Right! Now what do I do with all this electric? (1 Viewer)

Feb 16, 2013
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i have now put both 100w solar panels on the van roof, we have never run out of battery power in three years without them , but everyone else seemed to think you can't manage without them, so instead of the one I was going to put on to play with I now have two, it's chargeing my battery's like something demented, I have a steady 13.2 volts and can get up to 13.9, when the sun comes out, what do I need now to use it that I havnt got already, microwave maybe but managed quite well without one up to yet, what do you all have that needs all this free electric?
It may sound flippent but it's a half serious question, I have now got loads of potential electric just going to waste, seems a shame to just let it go.
 

ianandkath

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Jun 4, 2015
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charge all the batteries on site

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Nov 24, 2008
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12v water heater. I have the same problem producing to much and it going to waste seems silly. My system dumps excess power into a 600w resister which gets hot so no reason why it can't be transferred to water element. Even if it only warms it so the normal water heating system dosent have to use so much power.
 

Popeye

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I have a Micro-Wave cooker plus an electric kettle and a toaster and my fancy coffee maker. My sky box is one of the common ones that only works on 230Volts and I run my laptop and chargers for my iPad and iPhones. Probably a dreadful waste but I have four panels up on the roof and a four battery bank in the electronics cupboard so sod it.

I'm told that my fridge also switches to electric from gas if a surplus is available.
 
Apr 27, 2008
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If you have an inverter you could let your neighbour plug in his EHU lead when his batteries have gone flat.

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Abacist

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The River Dart Country Park in Devon run a small hydro electric generator from a leat run from the River Dart. Excess power not required by the country park is diverted to the national grid. There has to be a safety system whereby if the national grid won't take the power for some reason it can be used somehow. Evidently they have or used to have a large tank full of electric kettle elements to use any excess power in such circumstances.
 
Jun 17, 2015
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The River Dart Country Park in Devon run a small hydro electric generator from a leat run from the River Dart. Excess power not required by the country park is diverted to the national grid. There has to be a safety system whereby if the national grid won't take the power for some reason it can be used somehow. Evidently they have or used to have a large tank full of electric kettle elements to use any excess power in such circumstances.

I bet the fish in that tank look nervous.
 

pappajohn

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Evidently they have or used to have a large tank full of electric kettle elements to use any excess power in such circumstances.
Why on earth would they want to do that ?

Its not like the electric will just keep building up until it explodes or something.

If nothing is using the power it is dormant energy....there is no electric.....you dont have to do anything with it....it doesnt exist until you draw from it.

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Abacist

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Why on earth would they want to do that ?

Its not like the electric will just keep building up until it explodes or something.

If nothing is using the power it is dormant energy....there is no electric.....you dont have to do anything with it....it doesnt exist until you draw from it.

No idea! Electricity is not my forte bit I remember seeing the tank and the elements but its about 20 years ago now and that's what we were told at the time.
 
OP
OP
chaser
Feb 16, 2013
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Cheers everyone, don't really know why I started this solar job, just kept reading of people on here putting more and more solar on so just had to have a go at it , and oweing to a cockup and a refund got two panels for the price of one , but seriously we have been all over Europe for three years and also around uk and never ever run out of electric but now we have got loads and it seems a waste to let it go.(y)
Others with four or more must use it for something.

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pappajohn

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Others with four or more must use it for something.
Again, you dont HAVE to use it....but if you use it for the sake of using it that too is wasted energy so nothing gained.

Buy a few 12v hair driers and leave them on all day....that really is a waste of energy.

Seriously, the more solar you have the faster your batteries will charge and remain charged....which is the main object.
Anything else is simply doing what you want to avoid...wasting energy.
 
OP
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chaser
Feb 16, 2013
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Again, you dont HAVE to use it....but if you use it for the sake of using it that too is wasted energy so nothing gained.

Buy a few 12v hair driers and leave them on all day....that really is a waste of energy.

Seriously, the more solar you have the faster your batteries will charge and remain charged....which is the main object.
Anything else is simply doing what you want to avoid...wasting energy.
Yes totally agree with you, but from what I have come up with I just can't use 200w so what do people with more , use it for, seriously.
 

SMB

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Once my Thetford fridge packs up (inevitable) I will be looking to have a Waeco (Dometic?) fridge fitted which uses excess solar electric power when available. I find that my batteries are normally charged up on a sunny day by 10-11am though I do have 4 x 110A batteries and never let them drop below 80%.

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pappajohn

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Yes totally agree with you, but from what I have come up with I just can't use 200w so what do people with more , use it for, seriously.
Nothing....solar doesnt run anything, once your batteries are charged anything connected is using battery power and the solar simply tops up what is used by whatever is connected and running.
Again, running something just for the sake of it really is wasteful.
 

Armytwowheels

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I suppose if you move on every few days you are unlikely to find yourself with flat batteries if you are light users of power.

We are quite heavy users and have a habit of staying put for a while if we like a particular area. That's when our two solar panels and two batteries come into their own.

As long as the sun is shining we can go weeks off hook-up and run TV, Coffee machine, laptop, iPad and phone charging. I can run my little twintub washing machine via the inverter, charge my cordless vacuum cleaner, toothbrushes, Colin's hair clippers, use my hairdryer when I can be bothered. Today I have been cooking and using the food blender to prep ingredients. The van hasn't moved for nearly two weeks and the sun has been working it's magic and refilling our battries everyday. When we think about it we also run the fridge from the batteries during the day. Colin is still to fit the auto change thingy though so we have been caught out by leaving the fridge on 12v too long :rolleyes:

So that's what we use our free electricity for.
 

Minxy

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How many leisure batteries have you got?

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Minxy

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With 200w of solar you might want to consider upping your battery bank then, adding another 85amp or replacing them, that way you can at least store, and therefore use, more of the power, rather than it being generated and not used. Just another excuse to spend more money ... :D
 

MattR

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I have a similar query to @chaser - what do people do with their power? We have one 85AmH battery (no solar and no genny) and have yet to run out of power.
 
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We have a Waeco fridge which works brilliantly and saves us a fortune on gas.

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pappajohn

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I have a similar query to @chaser - what do people do with their power? We have one 85AmH battery (no solar and no genny) and have yet to run out of power.
Can be done I guess, but you must have a very frugal electric consumption.
Im guessing you watch very little, if any, TV, use minimal lighting (or have led's) and have a convection gas heater rather than blown air....or move a good distance every day.
 

Minxy

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Can be done I guess, but you must have a very frugal electric consumption.
Im guessing you watch very little, if any, TV, use minimal lighting (or have led's) and have a convection gas heater rather than blown air....or move a good distance every day.
... or use sites with EHU!
 
OP
OP
chaser
Feb 16, 2013
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I have a similar query to @chaser - what do people do with their power? We have one 85AmH battery (no solar and no genny) and have yet to run out of power.
That's exactly the point, we do have two battery's but have the tv on but not a lot, lights, charge phones and tablets, and never run out but thought it was time to play with solar, and now I have to wonder whatever it's used for, apart from maybe medical equipment, I can't see what you can use it on.
 

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