Strewth, how much!

SimonM

SimonM

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My new motorhome doesn’t come with solar panels and has little room for them either. Today I got a call from the salesman in response to my question what can the roof take? Hymer’s option list only shows 2x95w panels which I thought was a bit miserly. The dealer only uses Victron, so good news there. But they reckon it will only accept 2x115w panels as the roof is a tad crowded already.

That’ll be £2000 if you want them. It’s going across to the workshop shortly for pdi preparation. 2 panels and a MPPT controller, no chance!

Dick Turpin hid behind a mask.

fortunately, I’d already decided to wait until delivery and then venture up the ladder for some accurate measurements - and then see what can go up there. Maybe they can go over non-opening vents?

But 2 grand, yer havin’ a laff!
 
II need the front panel above thee c was quoted silly money latest price was 3/5 grand 3 and a half grand
 
W
SimonM said:
My new motorhome doesn’t come with solar panels and has little room for them either. Today I got a call from the salesman in response to my question what can the roof take? Hymer’s option list only shows 2x95w panels which I thought was a bit miserly. The dealer only uses Victron, so good news there. But they reckon it will only accept 2x115w panels as the roof is a tad crowded already.

That’ll be £2000 if you want them. It’s going across to the workshop shortly for pdi preparation. 2 panels and a MPPT controller, no chance!

Dick Turpin hid behind a mask.

fortunately, I’d already decided to wait until delivery and then venture up the ladder for some accurate measurements - and then see what can go up there. Maybe they can go over non-opening vents?

But 2 grand, yer havin’ a laff!
Click to expand...
Would your dealer be in Newark?
No anagram intended 🫣
 
SimonM said:
My new motorhome doesn’t come with solar panels and has little room for them either. Today I got a call from the salesman in response to my question what can the roof take? Hymer’s option list only shows 2x95w panels which I thought was a bit miserly. The dealer only uses Victron, so good news there. But they reckon it will only accept 2x115w panels as the roof is a tad crowded already.

That’ll be £2000 if you want them. It’s going across to the workshop shortly for pdi preparation. 2 panels and a MPPT controller, no chance!

Dick Turpin hid behind a mask.

fortunately, I’d already decided to wait until delivery and then venture up the ladder for some accurate measurements - and then see what can go up there. Maybe they can go over non-opening vents?

But 2 grand, yer havin’ a laff!
Click to expand...
What size of motorhome is it? Did a setup for someone on their brand new 3.5t Hymer A class .... 6M long, 600W of panels and no vents covered :)

Next week we are fitting 450W of Victron panels on a Globe car (y).

I have a total of 9 panels on my 6.7M Motorhome, which also has two vents, a large central skylight and being an Autotrail, that enormous round bulge covering 1/3rd the roof that stops anything going on it. All just a matter of a) planning and b) ignoring what the dealer tells you is possible.
 
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Caravan accessory place in Buxton wanted almost a grand to fit 2x100W panels and controller, (all no brand) around 5 years ago so your price isn’t that bad lol

175w Victron Solar
 
2 100w panels and votronic controler plus deck gland under £350, double that for fitting, seems england still has bandits.
turpin.jpg
 
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wildebus said:
What size of motorhome is it? Did a setup for someone on their brand new 3.5t Hymer A class .... 6M long, 600W of panels and no vents covered :)

Next week we are fitting 450W of Victron panels on a Globe car (y).

I have a total of 9 panels on my 6.7M Motorhome, which also has two vents, a large central skylight and being an Autotrail, that enormous round bulge covering 1/3rd the roof that stops anything going on it. All just a matter of a) planning and b) ignoring what the dealer tells you is possible.
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It is 7.39m long, Hymer BMC-T 680, but it does have rather a lot of vents & skylights up on top, it’s a shame I can’t find an aerial view to work from just yet. Here’s a taster
 

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SimonM said:
It is 7.39m long, Hymer BMC-T 680, but it does have rather a lot of vents & skylights up on top, it’s a shame I can’t find an aerial view to work from just yet. Here’s a taster
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Here is an example of options .... This is my 6.7M and you can see the front cap is so curved it is out of bounds. Filled in the rest though :)

Solar Completed by David, on Flickr

Something that is hard to find (and not succeeded so far) are panels that are proportioned to suit the in-fill areas. I ended up doubling up end-to-end to achieve that.

Also, you might find that you can route the cables from outside into the van without making any holes. Managed to fit a pair of Panels to Gordons Hymer without drilling a single hole in the roof or a single blob of adhesive (y)
 
I would find a solar specialist Simon if your not up for fitting them yourself or just get advice on here, buy all the right kit and get your local Mr fixit to fit it. Thats what I did years ago. Got the MPPT controller which was the one everyone was buying at the time, the panel, proper solar cabling, corner mounts etc all myself and my local guy fitted it all for under £100. Total cost was about £300 but it was only a single 100w panel I think. I think there are specialist solar fitters now scattered around the country. I bet most would half that quote.
 
I won’t be fitting them myself as I’m not allowed up ladders any more by order of memsahib. They will definitely go to a specialist for that to happen. I also don’t want to incur warranty issues by using ‘that bloke from the pub’

@wildebus I am very intrigued with the different sizes of panels being used to cover the roof I always thought they had to be the same. Would they be using one controller or several?
 
SimonM said:
I won’t be fitting them myself as I’m not allowed up ladders any more by order of memsahib. They will definitely go to a specialist for that to happen. I also don’t want to incur warranty issues by using ‘that bloke from the pub’
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I have never heard of any insurance issues with self-fitting panels as has been suggested. Obviously it goes without saying that if someone drills holes in a roof and goes through wiring, that is not a good idea, but that could create warranty issues on the motorhome, not insurance ones,

SimonM said:
@wildebus I am very intrigued with the different sizes of panels being used to cover the roof I always thought they had to be the same. Would they be using one controller or several?
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Two options:
You mix panels and have one controller for one panel set and another controller for another panel set.
or
You chose the panels carefully so they are compatible for mixing.

I am using a single controller and have all 9 panels in parallel. The smaller ones have a slightly different voltage compared to the original larger ones and the impact is my maximum output is reduced by I think it was 6W (in parallel, you add the currents and choose the lowest voltage of the panels to get the total power of an array; in series you add the voltages and choose the lowest current to get the power).
 
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