Solar panel advice please. (3 Viewers)

[Shiny Paul.]

I am considering fitting a solar panel on my van, currently I have 2x 110ah leisure batterys charged via a split charge system.
What make / wattage systems are people using ?
Thanks in advance.
Paul

 

[andy63]

I think panels are much of a muchness now.. I use photonic universe or sun solar I think they are called..
The controller is most probably the item that requires more thought... and a good mppt may be worth getting.
As to the size, I would say whatever you can fit on within reason... ie 100w up to say 300w.. closer to 300 would be excessive in good light but in poorer light and with a good controller you will still get a better output..
And to complete your set up fit a battery master type device that will charge your start battery from your leisure battery ..
Just my thoughts but somewhere for you to start from...
Andy.

 

[Alistair33]

We have 2 x 115 w dealer fitted so Im not sure what make. I recently fitted a 100w panel bought off eBay for £100 including brackets controller etc to our daughters horse trailer and it is reportedly working well

Of course the space you have available on the roof will determine how many you can fit, with our 230w we've been with out EHU for three weeks, moderate sun and moderate journey length and the battery is still full

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[Shiny Paul.]

Thanks for the reply chaps, still not exactly sure of a decent make to go for, but perhaps somebody can give me the heads up on a make recommendation.

 

[138go]

First you need to decide how you are going to fit it. If you fit it on raised frame then you need a panel that has an alloy frame round it. There are also stick on ones that you just stick to the roof. Loads to choose from but steer clear of anything that sounds to good to be true. As for the solar controller you can get one that will feed two batteries. First it tops up the habitation battery and then it tops up the main vehicle battery. 100w solar panel will run with a 10 amp controller. A 150w panel really needs a 20 amp controller. Some say it will work with the smaller one. In this country maybe but we burn't one out in France when the sun came out.

Wiring one in is very straight forward. Connect everything up and don't connect the panel ( + ) to the controller. Check the wiring again and then connect panel ( + ). If you want to disconnect it you REMOVE the panel ( + ) first and then work on the system.

 

[pappajohn]

Wiring one in is very straight forward. Connect everything up and don't connect the panel ( + ) to the controller. Check the wiring again and then connect panel ( + ). If you want to disconnect it you REMOVE the panel ( + ) first and

Personally I would remove the VE- from the panel.
The V+ will still have a potential 21v flowing through it and if it should touch anything earthed it will short the panel.
Remove the earth VE- wire and it's very unlikely that will touch anything live.
Same reason you should always remove a battery earth wire first.
Undoing the live first you could touch the spanner to an earth...a dead short and a lot of heat.

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[Shiny Paul.]

So I really need a 150w plus panel and a 20 amp controller with twin battery outlet, have I got that correct ?

I would go for a frame mounted one as that would mount much better on my Sprinter roof.

 

[andy63]

So I really need a 150w plus panel and a 20 amp controller with twin battery outlet, have I got that correct ?

That would do ,but as I said in my first post an alternative to a dual controller (with its possibly more difficult setting up ) would be to fit a battery master type device to charge the start battery instead of a dual controller..

I would go for a frame mounted one as that would mount much better on my Sprinter roof.

Not sure what you mean..
All rigid panels are fitted in an aluminium frame..
You then either buy the mounting brackets usually heavy plastic mouldings ,,or make them yourself out of suitable alloy angle..
Have a search for threads by Andy. @Techno . And they will tell you all you need to know...
I'll just add that the practical side of fitting would be to keep the panel covered.. until all wiring is in place ,keep the wires cut flush and insulated until you have them fed to the controller and battery before striping the ends to make connections , (a lot of panels now come with short leads so can be connected on the roof after all the wiring is in place... hope you can follow all that..

Andy.

 

[Shiny Paul.]

Thanks Andy, I will check out @Techno posts.

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[PhilandMena]

You do not say what your van is ? Autotrails have a Solar Power (SP) controller fitted as standard. However these are rated at 10 Amps. The maxim is 'you can never have enough SP' and I would recommend you establish how your electrical system is wired in order to accommodate solar panels. After that, stick up as much as possible, I would recommend 300W minimum. (You may want to add an inverter later or run some appliances directly from the SP. Also, buy the best quality you can afford and make sure your cab battery is covered in your set up. If you are competent on the electrical side, you can do this this yourself and save a bundle. UTube videos on the subject are a plenty.

