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Subject Topic: Solar Panel`s on Caravan
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Personyotanka62
04/3/2016 at 6:18pm
 Location: Milton Keynes
 Outfit: Kia Sorento + Sprite Major 4 View yotanka62's Profile View Profile   Reply to yotanka62 Reply   Quote yotanka62 Quote  
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Thanks Boff, something to think about as we get more experienced at this caravan lark


Personnaturlist123
04/3/2016 at 6:38pm
 Location: Southport
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Google solar panels for caravans and you will find you can bolt or bond on to roof of van panel is fitted in plastic or ally frame.
On a older van you would be better off bonding. Depending on van most panels seem to be fitted on offside near to Heki skylight.
To bond pick location put frame on flat part of roof and draw round frame with pencil in and out of frame and bolt holes.
Wires into van are best through wardrobe roof if poss drill hole of correct size for sealing unit plastic under where solar panel will be.
Rub inside pencil lines with emery cloth to rough up feed wires though seal apply bonding to seal inthole also push into place.
Apply bonding to roughend part of roof,put frame into place make sure bonding comes through bolt holes and fills holes leave to set/bond
Feed extra cable through roof and thighten seal on cable leaving enough slack to put panel in frame tighten pinch bolts to hold panel in place.
Depending on panel regulator or not required you will have to follow wiring diagram suppled to connect to battery.
24hrs after bonding van will be safe to tow without panel blowing off.


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Personboff
04/3/2016 at 9:38pm
 Location: N Wales
 Outfit: Hymer Nova 590GL View boff's Profile View Profile   Reply to boff Reply   Quote boff Quote  
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Truth is it is perfectly possible to survive a weekend without ehu or a solar panel. It is easy to get caught up in the smoke and mirrors that you need this and that.   IMHO you need to start with the battery and build from that.   We rally all year round and store so our van might not see an ehu for months and we find a solar panel brilliant for the way we caravan but everyone is different.


PersonPaul_B
04/3/2016 at 9:42pm
 Location: Yorkshire
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The solar panel needs an air gap so its better to fasten the panel to mounts then glue the mounts to the roof. you'll also require a waterproof gland for the cable.

The mounts come in black or white and in a wide selection of shapes and sizes

You will need a much larger roof mounted panel to get the same output of a freestanding panel.


Personboff
05/3/2016 at 4:26am
 Location: N Wales
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Paul_B is quite correct when he mentions the need for mounts and the fact that a roof mounted panel needs to be bigger than a free standing one.   The roof of a caravan is far from the ideal to place a panel. It is to flat to work efficiently.

In an earlier post a said we had used a 40W free standing panel for year and it kept up with the rate of discharge from March to October. We used to get 2 or 3 weekends away then I would charge the battery during the winter. I subsequently fitted a 135W panel to the roof and I believe it kept the up with the rate of discharge from March to October    The big difference is that it carries on working when the caravan is in storage so the battery is fully charged between use. We normally go away on a rally over new Year for 4 nights with no hookup and never had a flat battery. But the voltmeter is telling me that the sun is only high enough in the sky to make the the SP work between about 10am and 2pm. So not very long and not very strong.

I recently got a new caravan and fitted a 150W panel to the roof. To give you some idea of what it cost. The panel was £130, the controller was over £100 because I wanted a good one with a meter much cheaper ones are available. The mounts were relatively expensive at about £30 I think the cable gland was arround £10 cable £15ish tube of sikaflex £12. So I suppose getting close to £300 all in, but in this case particularly with the regulator I wanted to do it to a standard not a price.


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PersonJohnnie Boy
05/3/2016 at 6:00am
 Location: Cleveland
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like I mentioned before I would love to go down the fit and forget route, but don't want the panel bouncing up and down on the roof and the aluminium skin working any mastic loose.

Was advised by Elddis not to fit one and a couple of installers were also against it.

Mind you there were also quite a few who said it would be no problem.!


PersonJTQU
05/3/2016 at 7:13am
 Location: Hampshire
 Outfit: Hymer Nova S View JTQU's Profile View Profile   Reply to JTQU Reply   Quote JTQU Quote  
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Quote: Originally posted by Johnnie Boy on 05/3/2016

like I mentioned before I would love to go down the fit and forget route, but don't want the panel bouncing up and down on the roof and the aluminium skin working any mastic loose.

Was advised by Elddis not to fit one and a couple of installers were also against it.

Mind you there were also quite a few who said it would be no problem.!




IMO the advice from Elddis was very sound. Bonding to floating skins that have no ability to hold the panel from bouncing up and down is a wholly different proposition to bonding to a fully bonded sandwich construction roof.


PersonPaul_B
05/3/2016 at 8:49am
 Location: Yorkshire
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Quote: Originally posted by Johnnie Boy on 05/3/2016like I mentioned before I would love to go down the fit and forget route, but don't want the panel bouncing up and down on the roof and the aluminium skin working any mastic loose.
Was advised by Elddis not to fit one and a couple of installers were also against it.
Mind you there were also quite a few who said it would be no problem.!



To go freestanding is the most efficient way, I would recommend getting a good brand panel something like a Kyocera panel (wholesalesolar.com have an efficiency chart) the next important and probably the most important bit is the controller, buy a good one.
Morningstar are good and a Morningstar Sunsaver would be ideal, but buy from somewhere reputable as there's plenty of fake controllers and cheap copies available.

The controller should be close the battery, not on the panel and use good quality 12/24v cable to the panel.


It will cost more initially but it will last longer and work out cheaper in the long run, plus you can move it to the next caravan.


PersonJTQU
05/3/2016 at 1:57pm
 Location: Hampshire
 Outfit: Hymer Nova S View JTQU's Profile View Profile   Reply to JTQU Reply   Quote JTQU Quote  
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These two images should show the cassette I made of plywood about 9 years ago and have used on both the last two vans. These vans had nice big open areas between the Al-Ko chassis rails so the cassette could be screwed up via its flange under the floor, and be accessible fro the van's rear. The prop stand of the panel was made to fold away into the panel frame's depth.



Post last edited on 05/03/2016 14:50:30[/IMG]
[/IMG]

Post last edited on 05/03/2016 15:03:45


PersonJohnnie Boy
05/3/2016 at 8:17pm
 Location: Cleveland
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JTQU... Thanks for the construction info, I'll have a look under the van and see what can be done.
At the moment it's stored in the wash room which ain't the best place but it does fit neatly behind the loo.
All I need now is some time for constructing the cassette..



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