Just wondering if anyone could help me with some solar advice.
I have purchased a van with a 12 volt set up already installed, i have a couple of lights a car stereo and a 80 ltr fridge to run, all the rest is gas and a 3 way fridge, there is one big battery for storage, i would like to add a solar panel to the roof for extra power to the battery as i will not always staying in caravan parks to charge. I do have a generator ( quite type) i will install the panel myself looks straight forward enough, but what wattage panel to use ?
I have spoken to a few people in the park where i am and would like some more advice i am neally ready to take off on my first big trip, solo, any help would be great.
Cruising Granny said
11:16 AM Apr 26, 2011
Can't help with solar, so what am I doing here? I'm here to welcome you to the Grey Nomads forum. I hope you get help with the info you seek. Safe and happy travels.
jack biggles said
12:24 PM Apr 26, 2011
Hi Shane,
There is so much to consider with solar & people who just race out and buy panels and link them up to batteries without doing the research, I bet seldomly are happy with the results of what they achieve.
There is so much to consider but firstly you need to work out exactly what your power requirements are for the periods that you intend to run on solar. After you've done that you need to get sound advice regarding specifics of the solar system you require.
You will also need to know abit more about your storage battery, ie: what type and size of battery you have, as the storage battery plays a very important part in any set up.
Theres alot of information online, I have found some of it to be good. One site I thought that provided sound solar information is on the hobohome site. The people on that site have been living under solar for many years in Australia in their motorhome & he also has qualifications to back up his information.
If you goto hobohome.com you will see he has dedicated a fair bit of information regarding solar. Have a read & go from there. After that you might have a better understanding of what is needed & you can then go and talk to the various shops or whatever & have some idea of what they are going on about.
I am not afiliated with hobohome in anyway.
regards
jack
bill12 said
12:55 PM Apr 26, 2011
Find out what your battery capacity is, and divide it by 2. You normally don,t want to drain your batterys past 50%. See how big the solar panels are, in watts.If your batterys are 120 amp hr , and you have say, 120w panels at 18v, the panels will put out aprox 6 amps in full sunshine, for 7 or 8 hrs per day.So they are putting 42 plus amp hrs into your batterys per day.See how much your fridge and lights draw and try to balance it out.If it doesn,t balance you need more panels.I don,t think you can have too many panels. Also you need a voltage regulator bigger than your total amps output. This is just an example, but I hope it helps you.
-- Edited by bill12 on Tuesday 26th of April 2011 12:56:18 PM
Shane said
05:58 PM Apr 26, 2011
Thankyou, Great people Great site, Cheers
Shane said
06:05 PM Apr 26, 2011
Thanks , Everone is so helpful, i need to do a little more maths.
Cheers
jimricho said
07:57 PM Apr 26, 2011
Welcome to the forum Shane,
I just had a look at the site recommended by Jack Biggles http://hobohome.com/ (click on the underlined link it'll take you there)
There appears to be some excellent and comprehensive information there and answers many questions that are often asked on this forum.
It's a handy one to bookmark (or add to favourites)
Jim
jack biggles said
05:36 PM Apr 27, 2011
jimricho wrote:
Welcome to the forum Shane,
I just had a look at the site recommended by Jack Biggles http://hobohome.com/ (click on the underlined link it'll take you there)
There appears to be some excellent and comprehensive information there and answers many questions that are often asked on this forum.
It's a handy one to bookmark (or add to favourites)
Jim
Jim,
If you go onto other forums and this topic of solar comes up, you end up in the middle of wwIII with various know it alls bickering over this and that.
I have my own opinions about solar and how it should be done but I rarely share too much info & stick to answering specific questions. I don't like getting into debates over how long a peice of string may be.
Some time back I actually contacted hobohome & asked Gavin there a question and he was very kind to respond in great detail. I have found that he has both the qualifications AND EXPERIENCE of living with solar for many years. So he's got the trade and the runs on the board. He goes into great detail about wiring and connections. VOLTAGE DROP is a great killer of solar, as is mismatching stuff.
