Solar Power for Dummies! (1 Viewer)

[Jackie.Kearley]

Hello

Can anyone help in laymans terms (we are not very technical!)? We are thinking of going solar and probably need something that will charge our leisure batteries as well as running few low wattage appliances i.e. Slow cooker low wattage halogen etc. Is this realistic and what size of panel and type of inverter would be needed? Does anyone know of a company in France or Spain that could fit it?

Thanks

 

[funflair]

Hi Jackie

Slow cooker OK on a sunny day but not sure about halogen hob, whatever watts the 240v equipment says divide this by 12 and that tells you the amps it will take from your batteries, for example 1200watts would take 100amps from your batteries OK for a couple of minutes but not too long.

Your solar has to go into the batteries and then run your appliances via a inverter, so the batteries just store the power.

How big is your battery bank?

Martin

 

[hilldweller]

Slow cooker low wattage halogen etc.
Thanks

If you want heat use gas and save a load of heartache.

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[funflair]

If you want heat use gas and save a load of heartache.

I basically agree but that wasn't the question

Martin

 

[andy63]

Hello

Can anyone help in laymans terms (we are not very technical!)? We are thinking of going solar and probably need something that will charge our leisure batteries as well as running few low wattage appliances i.e. Slow cooker low wattage halogen etc. Is this realistic and what size of panel and type of inverter would be needed? Does anyone know of a company in France or Spain that could fit it?

Thanks

If you are planning to make a bit of use of an inverter to run stuff like slow cooker etc you would need to look at your battery bank capacity as well as the means of keeping it charged.
Relatively high discharge rates from a small battery capacity will shorten the life expectancy of your batteries.. larger battery bank will cope better with the higher discharge rates..
Couldn't advise on what capacity you would need but you would be wanting to keep the current draw from each battery within its rated discharge rate for prolonged use.
Andy

 

[Reallyretired]

We have a slow cooker for occasional use while travelling, power consumption is quite low once its up to temperature. Some you can remove the inner bit and heat it on gas to start it off. No knowledge of halogen though.

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[hilldweller]

I basically agree but that wasn't the question

Martin

"Is this realistic" they asked.

Naturally charging leisure batteries by solar is realistic. Heating by 12V makes little sense. Yes I know someone has 6 solar panels and 10 batteries but that's more weight than our MH.

 

[funflair]

"Is this realistic" they asked.

Some 240v stuff is and some isn't, I guess the trick is knowing what you can and can't do, if you have a solar installation making 20amps and a decent battery bank you can afford to give it some exercise now and then.

Martin

 

[jongood]

Ive heard of people using slow cookers and remoskas on travelling days(running them in the shower tray) or sunny days but probably not a good idea until you've got used to how it all works.

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[funflair]

Ive heard of people using slow cookers and remoskas on travelling days(running them in the shower tray) or sunny days but probably not a good idea until you've got used to how it all works.

Certainly the slow cooker Jon, we have used ours on solar, the Remoska only needs about an hour so hardly worth a drive it also only takes about 40 amps at 12v so a chunk of that could come straight from solar and the rest from batteries so possibly 30ah draw and a couple of hours to put it back.

Martin

 

[JJ]

I don't understand.

Never will.

A motorhome is not a house.

When in a motorhome I adapt my life to fit its capabilities.

Slow cookers? Electric kettles? 50" flat screens?

Why?

Solar panels on a motorhome charge the batteries. Thinking they will do anything else is not advised.

(Not counting Techno of course. He is special.)

JJ

 

[Jackie.Kearley]

Thanks everyone for your advice. We're not sure it's worth it at the moment. We wild camped for a week at a time on our leisure batteries and lpg. Think we just need a spare toilet cassette for the time being. We don't have a built in cooker but have a gas hob so have cooked up wonders on this in the past so I'm sure we'll cope

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[hilldweller]

I'm sure we'll cope

That's just what it is all about, coping with what is easily available. KISS.