100 - 150 - or 200W.... What size is best ?.... and fitters in =

old-mo

old-mo

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Caravan & motorhome 45 + yrs
The Durham area... please..

And how much would you expect to pay.??

Thanks.
 
Would 2x one size be better then one big one, if one fails you still have the other, and the bigger one would it flex enough or crack. Don’t know just asking.
 
Ivory55 said:
Would 2x one size be better then one big one, if one fails you still have the other, and the bigger one would it flex enough or crack. Don’t know just asking.
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Good question... (y)

And also wondering if the flexi ones are any good..?
 
What are you talking about and did you get the van from Lancs?
 
Bigger the better, particularly for those living in the frozen north with little sun.

I presume we are talking solar?

Richard.
 
There's Oliver's Auto Electric at Ferryhill where l live who install solar panels. Tel 01740 653577. Its about 6 miles south of Durham just off the A167.
 
Depends on what space you have available on the roof, what size leisure battery's you want to charge, what will you be running from them.

Stick with solid panels rather than the semi flex type. And if you can, fit a couple. One at front and back, so you get the most to avoid shadow ect.

Cost no more than a pound a watt.

Or go full expense and fit the Sat Dish, Sun Seeker type.
 
Destination Unknown said:
what size leisure battery's you want to charge, what will you be running from them.
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1 X 110 volt leisure battery and just the engine battery, what ever that is..

Just be running the normal stuff that is fitted... but will have a 12 v TV..

Thanks Brian..:hugs:
 
ramsthom said:
There's Oliver's Auto Electric at Ferryhill where l live who install solar panels. Tel 01740 653577. Its about 6 miles south of Durham just off the A167.
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We had one fitted by them in 2007, I work in Ferryhill, when we bought our first motorhome, they sikaflexed it directly to the roof with no brackets or air gap whatsoever

We had to get someone who knows what they are doing to remove it with cheese wire and they paid the bill, after phone calls and a threatening letter, the professional who removed it said it would have delaminated the roof.
The owner of Oliver's was adamant they had fitted it correctly.
 
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Depends how bad your eyesight is Mo, I find I can get away with 100 watt until the midnight hour, then switch over to the large glass 200 watt, the radiating heat keeps the oh's back warm in the winter, but she has to wear a black out mask to get any sleep these days.
Hope that helps, we are talkin light bulbs int we?:rofl:
All the best.
LES
 
old-mo said:
1 X 110 volt leisure battery and just the engine battery, what ever that is..

Just be running the normal stuff that is fitted... but will have a 12 v TV..

Thanks Brian..:hugs:
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I know you can get fancy charge systems, but we use these.

20200711_202441.jpg


These are trickle chargers which you can set which voltage you want to switch on, We have solar to leisure battery's, when they are charged, smartcom clicks in and charges the engine battery and seperate leisure battery.
Wired them with leds so you know when switch on and charging.

Wire diagram on back of device.

20200711_203026.jpg


As with any device, make sure they are fused.

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Fitting a solar panel properly is hardly rocket science and any physically fit DIYer can do it easily. So why do so many so called professionals get it so very wrong?

Stay well away from the flexible panels Mo, they are utter rubbish and have no life span
 
oops, forgot to say a rule of thumb is 1watt of solar for each amp hour of battery, so 100ah battery 100watt solar panel
 
CazPaul said:
I wouldn't bother
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Why not, Paul...?

Is it because we wont be using anything heavy...?

I know the previous owners never bothered, and they ran a small 12v TV and what was already installed at the factory...

So presume that is why you say don`t bother...

Bit thick on this sort of thing, I is..... :blush:
 
TheBig1 said:
Fitting a solar panel properly is hardly rocket science and any physically fit DIYer can do it easily. So why do so many so called professionals get it so very wrong?

Stay well away from the flexible panels Mo, they are utter rubbish and have no life span
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Your are right, easy to do.

Connect Fused power from battery to Regular so it knows what voltage you are using. Then connect Solar Panel.

When we replaced the roof on Dot4, changed solid panels ( which we still have ) to 6 x 140 semi flex. Working well at the moment. But wish we replaced with solid again.
 
old-mo said:
Why not, Paul...?

Is it because we wont be using anything heavy...?

I know the previous owners never bothered, and they ran a small 12v TV and what was already installed at the factory...

So presume that is why you say don`t bother...

Bit thick on this sort of thing, I is..... :blush:
Click to expand...


Sorry Mo not solar, I wouldn't bother ringing Oliver's after our experience, Caz went mad with me and Peter Hambilton Hymer guy shook his head when he saw it and he then removed it and fitted it correctly.

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I'm no expert but I have done a bit of reading up online and been advised on here.

My thoughts are two small ones are better than one big one. This is because if one panel is in shade you'll still get a charge from the other, if you wire them in parallel. Whereas if half of your big one is in shade you'll upset the whole thing and get next to nothing.

In the end I got two 170w panels and will be wiring them in parallel. Built the roof rack and supporting frame today. Hope to install tomorrow! Exciting times! ⚡

Good luck, Old-Mo!! 🍀
 
WildAx fitted 120w panel & extra hab battery for about £550
So far this has been plenty. LED lights, TV, MiFi and quite a few rechargeables [phone, speakers, tablet and/or Chromebook - not to mention the flagpole lights!]
 
Perceived wisdom is as much solar as you have room for. We get away quite happily with a single 100w panel which feeds 2 x 110ah leisure batteries but it is supported by a Sterling B2B charger, useful as we tend not to stay in one place for more than a few days and when we do it's sunny. We're not heavy electrical power users and in practice the batteries are usually fully recharged before we get up in the morning.

If I had the room I would go for another 100w panel which would then mean we could manage better in less sunnier places. The alternative for me would be a bigger panel.
 

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