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Subject Topic: Solar - roof mounted or suitcase Post Reply Post New Topic
Personbobman
via mobile 21/7/2020 at 10:54am
 Location: teesside
 Outfit: kalahari 8 gelert lunar 3 View bobman's Profile View Profile   Reply to bobman Reply   Quote bobman Quote  
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Anyone with experience of both? I would like feedback on whether having it permanently mounted is worth the extra expense and benefits/drawbacks on both systems. Thanks in advance.


PersonOctavia4x4
21/7/2020 at 11:21am
 Location: Harrogate Yorkshire.
 Outfit: Skoda Octavia 4x4 & Compass Omega 482 View Octavia4x4's Profile View Profile   Reply to Octavia4x4 Reply   Quote Octavia4x4 Quote  
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I have just kept it simple using a 150w folding panel. It is wired to the battery and connected to the panel with a Anderson plug inside the outside under bed locker. Solar regulator is on the back of the panel, IP66 waterproof, gives out 8amps in full sun with a boost charge of 14.4v when needed. Will keep my 110amp battery charged up no problem for a 15 night stay, normally by lunchtime. Have a small 150w inverter to charge my 230v shaver and laptop, a 3 socket USB adaptor which plugs into the caravan 12v socket to charge watches, phone, bike lights and GPS. Also for cheap gas I have a Safefill refillable gas cylinder fill it at my local Morrisons garage for around £8.50 for 8.6kg/15lyts of gas.
More info on the link.

https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/applications/caravans-and-motorhomes/




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Skoda Octavia Estate 2.0TDi 4x4 (2012) towing a Compass Omega 482 (2014)


Personspiritburner
21/7/2020 at 11:33am
 Location: NE England
 Outfit: Citroen Dispatch Campervan plus tents View spiritburner's Profile View Profile   Reply to spiritburner Reply   Quote spiritburner Quote  
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Dunno about shavers but most laptops aren't actually 230v - normally somewhere between 12-20v. So for most your using the inverter to convert 12v dc to 230v ac for the laptop lead adapter to convert it to 12-20v dc. You can get convertors for most laptops that will boost the 12v to the laptops voltage. I believe that uses less juice. There are also some adapters on the market with variable output & a set of interchangeable jack plugs for most laptops & appliances.

We have 150w roof mounted panels on our campervan so they are always working.


Personalexand3r
via mobile 12/9/2020 at 7:09pm
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Could you help me with solar system please. New with caravans and no idea about solar system. If the Leisure battery is connected as normal and has its own investor that charges the battery from mains , with solar system plug straight to battery or?


Personbirder99
12/9/2020 at 8:15pm
 Location: Cambs
 Outfit: Tin tent diddy tent BIG tent View birder99's Profile View Profile   Reply to birder99 Reply   Quote birder99 Quote  
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Panel to solar controller to battery. Easy way is to have an Anderson connector running to the controller from the part of the battery locker where the mains cable plugs in. The Anderson connector will enable you to quickly add or remove the panel as required without too much electrical resistance. This is assuming a free standing panel. Roof mounted panels are not ideally positioned for when the sun is lower in the sky as it is in the UK for 6 months of the year. From now until April you would probably be looking at having a panel at about 50-60 degrees from the horizontal to get the most out of it (in the south of the UK). If I'm off grid out of season I generally use two 80W panels but in the summer months one is always more than ample for what I need.

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'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'


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Personalexand3r
via mobile 12/9/2020 at 8:19pm
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So I just add from solar controller straight to battery and ignore any other connections with caravan system. Did I understood right?


PersonPaul_B
13/9/2020 at 8:29am
 Location: Yorkshire
 Outfit: Car & Caravan View Paul_B's Profile View Profile   Reply to Paul_B Reply   Quote Paul_B Quote  
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From controller to battery, using decent wiring there are charts in the internet that can guide you. Having the controller within a meter of the battery is helpful, otherwise think of increasing the panel size.

I have around 100 watts on the roof for general charging, but over winter while the sun is low I have to connect to the mains occasionally, i.e. cloudy skies and houses blocking the available sunlight.

When using the caravan I add a 50w freestanding panel, from experience this 50w gives more power than than the flat roof panels, but gives an abundance of power combined. Both through PWM controllers.

So as most controllers are made for 12 or 24 volts, couple controller to battery (now controller then knows which system its charging), then couple controller to solar panels.


Personalexand3r
via mobile 13/9/2020 at 2:57pm
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What would you recommend Pwm or mppt ? Any links with reasonable price / quality would be welcome.
Should I fix mount them on the top or plug them next to the caravan whenever needed.
Thank you for you help


PersonPaul_B
13/9/2020 at 8:26pm
 Location: Yorkshire
 Outfit: Car & Caravan View Paul_B's Profile View Profile   Reply to Paul_B Reply   Quote Paul_B Quote  
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Wow thats some question, in an ideal world MPPT for roof mounted and freestanding, but PWM is acceptable for a freestanding panel.
I found it cheaper to upgrade the roof panels and buy a good PWM controller at around £40.

However there are good and bad controllers, a good MPPT can set you back quite a bit of money and it works out cheaper to buy a bigger panel to get the same benefits.

Take care as there are a lot of fake controllers available and no one likes admitting they bought one.



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