Power of my solar panel

[Vipar]

I have 1 solar panel on the roof of my van. It has 32 squares on it. I was told by the dealer that it is a 100watt panel how can I check this?

 

[Richard n Ann]

If it's 100w you'll get about 5 or 6 amps charging current on a sunny day.

 

[autorouter]

The number of cells indicates the voltage, but the wattage depends mostly on the area. Measure it and compare with the dimensions in a few adverts.

 

[Snoopy]

If it's 100w you'll get about 5 or 6 amps charging current on a sunny day.

Hi, could I ask your advise pls( new to this solar power lark) we have 100s solar panel, it was mentioned we would need an inverted if we wanted to use our sockets off grid..we don't use a tv..so wil! Only be for phone charging, kettle of microwave, any idea what size inverter we would need? Appreciate any help

 

[WillH]

Much better to use gas kettle and charge phones, tablets etc. from the battery through a USB socket.

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[pappajohn]

Hi, could I ask your advise pls( new to this solar power lark) we have 100s solar panel, it was mentioned we would need an inverted if we wanted to use our sockets off grid..we don't use a tv..so wil! Only be for phone charging, kettle of microwave, any idea what size inverter we would need? Appreciate any help

Kettle and microwave wattage would decide what inverter.
Check the power labels on both for wattage and add 50% at least.
Not worth inverting 12v to 230v just to drop it to 5v via a phone charger. Use 12v cig lighter adaptor or USB sockets

 

[Snoopy]

Kettle and microwave wattage would decide what inverter.
Check the power labels on both for wattage and add 50% at least.
Not worth inverting 12v to 230v just to drop it to 5v via a phone charger. Use 12v cig lighter adaptor or USB sockets

hi pappajohn, Thank you for your reply, our cigarette 12v lighter does not have a permanent live to them, they are only live once the ignition is on...so hubby is telling me?

 

[Snoopy]

Much better to use gas kettle and charge phones, tablets etc. from the battery through a USB socket.

Thank you WillH, yes seem we will be using the gas with our whistling kettle

 

[autorouter]

12V cigarette-lighter-style sockets powered from the leisure battery are often the first extra to be fitted. A cigarette-lighter socket will happily supply up to 10 amps or so, and at 12 volts that means it can supply 12 x 10 = 120 watts. Any electrical gadget with power of 120W or less can be powered from one of these sockets. If the gadget doesn't take 12 volts, you can get an adaptor to change the voltage. USB adaptors (5V) are easy to find, and laptop adaptors (19V) are also quite common.

If you really can't find an adaptor, then a low-power inverter (150W) can be run from a cigarette-lighter socket. But a more powerful inverter needs wiring direct to the battery.

 

[PeteH]

I have 1 solar panel on the roof of my van. It has 32 squares on it. I was told by the dealer that it is a 100watt panel how can I check this?

An average solar panel sized at 6.5/6sqft will produce a nominal 100W. Actual output dependant on shading, angle to the sun, cleanliness ect;. So about 15 or 16W/sqft.

Also dependant on the Type of panels?. There are three major types of solar panels: monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and thin-film.

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[gwyntaxi]

Hi, could I ask your advise pls( new to this solar power lark) we have 100s solar panel, it was mentioned we would need an inverted if we wanted to use our sockets off grid..we don't use a tv..so wil! Only be for phone charging, kettle of microwave, any idea what size inverter we would need? Appreciate any help

If you intend using a microwave and a standard electric kettle you are going to need a pretty hefty inverter, most domestic kettles range around 2000-3000w so at least a 3-3500w inverter, personally I wouldn’t ever want a microwave in the van, too heavy for the amount of use I’d have of it and a wasted cupboard space
Much prefer to use the gas, plus the inverter knocks hell out of the batteries so you’ll need a fair bit of solar and sun for a big inverter. But we are all different, so just my view.

 

[funflair]

Hi, could I ask your advise pls( new to this solar power lark) we have 100s solar panel, it was mentioned we would need an inverted if we wanted to use our sockets off grid..we don't use a tv..so wil! Only be for phone charging, kettle of microwave, any idea what size inverter we would need? Appreciate any help

Kettle or microwave I would say 2kw inverter BUT do you have the battery bank for it? at least 400ah and then a decent amount of solar (more than 100watts) to recharge, if you can't match this then sadly the gas kettle advice might be the best

 

[irnbru]

Out the blue replies from 2020 Hopefully Snoopy will know the answer before now.

 

[Snoopy]

( yes thanks, anyway for the reply)

 

[Reallyretired]

Kettle on gas but unfortunately nobody has invented a gas microwave. Ours is only used occasionally mainly for my fish as swmbo is allergic to it.

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[Pinebeam 22]

Have you got to have an inverter to use the sockets through your solar panels

 

[peterc10]

Have you got to have an inverter to use the sockets through your solar panels

Yes. But you do not use them through the solar panel directly. The solars charge your batteries which in turn supply your inverter. But as others have said you will need several solar panels and leisure batteries if you want to use the likes of electric kettles and even then they will not work in the winter in the UK.