I have found it best to do all the research you can, arm yourself with as much information then go and see 2 or 3 different professionals, after which AND ONLY AFTER WHICH you can make the best decision to suit YOU!
Anyway, its lovely chatting with adults about the topic and I am sure theres more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to solar.
regards
jack
jimricho said
07:24 PM Apr 27, 2011
Some lively debate goes on here at times too but not quite WW III stuff fortunately. (This is the only forum I participate in).
I don't have "hands on" experience with solar so my contribution on "matters solar" is limited to generalities (maybe that's a good thing!).
As you point out, voltage drop is a major issue when it comes to solar or any form of battery charging involving aux/house batteries, a fact often not fully appreciated even by some (so called) "professional" auto electricians.
patrolst said
08:56 AM Apr 28, 2011
Hi Shane
A book that is worth getting is Collyn Rivers "Solar that really works".
New to the forum and just gearing up to leave cold Ballarat after I have sold the house. I found your information on Solar just what I needed. I lived with Solar some years ago in a home situation, and however had forgotten a lot of the details of that set up.......you have just tweeted my memory THANKS. I am in the process of deciding what van I am going to buy, but looks like a 14 - 16 ft.pop top and a Ford (2007 sedan or later)at the moment. Have chosen Ford as parts are readily available Aus. wide. (hoping not to need them though)and been told that they are a good towing vehicle.
Will be checking in from time to time so all information anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.
P.S Traveling with 4 legged companion and two others in convoy.
jack biggles said
12:20 PM Apr 28, 2011
Hi Gypsy Chris,
Please take the time to read the information on hobohome.com & also that link above to Collyn Rivers site. Collyn is another man with considerable experience in the field.
I think solar is one area where people can do really well for themselves or really badly. Each system needs to be designed for the individual user, theres no point spending $20,000 on panels and batteries & chargers etc when a system 25% of the size will do the job.
I have always personally added a percentage of overkill to my system regarding size of panels etc, which is great to have when you are in the southern parts of the country (where there arnt as many SUN HOURS) OR for poor weather (rain etc).
Bill raised a point about batteries being able to be drained down to 50% of their capacity, however I don't like to go that low because most batteries have far many more cycles if you only drain down to about 70% of the capacity. I prefer AGM (Absorbed glass matt batteries) as there are some really good models available now, they accept both a fast charge or slow one, they go okay in the heat of our northern climates but I will never place one near a hot engine or turbo again. (HEAT is one of the biggest killers of batteries). AGM are reasonably priced & if used correctly you can get many years of use out of them.
I also feel that people should monitor their battery levels closely & try to understand what is going on with them, there are devices that do that for you. Most batteries will also benifit from a good solid charging from 240 volt or even generator sorce, about 1 time per fortnight/month, as this assists with preventing sulfaltion, which is another great killer of batteries. It pays to have a good quality multi-stage battery charger.
Most importantly, as both hobo & Collyn will indicate, wiring of the correct size is so very very important. Many people fail in this area with inadequate wiring/connections & voltage drop causes many problems.
Anyway, thats more than enough from me, I can't back up what Im saying with any paper qualifications only some experience in use & the rest is information I have gleened from 'others' who are apparently qualified to state so.
I am in the process of building a new van & have put considerable effort into the solar side of things & am looking forward to using the system in a couple of months time. I guess after that I will know if I got it right this time, or at least what NEW MISTAKES I have made
Gypsy Chris said
05:48 PM Apr 28, 2011
Thanks Jack for the reply. I actually have met Collin some years ago when we had our home system. Well here goes...lets hope I can get it right, or the person that I employ to do the job gets it right.
jack biggles said
06:16 PM Apr 28, 2011
Chris,
If I were you, I'd take a pen & pad & ask them what they can do for you. Tell them to be specific in their reply & write down everything they say. Ask them what they are going to use. Make some questions before you go, so you dont forget.
Ask,
1. What panels (Brand, type, size)
2. What batteries, Brand, type, capacity.
3. What solar regulators?
4. What charging device?
5. What monitoring device? Its much easier for a device to measure what goes into and out of the battery than you trying to guess whats going on. Some systems have the ability to monitor it all & provide you with various details including history etc.
