Solar PV. I'm confused.

Biggles

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I have been looking at some solar panels for keeping my battery bank topped up and conditioned and maybe running a 240v AA rated fridge freezer running through the inverter.

Domestic panels seem to be in the range of 44v requiring a box of tricks to get it down to 12v charge but stepping up the amps. Then there are the 12-18v panels that don't require a box of tricks. The rub being here the fancy box is very expensive, but according to my chats with various sellers gives you the equivalent of 30% increase in return.

So what's the best way to go? The box + the domestic panels cost more than the 12v ones and I don't have a problem with space to install.

The battery bank is 1150a/h 12v

So I am a bit confused as to the best way to go.
 
I would say 12v panels, as many as you can fit+++ afford, bearing in mind pay load and weight on the roof, and then the required regulators to prevent overcharging FOX comes to mind as in my van . Ring Solar Solutions at Poole in Dorset they are the BIZ.
 
vindiboy said:
I would say 12v panels, as many as you can fit+++ afford, bearing in mind pay load and weight on the roof, and then the required regulators to prevent overcharging FOX comes to mind as in my van . Ring Solar Solutions at Poole in Dorset they are the BIZ.
Click to expand...

I wonder if they are the same people in Poole who fitted the Airrides to my MH a few months ago. They had Solar panels on display.
 
"The battery bank is 1150a/h 12v"

so apart from a large battery charger to get them charged when on shore power, how much solar are you looking to install?

BTW be fairly wary of claims of 30% extra when using an MPPT controller. Get them to specify under what conditions that might apply and see if that matches up with your planned RVing lifestyle.
 
Do you mean 115 AH? 10x 115 AH batteries is probably your max load and no space for anything else!!
 
If he's running a fridge off batteries, he's going to need a lot of batteries!

My 110Ah are about 25Kg so 10 would be 250kg. It's a fair chunk of the payload but not totally unmanageable if everything else is light enough.
 
On another m/home forum, it was discussed that 24 volt solar panels can be more efficient when used with the right 12 volt regulator. I did not follow the thread closely but techno100 did and he may add his comments here.
 
"If he's running a fridge off batteries, he's going to need a lot of batteries!"


Yes, batteries are good, but not much use unless you can get them charged up when they get low. Get 1000Ah half flat and even 1000Watts of panels in bright sunlight are going to take days to get them to fully charged.
 
They seem to reckon one decent size solar panel per battery is about right, so with 10 batteries probably 10x70w = 700W minimum if you have the roof space. If not, as many as you can get on there. Regulator needs to be sized to cope with your solar array ;-)
 
Sorry I should have explained. This is for my boat and I just want something that will keep the batteries conditioned. The fridge is just a wish list and really not that important.

Yes the batteries are 1150 ah and weigh 350kg deep cycle traction batteries.
 
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