Being  new to this subject I need advice from you old hands - have just got a small caravan - jayco penguin - and it is set up for panel use but no panel. Have asked many dealers and have been recommended from 80 watt upwards. Being a pensioner the cost is of importance. What size would be the most sensible for normal or average use ? Also don't understand supplied equipment in van. There is what I understand is an inverter and a circular switch with 1 / 1 & 2 / 2 / 0 positions on it so how does this operate ? The outside plug for the panel lead to enter is round yet the Anderson plug has been mentioned by one dealer. I imagine the previous owner has been using the fitted round plug but not sure so assumed I would be doing same. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated to solve my puzzled state of mind.

HI

Normal use depends very much on the user

But even a 80W panel will not do much

Best you START by telling what you would like to use on a daily basis

What size battery you have in the van 

How liong you may wish to camp awy from mains power

JUST FOR STARTERS

PeterQ

Concur with the comments here; what are your needs (what are you going to be running off them - fridges, TV's, laptops etc etc??) How many house batteries do you have? How much 'free camping' are you going to be doing?

Start with a minimum of 150W and go from there at least - this will put approximately 45 - 50 amp hours in an average day into your system. If you are running your fridge all day long on 12v without moving, then this will draw about 60 a/hrs per day so it is SO important to work out your needs first.

Hi,  All that has been said re solar power but carry as much as possible. Recommend at least 160 watt

  For your other queries.

Inverter:  This is to change 12v battery power to 240v. Range in size from beer can upwards. Power 100w to 6000w. Use to run small appliances, charge phones etc

Circular Switch: This is for when 2 batteries are fitted to distribute power.

1: No 1 Battery

2:No 2 Battery

1/2: No1 & No 2 batteries combined

0: No Batteries.  i.e. No Power

Useful to separate batteries for different usages. No 1 use only on odd days, No 2 on even days Sundays alternate. This way can always have backup power. Can be used to separate starting battery from house usage. Also handy to alternate charging if needed.

Round outside plug can be either an inlet or outlet for 240v power.

Inlet is usually on the drivers side & a male 15amp plug. This is to supply all 240v power to van.

Outlet is usually on the passengers side & a female 10amp plug. This is to supply power for small appliances.

Anderson plug (can be more than one) is usually near the tow hitch & is used for 12v power in from tow vehicle or solar.

With your solar it can be either fixed to the top of the van or free standing.

If on top of the roof you will not get maximum charging unless parked in full sun. Not very pleasant.

Free standing need to be moved regularly to face the sun & avoid shade from trees etc. Use security cable to avoid loss.

Hope this helps a little      Bill

HI Brian 

As I read that post it is for an inverter to power 240V gear

THAT would be on the bottom of MY list for both energy efficiency & SAFETY reasons

Much SAFER & energy efficient to use 12V gear where ever possible

 As you say isolating the parallelled house batteries from each other is not a good idea ,

Much better to allow them to share the loads especialy if heavy loads are involved

& for simple mains,solar or alternator charging 

But a LOW VOLTAGE ALARM/ CUTOUT should ALWAYS be fitted to warn when the batteries aregetting low

& an  AUTOMATIC isolator[VSR or ignition controlled relay] between the crank battery & house batteries

PeterQ

It would appear to me that the OP has a fully set up van  EXCEPT FOR SOLAR PANELS & probably a regulator

He needs to workout his daily ENERGY requirements before any further useful answers can be given.

To the OP 

you should draw up a list of ALL gear you wish to use 

Besideseachput an estimate of the daily hours of use 

then besides that list the power use of each[WATTS}That should be shown somewhere on the label

Multi ply the Watts for EACH item by the expected hrs of use to give you Watthrs 

Add all the WATThrs up to obtain your total expected DAILY requirements 

Then how many days you expect away from mains power

Post THAT here & we can calculate the panel AND battery capacity you would need tomeet THOSE expected requirements use that listed 

PeterQ

In our MH, we have a 3 way fridge which always goes onto gas when stopped. We run a 21" flat screen TV, interior lights and of course the water pump when needed. All cooking is done on gas (2 x 4.5kg on board). 

We have 1 x 150W solar panel on the roof, a 25amp Charger under the drivers seat which works only when plugged into mains and 2 x 105 a/h house batteries under the passenger seat. This suits our needs very well and we haven't had a problem with this set up. The batteries almost always show a 'voltage snap shot' of around 13.8 - 14v. Occasionally, we will plug into power after a few days of cloud just to 'top them up'.

Hope that helps....

oakforddavo wrote:

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My thoughts are to run van fridge on gas whilst static and maybe the waeko 35 on battery, if not taking too much power. Perhaps a small tv if reception there, and car stereo and of course lights after dark. Needless to say the odd cups of coffee. I don't think I will be using many other gadgets really.

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If your electrical requirements are fairly minimal I wouldn't scoff at 80W of panel capacity. I run a Waeco CF-35 at 4 deg C. I run it off an 80Ah battery and have found that a 40W portable panel easily keeps up with it, i.e. with capacity to spare. I should add that I usually chase cooler weather, not hotter. A van-top panel would need to be larger than this unless you never camp in the shade. This fridge would use significantly more power (2-3x) if run as a freezer, something I don't do but I would expect to need to dedicate at least 80W of panels to it to do so.

Battery capacity is key too. I met another traveller who was running a CF-18 off an 80W rooftop panel but with a battery of only 18Ah capacity. That battery couldn't cope and the fridge would cut out due to low voltage.

Glass solar panels have come down a lot in price over the past year as lighter semi-flexible ones hit the market. Panel cost isn't anywhere near as distressing as it used to be.

Consider also what the consequences are if you do run short of solar power occasionally and need to go without something for a day or three, or drive to where you can get power. How much money would you be willing to spend on panels and batteries to avoid this?

(If by "car stereo" you mean the stereo in your tug) Unless you've installed the capacity to do so, it's unlikely that your van's solar panel(s) will be able to feed your tug's battery for extended use of accessories such as the stereo. There are options here if you need them. Does your tug have a dual battery from which your accessories run?

oakforddavo wrote:

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By car stereo I mean a normal 12 vlt system as are fitted to cars which I would like to fit to the caravan itself.

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Yes, you could get one from a wrecker pretty cheaply. Just so long as you've got somewhere to mount the speakers (I suppose you could make a DIY ghetto blaster with a few sheets of wood). One with a headphone socket might be handy at times too.

Alternatively you could get a portable stereo that can run on rechargeable batteries and a 12v charger for the batteries, but I reckon changing and charging the batteries would get old pretty quickly.

oakforddavo wrote:

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I dont get on with modern technology

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You're finding your way around an internet forum so you can't be doing too badly!