6. Where are the panels going to be located & information regarding longest length of cable & size thats going to be used etc.
7. Theres other things you can do such as running a 'hotwire' from your vehicles charing system down to the rear car & put a Anderson plug on the rear of your car, then another lead on the van with Anderson plug, that way you can get a charge from your car as you drive etc.
* After the so called expert answers your questions take the information away and do some research of your own, work out what voltage drops you are going to get with that system and so forth. & thats all before you part with the precious $$$$$$.
Of course you will need to tell him what your power requirements are, ie: What fridge, size and type, what lights, pc's usage, telly etc.
Make sure you build a system with a bit of redundancy, for example, if you think you need 100 amp hours per day, build a system thats 40% bigger than that. That way, during overcast weather, or pehaps when you are in the southern parts of Oz where the REAL SUN HOURS are significantly reduced from the northern parts, your system still has some chance of coping.
People often confuse what sun hours are. They think that when the sun goes up and down then thats the hours of charge, but thats not so. I think in the very northern and north western parts of Australia the MAX amount of Sun hours acheivable is actually 8 or 9. For the majority of Australia the Max Sun hours is around 5 hours, perhaps 6. In the southern parts of Tassie its actually as low as 2 or 3 hours & we are talking about clear days, not rainy ones.
Theres a chart, I will try to put a link for you shortly, but in short, if you had say 3 x 135 watt panels, which can produce roughly 7.6amps each per sun hour then perhaps in parts of NSW you might be able to produce roughly 120-140 amp hours per day, but in the lower part of tassie you might only be able to produce 70 amp hours. If you need 100 amp hours a day, then your system isnt going to cut the mustard in Tassie, yet you will get by in other places.
* PLEASE NOTE, my figures wernt actually calculated properly but only to give you an idea. Many people think sun hours are when the suns up, but thats not the case - chart to follow.
regards
jack
jimricho said
06:17 PM Apr 28, 2011
Jack, you make some very good points about depth of discharge affecting the life of batteries as measured in charge/discharge cycles. This often shows up in manufacturers data sheets too. I have a "Bainthech" low voltage cut-out fitted to my aux battery in the Pajero to protect against over-discharging, also a 7 amp Ctek charger to "top-up" from time to time that also serves as the power supply for my "Bushman" fridge.
I'm using an Optima Red-Top for my aux, I don't have the physical space for anything larger. It's 9 years old still going strong. Been a starting battery, marine battery, caravan battery and now the car's aux all in it's lifetime. I measured the charging current from the alternator the other day and it was 48 amps into the battery discharged to 11.6 volts. Optima intend their Red Top as a starting battery rather than deep cycling.
I have a mate who has 2 200ah 6v "wet" batteries (in series) in his van that are over 10 years old and still going fine. He only uses a solar panel to recharge them.
-- Edited by jimricho on Thursday 28th of April 2011 06:21:45 PM
jack biggles said
06:18 PM Apr 28, 2011
actually, that was the wrong chart I linked to, cant seem to find the other one.....
-- Edited by jack biggles on Thursday 28th of April 2011 06:29:18 PM
jack biggles said
06:27 PM Apr 28, 2011
jimricho wrote:
Jack, you make some very good points about depth of discharge affecting the life of batteries as measured in charge/discharge cycles. This often shows up in manufacturers data sheets too. I have a "Bainthech" low voltage cut-out fitted to my aux battery in the Pajero to protect against over-discharging, also a 7 amp Ctek charger to "top-up" from time to time that also serves as the power supply for my "Bushman" fridge.
I'm using an Optima Red-Top for my aux. It's 9 years old still going strong. Been a starting battery, marine battery, caravan battery and now the car's aux all in it's lifetime. I measured the charging current from the alternator the other day and it was 48 amps into the battery discharged to 11.6 volts. Optima intend their Red Top as a starting battery rather than deep cycling.
I have a mate who has 2 200ah 6v "wet" batteries (in series) in his van that are over 10 years old and still going fine. He only uses a solar panel to recharge them.