 

[two]

You need enough solar energy to cover you until the next ‘top-up’ opportunity, a ‘top-up’ opportunity being travelling on and charging from the alternator or being able to connect to a mains supply. There’s not much point in having any greater capacity but it’s not easy to know in advance what your typical demand is (or may become) and, to make things worse, sunshine is not dependable.

Fortunately, the price of things has dropped considerably so we can afford bigger systems but, at the same time, people’s need for power has risen.

A 100W or 150W panel should be enough but get a controller (MPPT is better) that can cope with twice that. Then you could add a second panel (both panels should be similar) later if experience suggests that the first is insufficient.

A dual output controller is not essential. If you need to charge the starter battery (say for the sake of an alarm system) you can always add a battery master device later. That route would enable you to charge the engine battery from EHU as well as from solar.

 

[PhilandMena]

I would add a little caveat to the above post. To add more SP after installing the first one is bad planning, laborious and costly. It is far simpler and more economic to fit all your SP in one go. As stated by myself and many other experienced Funsters, you can never have enough SP.

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[two]

I have no SP on my new van and, so far, it looks as if it's unnecessary.

 

[Shiny Paul.]

You do not say what your van is ? Autotrails have a Solar Power (SP) controller fitted as standard. However these are rated at 10 Amps. The maxim is 'you can never have enough SP' and I would recommend you establish how your electrical system is wired in order to accommodate solar panels. After that, stick up as much as possible, I would recommend 300W minimum. (You may want to add an inverter later or run some appliances directly from the SP. Also, buy the best quality you can afford and make sure your cab battery is covered in your set up. If you are competent on the electrical side, you can do this this yourself and save a bundle. UTube videos on the subject are a plenty.

Mine is a Mercedes Sprinter conversion so it doesnt have any SP equipment at present.

 

[Shiny Paul.]

Would this be a suitable setup ??http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201978211830

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[138go]

No not if you want to charge the engine battery as well. You need a solar controller that has TWO battery outputs. The one shown has one battery output and a terminal that can be switched on and off by time clock. There are other ways to accomplish this but not tried them. Advantage of the controller with two outputs is that it is just one unit and easier to wire in. They also keep both batteries topped. If the solar panel is producing more power than is required by the habitation battery then it will divert the excess to the engine battery.

 

[Shiny Paul.]

Not to fussed about charging the engine battery tbh, but I suppose it would be an advantage.

 

[funflair]

I am not convinced the plastic corner brackets will be right for your Sprinter roof so you may be better making alloy ones, I would go for a MPPT controller rather than PWM and I would try to get cable with the MC4 plugs already crimped on, so the simple answer would be NO that not what I would use.

Martin

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[funflair]

Not to fussed about charging the engine battery tbh, but I suppose it would be an advantage.

You don't really need that built into the solar controller as its easily done with a battery master from Votronic or Vanbitz and the stand alone ones may well be easier to wire.

We have a duo controller that will charge the engine battery but I have not bothered using it as it would mean running cable from the garage where the solar controller and hab batteries are right up to the starter battery, instead I have fitted a VanBitz battery master straight across B1 and B2 connections on the control panel and it couldn't be easier and it will look after the engine battery level without having to rely on solar.

Martin

 

[138go]

You don't really need that built into the solar controller as its easily done with a battery master from Votronic or Vanbitz and the stand alone ones may well be easier to wire.

We have a duo controller that will charge the engine battery but I have not bothered using it as it would mean running cable from the garage where the solar controller and hab batteries are right up to the starter battery, instead I have fitted a VanBitz battery master straight across B1 and B2 connections on the control panel and it couldn't be easier and it will look after the engine battery level without having to rely on solar.

Martin

That just adds another £70 to the install cost. Why bother you just take one lead to the van battery from the controller and job is done. Why complicate it with more bits of electronics.

 

[PhilandMena]

Agree with Martin (he soaks up a ton of sun), with the exception of the brackets. Plastic corner brackets will be fine and the MC4 connecting cables are a must. You can also get them to join 2 SP together.
Have a look at these guys. I rate them highly for quality.
https://www.photonicuniverse.com/

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[magicsurfbus]

Solar panels are made of different stuff, with different levels of efficiency, and different costs. Last time I looked it was Monocrystalline panels that were the best.

 

[funflair]

That just adds another £70 to the install cost. Why bother you just take one lead to the van battery from the controller and job is done. Why complicate it with more bits of electronics.

