Who fits solar panels in motorhome ?

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Who fits solar panels in motorhome ?

GaryKelly · Guru

I've used an auto electrician for all my stuff. He's also been camping all over Oz so he's familiar with that side of things too. But he's nowhere near Penrith. A few GNs have recommended auto sparkies because they're familiar with 12V.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Yes plus fitting or working on motorhomes is a bit like quotes for a wedding !
Fridge - freezer is 240 watt plus lights and some battery charge ? So i guess I need at least 350 watts ?
Is there a rule of thumb for this ? Have 5kv generator but don't want to use it just for fridge . It runs of gas, 12v but rather use solar as its almost free, very quiet and safe compared to LPG . Save the gen got air conditioning when
N very hot and gas for cooking ..

briche · Guru

As a rough rule of thumb I always work on an sola panel eff of around 40 to 50 %. That takes in account the panels eff and the avg sunlight that you will get over a week. Of course that a bit of a unknown but it's better to go on the low side to ensure that you have enough capacity.

briche

nomadic1 · Senior Member

My first port of call for just about anything to do with my motorhome when I'm in the Sydney area is Paul Tall (www.paulscaravanrepairs.com.au/). He's at Londonderry. He may not do solar panels but if he recommends someone then you can be sure that they're good. If he does do them then you'll get a superb job at a very reasonable price. Give him a ring and have a chat.

Bryan · Guru

Have a look at the Redarc website, there is a page giving an indication of wattage required. I had mine fitted a caravan repairer who is also a Redarc agent. Unfortunately for you he's in Perth.

It cost a lot more than the prices I've seen quoted here but I don't have the knowledge and confidence to do it myself.

beiffe · Guru

Aus-Kiwi sorry to say this and don't want to put a damper on our idea but if your fridge is a gas / 12v then I am fairly certain your fridge would not be able to run on batteries as it has a heater element to get the fridge cold and is not a compressor fridge that is required to run from batteries and solar whilst camped.
They are Ok whilst driving but will quickly flatten any battery if there is no charge coming in from the alternator or similar large charge source.
Regards
Brian

native pepper · Senior Member

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
Yes plus fitting or working on motorhomes is a bit like quotes for a wedding !
Fridge - freezer is 240 watt plus lights and some battery charge ? So i guess I need at least 350 watts ?
Is there a rule of thumb for this ? Have 5kv generator but don't want to use it just for fridge . It runs of gas, 12v but rather use solar as its almost free, very quiet and safe compared to LPG . Save the gen got air conditioning when
N very hot and gas for cooking ..

You'll have great difficulty running a 3 way fridge on solar, unless you have a very large array and battery storage, much better to get a 12v fridge freezer which are really cheap on line and set your system up to suit it's requirements.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Yes .. Looks like new fridge .. Was aware of that when reading fridge specs.. Ahhh !!
Especially if contemplating travelling upper Queensland , Northern Territory ...