Gidday all. As the L/cruiser we brought has dual batteries, water tank etc etc, we do not plan on hard wiring the solar system into the van. We intend using a 120 watt portable solar system so as to be able to use it with the L/cruiser or van as the need arises. The kit comes from a reputable supplier and is complete down to battery clips.

Will this cause any proplems? Regards Noel 

absolutely not, the only one maybe is if you leave it out overnight then someone may like it more than you if you place a "live" cigarette lighter in some easy to get to spot on the vehicle to be recharged (van or car) then you could just plug your panel into that, it would save the alligator clips and ensure a positive power connection at all times, dont forget to place a fuse in there somewhere as well

I mounted two cig lighter plugs into my rear bumper on the van , one each side , to get power to the rear from the in boot battery to power a lead light or my 12volt impact wrench if I have a flat . Also found it useful when I need a spot light at a road accident awhile back , the cord that comes with any light just isn't long enough when you need it in a hurry. You could mod it to take power from your solar panel to the battery pack without any problems . As said beats the hell out of those alligator clips. Use at least 6 but 8mm wire is better ,install an inline fuse of say 15 amps that will cover most applications.

Great minds think alike , from the no 2 battery I have a wire that runs down the inside panesl behind the back seat, runs the Engel the spottie and also plugs in the solar through the back door ,can also run the 240v lead through the back door and lock the whole lot up, ,very secure and clean,

My Solar panel is free standing....best thing is .it can be placed in direct sun..and can be moved while following it...if its fixed to the roof.......and you park under a nice shady tree.......bye bye power.......as Davo said...I would put a female hella plug on either side or rear of your van and vehicle....connected to the battery.via a good fuse holder http://www.nationalluna.com/images/Hella2.jpg Dave

yep thats one of the biggest advantages of a "mobile" solar panel. while we like to camp in the shade these things work best in "full" sun, we sit in the shade drinking the grog and put the panel in the sun to run the fridge to cool the grog, sounds good to me, being a mobile panel it can be turned and shifted to take full advantage of the sun at any angle at any time of the day I have quite a few "live" power points (cigar lighters) scattered all over our vehicles, front back and sides, they are handy for all manner of things just be sure and use suitable size wire, wombat suggests 6 - 8mm wire and I would go with that and also a suitably fused outlet of 15 amp, I would also agree with that, however place the fuse close to the battery to minimise the distance the "live" part of the wire is exposed to any danger the lighter outlets that are sold through ebay have a little cover that snaps back into place after use, I feel this would be a usefull addition to keep the thing clean just be sure that you run all wires in some protective cover if you are running them externally, stones and dirt can get into all sorts of places and rub a wire through very quickly just having these outlets in various positions are a fantastic bonus, lights, refrigeration, drill's vibrators or just the coffee pot close to hand, they will turn out to be invaluable,

Sounds good to me. My only question to all you solar afficianados; How do you get the sun to shine?

ask it very nicely!! never a problem over here in the good country or in any place I have been

G'day Noel,

I have a Suntech 80 watt portable and I use this when we are just in the 4wd and tenting it. We carry an Engel fridge in the back while camping and with the dual battery running the frig the 80 watt keeps it topped up nicely. We have 300 watts on the roof of the van, and we haven't really used the portable that much, great for keeping the battery topped up though. You can chase the sun with it too whicg you can't with a fixed panel.

Cheers

Pat

Thanks all for the advice. The cruiser has 2 cigar sockets in the front and 2 in the rear plus a socket for the fridge freezer combo. Thanks for the advice re rear spotlight.......now all I have to do is find the dammed fuses and figure out the wiring. Regards Noel