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 Topic: 80W Solar Panel - good enough?
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08/3/2018 at 9:38pm
Location: S Wales The Badland
Outfit: Swift Challenger 530
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I hope someone here has some practical experience with this question.
We're in the process of buying a new van* which comes with an 80W solar panel on the roof.
Other fitted items include an alarm & a tracker.
Given our splendid UK weather & distance from the equator, is an 80W panel feeding energy into the battery, likely to come anywhere close to replacing the energy drained out of that battery over the winter months?
Let's assume we start with a fully charged 100AH battery in (say) late November & hope to survive 'til March without damaging the battery.
The van is not kept at home & there's no mains electricity available there.
* Swift Challenger
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SamP
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08/3/2018 at 10:25pm
Location: N Wales
Outfit: Hymer Nova 590GL
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Yes
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08/3/2018 at 10:42pm
Location: Buckinghamshire
Outfit: VW Campers and Tents
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Yes , it should easily keep up with the alarm and tracker I'd say , drain from those won't be much.
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09/3/2018 at 9:12am
Location: Hedon East Yorkshire
Outfit: Rollerteam T-Line T740
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Yes, no problem.
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Paul
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09/3/2018 at 1:55pm
Location: West Yorkshire
Outfit: Bessacarr Cameo 625 2011
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This is one of those persistent tales that solar doesn't work in the winter - it does.
I put a datalogger in to monitor the battery voltage,and there is a very slight drop off in the hours of darkness. Top up is soon restored however. Big plus is not having to remove the battery and charge it every few weeks.
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09/3/2018 at 2:44pm
Location: N Wales
Outfit: Hymer Nova 590GL
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Yes: You don’t get that much output from a roof mounted panel in winter. I know when I checked ours over a New year. The voltage didn’t start to lift until after nine and by about 2:30pm the sun had dropped so low that it was striking the panel. But an alarm, and tracker requires very little and even under those conditions it should still keep the battery topped up.
In winter if we go for a weekend non ehu, the panel won’t keep the battery fully charged, but the battery won’t be completely flat. By the next week if we go out on consecutive the battery is fully charged.
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09/3/2018 at 8:01pm
Location: Midlands
Outfit: Mondeo Avondale Gram
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As long as you have a good battery that doesn't have a high self discharge rate.
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10/3/2018 at 1:51am
Location: S Wales The Badland
Outfit: Swift Challenger 530
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Quote: Originally posted by chrisn7 on 09/3/2018
This is one of those persistent tales that solar doesn't work in the winter - it does.
No it isn't. I spelt out the basis for my question.
The solar panel is putting energy into the battery, whilst the alarm & tracker are taking energy out.
My question related to the balance of those two processes over a UK winter.
Thanks to all for your help with this.
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SamP
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10/3/2018 at 9:27am
Location: Yorkshire
Outfit: Car & Caravan
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Sam it should do,
provided the caravan is in a position where it can get sun, mine isn't as its in the shade from nearby houses and the winter clouds exclude a lot of light so I have to charge the battery every now and then.
Its ok now as the sun is higher in the sky and over the houses.
A solar panels voltage will remain pretty much constant no matter what season or weather, but the charging power (watts/amps) will be much lower when out of full sun.
I would check the battery every now and then for peace of mind.
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10/3/2018 at 10:04am
Location: By the seaside!
Outfit: Bailey unicorn. Ford Edge
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I had an 80 watt fitted panel last year to run the tracker and alarm as our van is kept in storage. It does the job fine.I have an app on my phone that checks the battery level. My van is out in the open,not shaded by trees or anything.Hope this helps.
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Debbie.
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10/3/2018 at 10:16am
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This is purely an acadaemic question as I don't have a solar panel, store in my garage connected to mains electricity and use ehu when touring.
If you have a fixed panel on the roof of the caravan; to what extent would the efficiency of the panel reduce if there was a winter cover on the van?
Obviously some UV and IR would get through but probably far too little
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10/3/2018 at 12:12pm
Location: Llanidloes Powys
Outfit: Skoda Yeti SEL4x4 +Bailey Ranger 460-4
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If the panel is covered it won't work. It requires SUNLIGHT.
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10/3/2018 at 1:30pm
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Sunlight comprises more than just the visible spectrum of light and photovoltaic cells also process UV and IR rays.
So obviously when covered, what we see, the visible spectrum, will not work. But will what we are not seeing , invisible spectrum, be of any use?
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10/3/2018 at 1:37pm
Location: Buckinghamshire
Outfit: VW Campers and Tents
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No
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10/3/2018 at 1:38pm
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Thanks
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10/3/2018 at 4:55pm
Location: Liverpool
Outfit: Swift Challenger 560
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We haven't had any problems with our 80w solar panel keeping the battery topped up over the last few weeks. I check the levels on an App a couple of times a week and they never seem to go down so we are very happy.
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Pixie
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