Some very interesting points there jimricho. I think as you have shown there is more than one way to do it. Some guys get very emotional over the issue, but like you have shown, different ways and different methods work for different set ups.
Im no expert on the matter, I actually want the fool proof method that I can't stuff up & one that works for me.
Originally one of my previous systems was a preverbial pain in the A & let me tell you when its not working the way you want it to it can be a real headache.
jack biggles said
06:36 PM Apr 28, 2011
heres one, but it wasnt the original one i was thinking of. But you can go down the page & look up roughly where you are in Australia, then look at the corrosponding month to see what the Sun hours are for that location at that time (on a clear day).
http://aussiervproducts.com.au/webcontent4.htm
Smokeydk said
06:47 PM Apr 28, 2011
Ok.....this is my set up....
100 ah deep cycle battery
1x 80 watt solar panel
3 way fridge running on gas
all I use mine for is water pump from tank and lights....and waeco 40 lt fridge
when on SP shows 13.8 volts .12.6 is fully charged so I'm told
my solar panel is free standing......so you can move it and follow the sun... put it on the roof and unless you park in full sun....shade will kill incoming power
jack biggles said
07:27 PM Apr 28, 2011
Hi smokeydk,
How long have you been using your system & what type of deep cycle battery do you have, ie: wet/agm/gel?
You seem to have very light power requirements as basic lights and water pump don't use much.
Do you use the waeco 40lt all the time or just some times?
The beauty of the 3way main fridge is it isnt relying on solar, its a different kettle of fish for those with compressor fridges.
Smokeydk said
07:44 PM Apr 28, 2011
Hi Jack........battery is a sealed AGM ...our caravan will be 12 months old in June Yes we have low power requirements....I guess its from years of campertrailing...where you spend all your time with nature not TVs etc.......we are not on road full time so our needs are not as those who are
the Waeco 40 lt is in the back of the Pajero...with a lead running to the caravan 12volt outlet..
over Easter 6 days we only ran solar panel for 2 days.....as it was wet .....but we had plenty of power battery never went below 12.4 volts
Compressor fridges are a different story......you prob need 2 or 3 x120 amp DC batterys and 2 x 120 watt Solar panels
Yes, smokey, I already have that spreadsheet, its a real good one.
I can see why your system works & yes there are very different system requirements for people on the casual weekender approach to the full time living ones.
I previously had a portable panel, AGM battery system set-up, not unlike yours, ACTUALLY, since I still have a the portable panel I decided to incorporate that into my new system, its like a freeby price wise to my new set up & like you I will keep that panel as a portable one. I then have further panels fitted to the roof of the new van......that way, either in poor conditions or where Im chasing extra power I can crack out the portable panel & chase the rays. I've long forgotten about the purchase cost of it.
I'm stepping into the unknown because after the van arrives I will be full timing for the first time & although I don't watch the telly much I can be power hungry in other ways. I also dislike caravan parks and only use them when I have to, so I had to think of everything.
My old system with the AGM battery worked really well & once again I have gone AGM batteries.
Shane said
06:26 AM Apr 29, 2011
Thanks everyone you have all been very imformative and helpful I purchased an 80 ltr fridge from ebay got it cheap and works well on 240, this is before i thought about the whole 12 volt solar set up thing, if only i had purchased the 55 ltr wasnt that much smaller but uses less than half the 12 volt power, guess what im trying to say is now i look at every little thing i do. Cheers Shane
Just wondering if anyone could help me with some solar advice.
I have purchased a van with a 12 volt set up already installed, i have a couple of lights a car stereo and a 80 ltr fridge to run, all the rest is gas and a 3 way fridge, there is one big battery for storage, i would like to add a solar panel to the roof for extra power to the battery as i will not always staying in caravan parks to charge. I do have a generator ( quite type) i will install the panel myself looks straight forward enough, but what wattage panel to use ?
I have spoken to a few people in the park where i am and would like some more advice i am neally ready to take off on my first big trip, solo, any help would be great.
I'm here to welcome you to the Grey Nomads forum.
