What solar panel to buy?

[garry01]

Hi does anyone know the best place to buy a solar panel for the roof of me Kontiki? Im looking at e-bay but i dont know what size to buy or what other bits i need?? I have 2 leisure batterys 1 90amp and 1 110amp ill join to gether. But talking to many and all advise me to get solar panels for the roof as this is better when on site NO PLUG INS? sound great.

I have looked at 30w, 40w, 60w, 63w, 80w, What would be good to keep them 2 batterys up full of life. Any info would be great.

Thanks gazz

 

[maingate]

Hi garry01,

For a start you have 2 odd batteries. They should be the same size and same age. In effect, you have 2, 90 amp batteries. This is because the 110 amp one will never fully charge up because of the smaller one connected to it.

The general advice for solar is to get the biggest you can afford, as long as it will fit on the roof. 80W is the minimum you should be looking at.

Regards
Maingate.

 

[robjmckinney]

Solar panel

What you need is to assess your power needs and then decide what panel you need. Work in watts and then a few simple sums and you get your answer, by dividing by 12 will give amps therefore indicating usage. Same with the panels divide the watts by 12 gives you amps.

Work on the general principal that solar panels are 25% efficient over an normal day. A simple device to regulate the supply and not overcharge the battery costs between £10 and £20 but many panels come with them, a question for the supplier.

I have never been a fan of solar panels and have had many over the years. You get what you pay for in general and is worth hunting round for bagains. I shall be fitting one again this year because I don't want to carry a genny. Obviously they are more efficient abroad due to the improved weather conditions.

 

[garry01]

Thanks

Im in Co,Clare on the west of Ireland, no one around here can fix a motorhome or know any thing about wiring on or in them. so i turned to all the best people who knows about campers and thats the english people as yo lot have been Motorhoming for years and there is always some one who had the same problems before. Hope i dont afend anyone. Up to now BIG Thanks to all who have helped me.

Thanks Garry

 

[tan-all-over]

Hi Garry, we have a 80 watt solar pannel on the roof of our motorhome (it was already on when we bought it ) and find it does all our needs. We only do field sites with no hook up and mostly spend 4 or so days at a time some times longer. I know this does not answer your question but just to let you know it fills our needs.

 

[andytheplumber]

anyone wanting anysize of panel-work out what size you require,have a look on net for allsolar stonehaven and I will sort out a panel,colin and I have a good deal together

 

[Firefox]

It depends what equipment you are using in the van but anything less than 75w is probably is not worth the trouble to install as you'll get far less than that in charging power depending on conditions. If you're using anything more than low wattage lights eg TV's or Inverters, a panel will not keep you topped up especially in winter when sun conditions are dull and your interior light usage is greater.

So I'd look at it as an opportunity to extend your wilding time rather than as a complete replacement for other charging sources such as alternator or site hook ups. And also great for when your van is layed up to keep the battery in good condition.

 

[Nolly]

Hi, I Bought 80 watts of solar (4 panels) last year intending to fit to the roof. Knowing very little on solar power I experimented with a meter and soon realised that 40 watts facing the sun were as good as the 80 watts laying flat. Also realising that during the hot weather here in France we are mostly parked in the shade, so I decided to make up 40 watts and use as a mobile system with 10 meters of cable connected to the motorhome via a trailer plug and socket. The other 40 watts I have yet to fit to the roof as the mobile system seems to suit our needs. We were down near Saint Tropaz in Dec and parked up for a week at a time we were able to watch tele for 3 or 4 hours in the evening with no problems.

 

[biggirafe]

Hi does anyone know the best place to buy a solar panel for the roof of me Kontiki? Im looking at e-bay but i dont know what size to buy or what other bits i need?? I have 2 leisure batterys 1 90amp and 1 110amp ill join to gether. But talking to many and all advise me to get solar panels for the roof as this is better when on site NO PLUG INS? sound great.

I have looked at 30w, 40w, 60w, 63w, 80w, What would be good to keep them 2 batterys up full of life. Any info would be great.

Thanks gazz

Hi Gary
Others have explained the size and power of the panels far better than me. So below are a couple of pictures showing how I fitted mine. TBH this was the bit I found the most worrying as no-one likes to drill holes in a water tight roof

In short the bits I bought were from different suppliers and doing this I got much better deals than buying a 'Kit' from a single company.

