solar panel or 2 kva signwave generator? (1 Viewer)

[tony drury]

Hi
My name is Tony drury, my wife's name is Jeannette. We are new members to Motorhome Fun. We became motorhome people three years ago after travelling to Germany to buy a fairly new motorhome. We were a little dissapointed when we saw the motorhome we thought we were bringing home to spain as the build quality and condition of this motorhome in general was not good . Not to be put off we hired a car and set of to find a motorhome. We stayed in a lovely little hotel north of Hanover, this was in late october, snow was falling. In the morning after breakfast and set off not really nowing where we were going! We found a couple of motorhome dealers. The third dealer we had a chat with the owner who told us 'dont be put off by age'. He gave us a key to look at a Hymer 550S age 1992, 93.000 kilometers 2.9 mercedes diesel engine, having full history from day one, We opened the door and got inside, we both looked at each other and said this is it . I took it for a test drive ... loved it , we gave the man his money he sorted all the paper work out. We stayed one more night in the hotel and drove the hymer 3.100 kilometers home to Spain.
Sorry to have gone on a bit about us .
We intend to do more wild camping . Can anyone help us, which is better Solar Panels or a small 2 kva generator?

Tony and Jeannette :thanks:

 

[barnybg]

SOLAR ?yes,the way forward.

Hi Tony,In an ideal world perhaps BOTH ! a small gennie,easily carried/stored as a (primitive) back-up the only draw back being it does take up space,is potentially a bomb and so is the fuel,its noisy ,has fumes,you cant leave it and will it work in the rain (do you want to go out in the rain !?)and it needs fuel REGULARY which is quite costly.
As for SOLAR PANELS ,they are clean,once purchaced are free,so is the power made,up on the roof out of your way and harms,power all the time,also the newer type work of LIGHT not the sun.
What you need to decide on,is what use you ar using or the power needed,if just weekending etc a 80 would be ample probably with one 100 amp battery,but the beauty of solar panels are you CAN join them together (if you leave room on the roof)so for longer stays away ,especially wildcamping perhaps go for x2 and x 2 batteries wired in sequence.
Make sure you go for the newer model solar panels ,photo voltaic (spelling ?) :thumb:
Look through Ebay for instance at 12v solar panels ?hope this helps and good luck.

 

[hilldweller]

Can anyone help us, which is better Solar Panels or a small 2 kva generator? Tony and Jeannette :thanks:

Neither/Both.

Generator equally good summer/winter/night/day. Solar good when weather reasonable.

So how about panels plus cheap sinewave 1KVA genny.

That's a good yarn, you ramble on as much as you like. Old engineers are pretty much in agreement, older designs are so GOOD. Made to last. The less electronics the longer you can afford to keep them running and repair them in the middle of nowhere.

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[barnybg]

Solar or bomb ??

Brian,are you refering to me (rambling)? as you haven't explained yourself very well,also not everone is an OLD ENGINEER,so wont be able to tinker with their old tech,thingymebob.
I'm sure they will research which is the better or get both ! but i think solar technology has come on a wee tad,also they store up enough power for the night use,who uses their gennie at night ? in the rain ?
Just my point of view,dont diss me,just answer the question ? :thumb:

 

[Terry]

Hi Tony and Jeanette & WELCOME :thumb:why not wait and see which you need ( if any )
I would fit a extra battery first :thumb: then see what your needs are Lots spend money on things they think they need ( just in case ) but do not We have got along without either
It is going to depend on how you use your van. If you park up and do not move for days on end then you may need one or both if you are like me and move around a lot never needed either oh:
terry

 

[jhorsf]

HI Tony a second battery is the first thing to get no good power if you cant store it
:welcomefunster:flyingwelcome

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[jezport]

We have a small 1kva genny for emergencies or if we are on a site for a long time with no sun. Otherwise our 2x110A Solar panels will keep the battery charged most the time.

Also if you fit solar panels consider fitting bigger/more batteries,

 

[hilldweller]

Brian,are you refering to me (rambling)?

Look at the top. I quoted the message I was commenting too.

 

[barnybg]

I appologise Brian,if i have made a mistake....


As to my posting ,the bigger the better with solar and batteries and yes,as stated 2 batteries makes for more storage,but you need power from somewhere to charge both up, if running solely of running of engine and alternator,would take many miles.
Depending on use , again depends on what expenditure and size of solar panel /s
But a 2 kva gennie is a fair BIG piece of kit and heavy,and can be heavy on fuel running also.
Research... this is your start

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[hilldweller]

I appologise Brian,if i have made a mistake....

No problem.

I wish more people would press "Quote Post" rather than "Post Reply" because when 2 or 3 people answer together it's often difficult to tell just what they are replying to.

 

[MR2]

Solar panel

Hi Tony,
We bought an new Autoquest 180 21 months ago and had an extra battery (2 x 85Ah) fitted in advance of buying a 130 watt solar panel plus 1800 invertor managed by a battery master. The kit was bought from Moore Power in Newhaven and installed by them with the panel on the roof.
We use hook up on campsite but apart from one or two occasions have not had to charge up the batteries even we use CLs and aires relying on the invertor to run colour 19"TV plus kettle plus lighting etc. The panel charges both batteries and the vehicle starter battery.

Had no problems - speak to Justin at Moore Power.

Barry

 

[Terry]

Hi Tony,
We bought an new Autoquest 180 21 months ago and had an extra battery (2 x 85Ah) fitted in advance of buying a 130 watt solar panel plus 1800 invertor managed by a battery master. The kit was bought from Moore Power in Newhaven and installed by them with the panel on the roof.
We use hook up on campsite but apart from one or two occasions have not had to charge up the batteries even we use CLs and aires relying on the invertor to run colour 19"TV plus kettle plus lighting etc. The panel charges both batteries and the vehicle starter battery.

Had no problems - speak to Justin at Moore Power.

Barry

No offence meant but this is exactly what my earlier post was on about -- see what you need and not what you want ---- Barry this little lot probably cost more than a grand plus and I have no doubt you like your set up :thumb:Now ask yourself if you could have saved money and done without anything or altered your set up ? You could have gone down the 12v 19 ins tv -gas kettle and no doubt saved not having an inverter which probably cost 200 quid on it's own.
Not telling you how to spend your money :thumb: just pointing out to Tony how he may not need a lot of stuff people say he does Just in case
terry
BTW charging L/ Bs and starter batt gets my vote :thumb:

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[shortcircuit]

Hi Tony,
We bought an new Autoquest 180 21 months ago and had an extra battery (2 x 85Ah) fitted in advance of buying a 130 watt solar panel plus 1800 invertor managed by a battery master. The kit was bought from Moore Power in Newhaven and installed by them with the panel on the roof.
We use hook up on campsite but apart from one or two occasions have not had to charge up the batteries even we use CLs and aires relying on the invertor to run colour 19"TV plus kettle plus lighting etc. The panel charges both batteries and the vehicle starter battery.

Had no problems - speak to Justin at Moore Power.

Barry

Your 1800 watt inverter will have quite a high standby current so it would be better to get a smaller inverter for tele use. What lights do you run off your inverter as this appears very inefficient?

 

[Terry]

Hi SC, don't forget he boils the kettle
terry

 

[shortcircuit]

Hi SC, don't forget he boils the kettle
terry

Also a very inefficient way of heating water!