I hope you get help with the info you seek. Safe and happy travels.
Hi Shane,
There is so much to consider with solar & people who just race out and buy panels and link them up to batteries without doing the research, I bet seldomly are happy with the results of what they achieve.
There is so much to consider but firstly you need to work out exactly what your power requirements are for the periods that you intend to run on solar. After you've done that you need to get sound advice regarding specifics of the solar system you require.
You will also need to know abit more about your storage battery, ie: what type and size of battery you have, as the storage battery plays a very important part in any set up.
Theres alot of information online, I have found some of it to be good. One site I thought that provided sound solar information is on the hobohome site. The people on that site have been living under solar for many years in Australia in their motorhome & he also has qualifications to back up his information.
If you goto hobohome.com you will see he has dedicated a fair bit of information regarding solar. Have a read & go from there. After that you might have a better understanding of what is needed & you can then go and talk to the various shops or whatever & have some idea of what they are going on about.
I am not afiliated with hobohome in anyway.
regards
jack
Find out what your battery capacity is, and divide it by 2. You normally don,t want to drain your batterys past 50%. See how big the solar panels are, in watts.If your batterys are 120 amp hr , and you have say, 120w panels at 18v, the panels will put out aprox 6 amps in full sunshine, for 7 or 8 hrs per day.So they are putting 42 plus amp hrs into your batterys per day.See how much your fridge and lights draw and try to balance it out.If it doesn,t balance you need more panels.I don,t think you can have too many panels. Also you need a voltage regulator bigger than your total amps output. This is just an example, but I hope it helps you.
-- Edited by bill12 on Tuesday 26th of April 2011 12:56:18 PM
Thankyou, Great people Great site, Cheers
Thanks , Everone is so helpful, i need to do a little more maths.
Cheers
Welcome to the forum Shane,
I just had a look at the site recommended by Jack Biggles http://hobohome.com/ (click on the underlined link it'll take you there)
There appears to be some excellent and comprehensive information there and answers many questions that are often asked on this forum.
It's a handy one to bookmark (or add to favourites)
Jim
Jim,
If you go onto other forums and this topic of solar comes up, you end up in the middle of wwIII with various know it alls bickering over this and that.
I have my own opinions about solar and how it should be done but I rarely share too much info & stick to answering specific questions. I don't like getting into debates over how long a peice of string may be.
Some time back I actually contacted hobohome & asked Gavin there a question and he was very kind to respond in great detail. I have found that he has both the qualifications AND EXPERIENCE of living with solar for many years. So he's got the trade and the runs on the board. He goes into great detail about wiring and connections. VOLTAGE DROP is a great killer of solar, as is mismatching stuff.
I have found it best to do all the research you can, arm yourself with as much information then go and see 2 or 3 different professionals, after which AND ONLY AFTER WHICH you can make the best decision to suit YOU!
Anyway, its lovely chatting with adults about the topic and I am sure theres more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to solar.
regards
jack
I don't have "hands on" experience with solar so my contribution on "matters solar" is limited to generalities (maybe that's a good thing!).
As you point out, voltage drop is a major issue when it comes to solar or any form of battery charging involving aux/house batteries, a fact often not fully appreciated even by some (so called) "professional" auto electricians.
Hi Shane
A book that is worth getting is Collyn Rivers "Solar that really works".
Here is a link to his site.
http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/books/index.htm
Regards Jim
Hi Jack and Bill
New to the forum and just gearing up to leave cold Ballarat after I have sold the house. I found your information on Solar just what I needed. I lived with Solar some years ago in a home situation, and however had forgotten a lot of the details of that set up.......you have just tweeted my memory THANKS. I am in the process of deciding what van I am going to buy, but looks like a 14 - 16 ft.pop top and a Ford (2007 sedan or later)at the moment. Have chosen Ford as parts are readily available Aus. wide. (hoping not to need them though)and been told that they are a good towing vehicle.
Will be checking in from time to time so all information anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.
P.S Traveling with 4 legged companion and two others in convoy.
Hi Gypsy Chris,
Please take the time to read the information on hobohome.com & also that link above to Collyn Rivers site. Collyn is another man with considerable experience in the field.