Solar panels should not be screwed directly to the roof. You need an air gap as they get very hot in summer. Also they will expand and contract so do not screw to roof as the roof will expand differently to the panel and you could end up with leaks. It is recommended that you glue solar panel fixings to the roof then screw your panel(s) to the fixings. There are special fixings you can buy, me I thought these seemed to be very expensive and as I had some alluminium box section in the garage I used this. I drilled holes in the underneath of the box then using SIKA 252 and Sika primer I glued them in place. The holes allowed the SIKA to squeeze through into the box and give better addhesion.

I then screwed the panel to the box sections. So no holes in roof

To get the cable into the vehicle you have little choice but to drill a hole, but use a proper cable gromit. Again plenty of SIKI glue

Inside I used a solar power voltage regulator, I only have a 15w panel so its not required as the panel can not over charge the battery but they are only £10 and will provide you with feedback that the panel is ok and also prevent leakage from the battery back up to the panel. This one also has a car charger outlet that allows me to plug my laptop / phone into the panel and charge them up. I've tried this and even this 15w panel will do that in winter.

Mine is a little heath robinson and maybe not to everyones taste and I guess if you have a nice new van then maybe you would want to make a better job of it. But I know when I was looking at doing this it was hard to find any photos showing how someone else had done it

Ours is a small panel but when looking into panels I quickly decided that because we have kids / TV / Satalite etc etc we would need lots of panels and they are heavy. I decided Payload and MPG would suffer more than the gain.

Hope this helps

 

[garry01]

Hi

thanks for the info and the pics. I have 3 kids also with us all the time so i need loads of power. Im here in cold rainy Ireland so not much good weather here. Im Heading to spain for 2 months in june so plenty of sun there. This is where ill save a little buy little plug ins. As sites add up when parked with Kontiki me her self and 3 kids as you pay for all. Oh ya a trailer with a Goldwing with a sidecar on it for us to get a round. Happy days.

Thanks Ill look at a 80W or 2 40w solars maybe change the inside lights to LEDs This will help after reading a lot on this site since i joined.

Great site for loads of help from a great bunch of people. Thanks Again

Gaz

 

[biggirafe]

thanks for the info and the pics. I have 3 kids also with us all the time so i need loads of power. Im here in cold rainy Ireland so not much good weather here. Im Heading to spain for 2 months in june so plenty of sun there. This is where ill save a little buy little plug ins. As sites add up when parked with Kontiki me her self and 3 kids as you pay for all. Oh ya a trailer with a Goldwing with a sidecar on it for us to get a round. Happy days.

Thanks Ill look at a 80W or 2 40w solars maybe change the inside lights to LEDs This will help after reading a lot on this site since i joined.

Great site for loads of help from a great bunch of people. Thanks Again

Gaz

Theres a bike thread here somewhere where you can show us your bike
Seems lots of people on here also ride

 

[nickit]

I can recomend the guys I bought my panel from.
I didn't buy the charger but at the time a 100w for £287.50 looked good.
Fitted myself without too much trouble!

Here is the quote.

Electrical Power Transmission QUOTE

M & R Controls (UK) Ltd
Unit 7, Saw Pit Industrial Estate,
Tibshelf, Derbyshire, DE55 5NH
martin@mandrcontrols.co.uk
DATE: JULY 13, 2009

Tel 01773 875795 Fax 01773 590792
REF - 1122MW130709

TEL – 01773 875795
FAX – 01773 590792
TO Nick Morley


SALESPERSON JOB PAYMENT TERMS DUE DATE
Martin Solar Net Monthly Ex-Stock Build

QTY DESCRIPTION UNIT PRICE LINE TOTAL

1 SM100 – 100 watt 12 volt mono-crystalline solar panel
with 500mm cable and connectors £287.50 Inc vat
1 10 mtr cable set (tri-rated) with connectors £28.75 Inc vat
1 MR20/2/12 solar charge controller, 20 amp, 2 x inputs £40.25 Inc vat

Free carriage

The prices include vat at 15%
Full vat invoice will be included





Quotation prepared by: M J Worthington______________________________________________________________________ ___
This is a quotation on the goods named, subject to the conditions noted below: (Describe any conditions pertaining to these prices and any additional terms of the agreement. You may want to include contingencies that will affect the quotation.)
To accept this quotation, sign here and return: _____________________________________________________________________


Martin J Worthington
M & R Controls (UK) Ltd
Unit 7
Saw Pit Industrial Estate
Tibshelf
Derbyshire
DE55 5NH

Tel 01773 875795 Fax 01773 590792

 

[NicknClair]

If I were to fit a solar panel for top-up use, I would probably go with say 80W plus min, as a good quality panel should produce roughly 4.5amp per hour.
However me and the wife walk a different path