Looking for advice from those who know. The van we are ordering comes with one 120watt solar panel and 2 x 100AH batteries. We are aiming at being on the road indefinitely and free camping as much as possible. All we are powering with this is lighting which is LED 12volt, fridge which is 12 volt compressor type, TV and DVD / sound system which are all 12 volt. I'm guessing the water supply to the shower and toilet would have a 12volt pump. We are looking at getting a generator for topping up batteries if needed or if we run the microwave, A/C or washing machine which are on a 240v system. We would use gas for cooking and heating hot water. (If I can't get the wife to chop wood and light a fire.)
Am I correct in thinking this is enough to keep our electrical needs going indefinitely or until something breaks?
120 W of solar is certainly not enough if you are running a compressor fridge with all those other things. I would suggest installing more like 400 W of panels.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
We have 480W of panels and 30A regulator and had 400aH of batteries for 7 years. At times in summer with temps >36 or so we needed all our power as fridge (Danfoss compressor) ran up to 80% of the time rather than about 33%.
I never run batteries below 50% and they lasted 7 years.
We now have 480aH of batteries so a bit more storage.
Depends how efficient your fridge is - I just added another small fan to the back of our increased airflow by heaps and only draws 180W.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Barry
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Why is it so? Professor Julius Sumner Miller, a profound influence on my life, who explained science to us on TV in the 60's.
Looking for advice from those who know. The van we are ordering comes with one 120watt solar panel and 2 x 100AH batteries. We are aiming at being on the road indefinitely and free camping as much as possible. All we are powering with this is lighting which is LED 12volt, fridge which is 12 volt compressor type, TV and DVD / sound system which are all 12 volt. I'm guessing the water supply to the shower and toilet would have a 12volt pump. We are looking at getting a generator for topping up batteries if needed or if we run the microwave, A/C or washing machine which are on a 240v system. We would use gas for cooking and heating hot water. (If I can't get the wife to chop wood and light a fire.)
Am I correct in thinking this is enough to keep our electrical needs going indefinitely or until something breaks?
Thanks for any advice.
Hi No Fixed Address,
As others have said not enough battery and not even close with the solar. take heed of the recommendations made.
However I was going to add that you have not included charging the van batteries with the tug charging system. That is usually a good way to keep the batteries up if you drive regularly. Can also be an emergency charger if necessary too. If you have a modern vehicle then a DC-DC charger of a good capacity will be needed. Also some good sized wires to make it work well. Search on here and Google for more info. FREE charging while you drive is not to be ignored. Silly if you don't !(Beats chopping wood !)
Silly if you don't !(Beats chopping wood !)