I think solar is one area where people can do really well for themselves or really badly. Each system needs to be designed for the individual user, theres no point spending $20,000 on panels and batteries & chargers etc when a system 25% of the size will do the job.
I have always personally added a percentage of overkill to my system regarding size of panels etc, which is great to have when you are in the southern parts of the country (where there arnt as many SUN HOURS) OR for poor weather (rain etc).
Bill raised a point about batteries being able to be drained down to 50% of their capacity, however I don't like to go that low because most batteries have far many more cycles if you only drain down to about 70% of the capacity. I prefer AGM (Absorbed glass matt batteries) as there are some really good models available now, they accept both a fast charge or slow one, they go okay in the heat of our northern climates but I will never place one near a hot engine or turbo again. (HEAT is one of the biggest killers of batteries). AGM are reasonably priced & if used correctly you can get many years of use out of them.
I also feel that people should monitor their battery levels closely & try to understand what is going on with them, there are devices that do that for you. Most batteries will also benifit from a good solid charging from 240 volt or even generator sorce, about 1 time per fortnight/month, as this assists with preventing sulfaltion, which is another great killer of batteries. It pays to have a good quality multi-stage battery charger.
Most importantly, as both hobo & Collyn will indicate, wiring of the correct size is so very very important. Many people fail in this area with inadequate wiring/connections & voltage drop causes many problems.
Anyway, thats more than enough from me, I can't back up what Im saying with any paper qualifications only some experience in use & the rest is information I have gleened from 'others' who are apparently qualified to state so.
I am in the process of building a new van & have put considerable effort into the solar side of things & am looking forward to using the system in a couple of months time. I guess after that I will know if I got it right this time, or at least what NEW MISTAKES I have made
Chris,
If I were you, I'd take a pen & pad & ask them what they can do for you. Tell them to be specific in their reply & write down everything they say. Ask them what they are going to use. Make some questions before you go, so you dont forget.
Ask,
1. What panels (Brand, type, size)
2. What batteries, Brand, type, capacity.
3. What solar regulators?
4. What charging device?
5. What monitoring device? Its much easier for a device to measure what goes into and out of the battery than you trying to guess whats going on. Some systems have the ability to monitor it all & provide you with various details including history etc.
6. Where are the panels going to be located & information regarding longest length of cable & size thats going to be used etc.
7. Theres other things you can do such as running a 'hotwire' from your vehicles charing system down to the rear car & put a Anderson plug on the rear of your car, then another lead on the van with Anderson plug, that way you can get a charge from your car as you drive etc.
* After the so called expert answers your questions take the information away and do some research of your own, work out what voltage drops you are going to get with that system and so forth. & thats all before you part with the precious $$$$$$.
Of course you will need to tell him what your power requirements are, ie: What fridge, size and type, what lights, pc's usage, telly etc.
Make sure you build a system with a bit of redundancy, for example, if you think you need 100 amp hours per day, build a system thats 40% bigger than that. That way, during overcast weather, or pehaps when you are in the southern parts of Oz where the REAL SUN HOURS are significantly reduced from the northern parts, your system still has some chance of coping.
People often confuse what sun hours are. They think that when the sun goes up and down then thats the hours of charge, but thats not so. I think in the very northern and north western parts of Australia the MAX amount of Sun hours acheivable is actually 8 or 9. For the majority of Australia the Max Sun hours is around 5 hours, perhaps 6. In the southern parts of Tassie its actually as low as 2 or 3 hours & we are talking about clear days, not rainy ones.
Theres a chart, I will try to put a link for you shortly, but in short, if you had say 3 x 135 watt panels, which can produce roughly 7.6amps each per sun hour then perhaps in parts of NSW you might be able to produce roughly 120-140 amp hours per day, but in the lower part of tassie you might only be able to produce 70 amp hours. If you need 100 amp hours a day, then your system isnt going to cut the mustard in Tassie, yet you will get by in other places.