Well the Votronic one is £40 not £70 and;

1 as I said it may well be easier to wire than all the way from a Solar controller
2 It means the OP can buy any solar controller he fancies not just DUO, or indeed add it later if he fancies
3 and finally the battery master will look after the starter battery even if you are not on solar, for example stand alone charger to habitation batteries or EFOY fuel cell (my reason for adding extra electronics)

Martin

 

[138go]

Well the Votronic one is £40 not £70 and;

1 as I said it may well be easier to wire than all the way from a Solar controller
2 It means the OP can buy any solar controller he fancies not just DUO, or indeed add it later if he fancies
3 and finally the battery master will look after the starter battery even if you are not on solar, for example stand alone charger to habitation batteries or EFOY fuel cell (my reason for adding extra electronics)

Martin

Trust me to pick the expensive one from VanBits .. The normal battery charger circuit in a modern MH will look after both batteries. If it's a home build then it's different

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[two]

Rather than eBay, I'd prefer to deal with someone who could offer support and take responsibility if something went wrong (warranty). I wouldn't knock the PMW controller from Viltron - they make good stuff - and single output is not an issue. Indeed, if you go a battery-master route, you could maintain both batteries when on mains or from solar.

 

[Bobby22]

Trust me to pick the expensive one from VanBits .. The normal battery charger circuit in a modern MH will look after both batteries. If it's a home build then it's different

The battery charger circuit won't look after the hab batteries when off grid or in storage, especially with an added alarm drain. The battery master is needed.
Alternatively a CBE CSB2 at £20 from ebay will suffice if you use solar.

 

[funflair]

The battery charger circuit won't look after the hab batteries when off grid or in storage, especially with an added alarm drain. The battery master is needed.
Alternatively a CBE CSB2 at £20 from ebay will suffice if you use solar.

Ah but the CBE CSB2 is a different thing again as in needs 13.6 volts on the leisure batteries before it charges the motor battery (we have one fitted anyway as standard) and it does the buzz when we are out in the sun, my problem was possibly quite specific to me as our van lives in undercover storage when its not on the road and the motor battery will go flat before the leisure batteries, OK we have an EFOY to keep the charge up when its under cover but that is controlled by the leisure battery voltage, SO my solution was the VanBitz battery master which connects the batteries together when there is a difference of 0.7 volts so pulling down the leisure batteries at a similar rate to the starter battery so that the EFOY can then kick in and charge the whole lot back up again (if I leave it under cover for too long).

OK I appreciate that this is a bit specific to our needs, but there again we are all different anyway in the away we use our vans and what systems suite us so I think it is useful for people to realise that all these things work a little bit differently

Martin

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[Bobby22]

I am considering fitting a solar panel on my van, currently I have 2x 110ah leisure batterys charged via a split charge system.
What make / wattage systems are people using ?
Thanks in advance.
Paul

I have 2 x 110ah's with 120w of solar. I have just done a trip where i was camped off grid for 6 days using only solar as charging ( in damp wet cloudy scotland) with no problems. TV, Water pump, extractor fan, radio lighting ipad and phones.

My van has not been on EHU this year and my batteries are fully charged.
The use of an expensive mppt charge controller is only worth while if you use 150w panel or more. A pwm controller is just as good on lower wattages.

If you are going to be off grid and stationary for longer periods, or you wish to use an inverter using loads of power you will need more solar. If not you are carrying dead weight and wasting money.

 

[Rob and Val]

We've got 2 leisure batteries but have been considering getting a solar panel so that we don't have to have EHU. However, recently I've been wondering if we actually need one.

If we do need one, could we manage with a folding solar kit? That way, I think, we won't need to have a roof mounted panel and will just be able to plug in the kit to our existing batteries without any installation worries. Am I right?

I've been looking at this one: -
https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en...ny-other-12V-system---German-solar-cells.html

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[funflair]

We've got 2 leisure batteries but have been considering getting a solar panel so that we don't have to have EHU. However, recently I've been wondering if we actually need one.

If we do need one, could we manage with a folding solar kit? That way, I think, we won't need to have a roof mounted panel and will just be able to plug in the kit to our existing batteries without any installation worries. Am I right?

I've been looking at this one: -
https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en...ny-other-12V-system---German-solar-cells.html

Any advice would be much appreciated.

The simple answer is YES you could just stand this outside facing the sun and plug it in, actually I always layed ours down so that it wasn't generating and then plugged it in, you will get better performance off it than the equivalent panel flat on your roof but you will need to keep tracking the sun, you will also need to store in somewhere and secure it when its outside and it will only work when you put it out rather than all the time with the roof mounted one, so only you know how you plan to use it.

Martin

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