they even bother?

There are 12V/24V air con units available for the trucking industry, they rely upon the cab being cooled by the vehicle AC then keeping it cool with the auxilliary unit. Eberspacher make one called "Sleeping Well" and there is a Dutch company whose name escapes me who make another similar unit. You still need BIG batteries to run them as they draw down at about 18 amps an hour on 12V.
 
terry1956 said:
Hi, I obtained an honda EU20i, which does not give out any fumes at all, ----- Boy was it nice to be able to get into the van at a nice cool 20c.
solar panels just would not give the power needed, and that would mean a return trip.
terry
Click to expand...

All engines give off fumes... Sorry. Even engines being run using Propane as a fuel. It's a by-product of combustion.

We did have several people running gennies at on time or another. The noise was intrusive, surprisingly; but the fumes were another matter
 
SOLAR, SOLAR, SOLAR.....
There is no alternative.
When we were at Cnip, on Lewis recently, on the grazing trust site that used to be wildcamping, there was a wide boy with a Fendt caravan, the ones the pikies in France use and he was running his (12/6p burn the ozone layer, gas all the nieghbours, keep all the kids awake) genny untill 11.15 p.m.but get this he had the genny 20 mtrs from his own van and right under his nieghbours window. What a W****r but no one said anything as he was a real look at me and your dead type.
The only good place for a genny is back in the genny shop.:mad::mad::mad:
 
I wanted an air-conditioning unit on my truck so I had a generator fitted a Dometic one. The noise is not so bad we did find last weekend one day was very still and we left the Dog in for half an hour went back to check him and the Carbon monoxide monitor was going off, my advice if you have one fit a alarm and don't leave unattended. I could have killed my Dog.
If you don't have appliances that use loads of power solar could be the best thing to fit and no doubt much cheaper!
 
In answer

Hi, did look at the 12v air con systems, But its not true air con, just blown air using water to cool the hot air, They do bring the temp down a bit, but the max is 10c under the outside temp, less if the air is damp. This is just not good enough for the dogs.
As to the way gens are used and the types being used, well thats down to the owners. I did see a funny thing a few years ago, i was parked up on an italian service station taking a break from driving and along side pulled up an italian motorhome, the doors flashed open in time and out jumped three jolly campers all surrounded by a mass of exhaust fumes, it turned out that one bright sole had the idea of using a gen inside the motorhome to power up their roof air con when on the move, not so bright an idea, but boy is was funny to see them all jump out and the fumes just had to be seen.
terry
 
terry1956 said:
Hi, did look at the 12v air con systems, But its not true air con, just blown air using water to cool the hot air, They do bring the temp down a bit, but the max is 10c under the outside temp, less if the air is damp. This is just not good enough for the dogs.
As to the way gens are used and the types being used, well thats down to the owners. I did see a funny thing a few years ago, i was parked up on an italian service station taking a break from driving and along side pulled up an italian motorhome, the doors flashed open in time and out jumped three jolly campers all surrounded by a mass of exhaust fumes, it turned out that one bright sole had the idea of using a gen inside the motorhome to power up their roof air con when on the move, not so bright an idea, but boy is was funny to see them all jump out and the fumes just had to be seen.
terry
Click to expand...

Like I said best place for a genny is back in the shop and no matter who uses them they are still noisy, dirty, smelly, heavy and cost loads to run whereas a panel, once fitted is silent, clean, odourless, light and is free to run....... I rest my case.
 
tresrikay said:
Like I said best place for a genny is back in the shop and no matter who uses them they are still noisy, dirty, smelly, heavy and cost loads to run whereas a panel, once fitted is silent, clean, odourless, light and is free to run....... I rest my case.
Click to expand...

I had a problem between my leisure battery and the control unit which resulted in me being unable to power the heating. Solar power is not very efficient in the dark and and I fortunately have all small generator which allowed me to use the heater, hot water etc.

Its a case of horses for courses...........I rest my case
 
In answer

Hi, I am with G ON THIS, All this talk of going green and carbon foot prints is all bull and for the weak minded sheep,If the powers that run the world really knew that it was CO2 that was at the root of all problems, they would stop the burning of the rain forest for a start, stop all air travel for a 2nd and close down the coal burning countries of the far east. But what do they do, tax the motorist, think about it?? I was also told that travel is good for the mind, But there are always people who are so narrow minded one would think they had not been any place bar the their local campsite.
To get the same output per 1/2 hour of running a good gen you would need a bank of solar panels bigger then the roof space of a motorhome and 24 hours full sun, the cost alone of the solar panels far outweighs the price of a good gen, and one never gets 24 hour sunlight
terry
 
Looks to me like Toymakers thread has been hijacked by the "I've got a genny & will use it regardless (of the inconvenience & annoyance caused to others) faction. You can put any amount of spin on this that you like. Used inconsiderately generators are ANNOYING.

I personally would be mortified if my leisure activities caused inconvenience or annoyance to someone else.

The attitude of the last three posts is pretty much at odds with my own views. If we ever meet in one of the quiet & tranquil places that I stop at, please don't start your genny.

I'm sticking with my recommendation for solar power.

Anyway, I though only gypsies used generators :D

Dave.
 
Davesport said:
Looks to me like Toymakers thread has been hijacked by the "I've got a genny & will use it regardless (of the inconvenience & annoyance caused to others) faction. You can put any amount of spin on this that you like. Used inconsiderately generators are ANNOYING.

I personally would be mortified if my leisure activities caused inconvenience or annoyance to someone else.

The attitude of the last three posts is pretty much at odds with my own views. If we ever meet in one of the quiet & tranquil places that I stop at, please don't start your genny.

I'm sticking with my recommendation for solar power.

Anyway, I though only gypsies used generators :D

Dave.
Click to expand...

I take great exception to your post as it is not based on any fact. Can you please say where in my post I indicated that I behaved as you suggest.

Im affraid your brain is like solar power,it don,t work in the dark. I would suggest you put more thought into your posting rather than trying to offend with a blinkered view.
 
I'm not sure that this post has been "hijacked" -yet :D
The use of gennys is pretty emotive at the best of times.
There are good units out there; the Honda, Kipor(spelling?) and some others should be mentioned. They are not obtrusive and can be made even better by converting them to Propane for the fuel source.
If you have a cheapy genny like my £35 effort from MAKRO then don't expect it to be quiet. You can help it along by adding an additional silencer from a moped and even an acoustic hood dropped over helps.
Solar panels have their place, as do gennys but I'm not too sure about wind gennys. The noise of the blades is really irritating and the 100ft mast along side one's M'home tends to give the game away if you're Wilding it :D
 
I don't see any problems with anyone using a genny for an emergency as long as it don't disturb anyone else around you.
I don't use one myself not anymore and i would prefer solar power, but the cost is out of my range for sure.
Not all solar panels require direct sunlight some will work in poor weather conditions but not as well as on a sunny days (sunny days what are they I don't remember).:(
IMHO with solar there is no pollution and no noise whatever simple as, not so with a genny silent or not.
Oh and by the way I am not a 100% greeny or a tree hugger i just think we should all respect the planet that we live on and the people that live on it with us, like the future generations your kids and their kids, yours and my offspring.
So don't give me the green this and that as I get sick of hearing it, and after all this tread is not about green or not green is it.
 
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