* PLEASE NOTE, my figures wernt actually calculated properly but only to give you an idea. Many people think sun hours are when the suns up, but thats not the case - chart to follow.
regards
jack
Jack, you make some very good points about depth of discharge affecting the life of batteries as measured in charge/discharge cycles. This often shows up in manufacturers data sheets too. I have a "Bainthech" low voltage cut-out fitted to my aux battery in the Pajero to protect against over-discharging, also a 7 amp Ctek charger to "top-up" from time to time that also serves as the power supply for my "Bushman" fridge.
I'm using an Optima Red-Top for my aux, I don't have the physical space for anything larger. It's 9 years old still going strong. Been a starting battery, marine battery, caravan battery and now the car's aux all in it's lifetime. I measured the charging current from the alternator the other day and it was 48 amps into the battery discharged to 11.6 volts. Optima intend their Red Top as a starting battery rather than deep cycling.
I have a mate who has 2 200ah 6v "wet" batteries (in series) in his van that are over 10 years old and still going fine. He only uses a solar panel to recharge them.
-- Edited by jimricho on Thursday 28th of April 2011 06:21:45 PM
actually, that was the wrong chart I linked to, cant seem to find the other one.....
-- Edited by jack biggles on Thursday 28th of April 2011 06:29:18 PM
Some very interesting points there jimricho. I think as you have shown there is more than one way to do it. Some guys get very emotional over the issue, but like you have shown, different ways and different methods work for different set ups.
Im no expert on the matter, I actually want the fool proof method that I can't stuff up & one that works for me.
Originally one of my previous systems was a preverbial pain in the A & let me tell you when its not working the way you want it to it can be a real headache.
http://aussiervproducts.com.au/webcontent4.htm
100 ah deep cycle battery
1x 80 watt solar panel
3 way fridge running on gas
all I use mine for is water pump from tank and lights....and waeco 40 lt fridge
when on SP shows 13.8 volts .12.6 is fully charged so I'm told
my solar panel is free standing......so you can move it and follow the sun...
put it on the roof and unless you park in full sun....shade will kill incoming power
Hi smokeydk,
How long have you been using your system & what type of deep cycle battery do you have, ie: wet/agm/gel?
You seem to have very light power requirements as basic lights and water pump don't use much.
Do you use the waeco 40lt all the time or just some times?
The beauty of the 3way main fridge is it isnt relying on solar, its a different kettle of fish for those with compressor fridges.
Hi Jack........battery is a sealed AGM ...our caravan will be 12 months old in June Yes we have low power requirements....I guess its from years of campertrailing...where you spend all your time with nature not TVs etc.......we are not on road full time so our needs are not as those who are
the Waeco 40 lt is in the back of the Pajero...with a lead running to the caravan 12volt outlet..
over Easter 6 days we only ran solar panel for 2 days.....as it was wet .....but we had plenty of power battery never went below 12.4 volts
Compressor fridges are a different story......you prob need 2 or 3 x120 amp DC batterys and 2 x 120 watt Solar panels
check this out
http://www.campertrailers.org/solar_spreadsheet.htm
I can see why your system works & yes there are very different system requirements for people on the casual weekender approach to the full time living ones.
I previously had a portable panel, AGM battery system set-up, not unlike yours, ACTUALLY, since I still have a the portable panel I decided to incorporate that into my new system, its like a freeby price wise to my new set up & like you I will keep that panel as a portable one. I then have further panels fitted to the roof of the new van......that way, either in poor conditions or where Im chasing extra power I can crack out the portable panel & chase the rays. I've long forgotten about the purchase cost of it.
I'm stepping into the unknown because after the van arrives I will be full timing for the first time & although I don't watch the telly much I can be power hungry in other ways. I also dislike caravan parks and only use them when I have to, so I had to think of everything.
My old system with the AGM battery worked really well & once again I have gone AGM batteries.
I purchased an 80 ltr fridge from ebay got it cheap and works well on 240, this is before i thought about the whole 12 volt solar set up thing,
if only i had purchased the 55 ltr wasnt that much smaller but uses less than half the 12 volt power, guess what im trying to say is now i look at every little thing i do.
Cheers
Shane