Should I get 150W Solar Panels from Solar Technologies (1 Viewer)

[yorkieman]

I'm thinking of getting solar panels.

I've been on with Autosound in Bradford. They do solar panels from Solar Technologies UK and have them in all sizes up to 150w.

The price for the 150w one is £529 inc VAT.

Am I being mad? Do I really need 150w or could I manage with a lot less?

Also, does anyone knows anything about those digital displays that shows you how well your solar panels are working. Does that come with all solar panels or do you have to pay extra for it?

Thanks for your help with this.

 

[thehutchies]

Why not buy two 80W panels for about £200?

Plenty on eBay. :thumb:

 

[Spacerunner]

Unless its part of a 'package' then digital displays and regulators are an extra cost.

I have two panels totalling 140 watts. These drive a single Elecsol 125 a/h battery. The balance between them works very well.

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[DP+JAY]

I found that 80watt panels are the best value for money, that 150w is 5 times the price I paid for an 80w.

 

[brynric]

I've got a 110w panel. We don't watch much tv and all the lighting is led and even in this overcast weather the battery (110 amp) is usually fully charged.
I bought a Victron 600 monitor. It was easy to fit and gives very clear information about the state of charge and what's going in or out. It means I worry much less than I used to about how much power we have spare.

 

[Gromett]

3 x 80 watts at £100 each
1 x 20Amp MPPT regulator @ £60
1 x NASA battery monitor @ £90
6mm Cable @ £20
Entry Box @ £10
SikaFlex £8

Total £488

That is 240Watts, digital meter and 6mm cable.... All bought off ebay.

Knock off the NASA monitor and drop down to 2 panels and it comes in at less than £300.

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[hilldweller]

3 x 80 watts at £100 each
1 x 20Amp MPPT regulator @ £60
1 x NASA battery monitor @ £90
6mm Cable @ £20
Entry Box @ £10
SikaFlex £8

Total £488

That is 240Watts, digital meter and 6mm cable.... All bought off ebay.

Knock off the NASA monitor and drop down to 2 panels and it comes in at less than £300.

And the meter is not needed so real cost £398.

 

[haganap]

And the meter is not needed so real cost £398.

Don't you dare tell me my Nasa BM1 is not needed. :Angry:

I spent £90 on that to conduct my last experiment...

However Nikki is getting very frustrated with me waking up to check the usage of the toilet pump.

Needed V Toy's Brian, I can see we have not yet educated you....

 

[hilldweller]

Needed V Toy's Brian, I can see we have not yet educated you....

Old dogs, new tricks, and they don't come much older and still stand up.

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[yorkieman]

3 x 80 watts at £100 each
1 x 20Amp MPPT regulator @ £60
1 x NASA battery monitor @ £90
6mm Cable @ £20
Entry Box @ £10
SikaFlex £8

Total £488

That is 240Watts, digital meter and 6mm cable.... All bought off ebay.

Knock off the NASA monitor and drop down to 2 panels and it comes in at less than £300.

Sounds great, but I'm hopeless at DIY.

I figured for the money I'd have a single panel, all fitted, tested and working, and if anything went wrong I'd have someone to go and see.

I do like the sound of the NASA BM1 and that isn't included, but I reckon I can probably buy one of those and have them fit it at the same time.

I'm taking the MH in primarily to have a nice new double din audio system put in (with satnav) and a TV ariel so figured they could do everything at one go, and I might get a discount.

That said, the thought of having 240w is pretty enticing as that's a lot more than 150w.

 

[yorkieman]

Don't you dare tell me my Nasa BM1 is not needed. :Angry:

I spent £90 on that to conduct my last experiment...

However Nikki is getting very frustrated with me waking up to check the usage of the toilet pump.

Needed V Toy's Brian, I can see we have not yet educated you....

I've just found the Nasa BM1 in the RoadPro catalogue. Looks great. I love gadgets too so I'm with you on that one

Where did you get it for £90 as it is is £119.99 in the Roadpro catalogue?

 

[Taran_Las]

Amazon £99.74.

Other suppliers have varying prices.

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[hilldweller]

Where did you get it for £90 as it is is £119.99 in the Roadpro catalogue?

Oh shit, you've done it now. He told Nikki it was £90.

 

[SandJ]

I would contact Ash, Cls or Techno and get a quote from one or all of them and save yourself £££££

There are others as well like Johnscross, Dave Newell, Rhino installations, Eddie Vanbitz all have good reputations

Just a case of shopping around

:thumb::thumb:

 

[Loujess]

Not being a techie, can I just say, we have a 90w panel, no leds and if the weather's bad we might watch tv all evening and never go short of power. Even on cloudy days, we're still taking in power. Admittedly, we don't use hairdryers or things like that. Just the lights and tv.

Ivy

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[Gromett]

And the meter is not needed so real cost £398.

I did say "Knock off the NASA monitor and drop down to 2 panels and it comes in at less than £300."

I've just found the Nasa BM1 in the RoadPro catalogue. Looks great. I love gadgets too so I'm with you on that one

Where did you get it for £90 as it is is £119.99 in the Roadpro catalogue?

Ebay. It was £78 + carriage.

I didn't do a a Buy it now. I just looked all the ones that were new and on auction and put in a max bid of £90. Took about 2 weeks and got one.
They are on regularly by about 3 suppliers.

Everything I got to do the job was off ebay except the aluminium angle which I bought for less than £5 in a local hardware store.

 

[Gromett]

PS: there is one ending in 2 hours
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Currently at £53...

Ex Demo. Same place I got mine from. Good to deal with.

 

[Techno]

You didn't make it clear that the price of the 150watt panel was "fitted" ? if so that's reasonably good :thumb:

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[haganap]

Yorkie I got my NASA from eBay,,,, I would scrap solar panels and go for the sterling battery to battery charger

 

[callumwa]

Yorkie I got my NASA from eBay,,,, I would scrap solar panels and go for the sterling battery to battery charger

Paul, Is it the same model as this?

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[Gromett]

Got a Sterling B2B as well. Great if you are driving but not as useful as solar panels if you are on a rally for a week.. I was at Stratford for a week and the solar panels did me proud.. Last year I had my genny on every day. This year it was only on once on sunday for 2 hours.

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[John & Joan]

I have fitted 2 x 130 watt "Solara" Solar Panels and a Morningstar Duo (25amp) 90%/10% split regulator. That way both sets of batteries are kept topped up. These were supplied by All Solar. He does the shows.

We fitted these at the end of May and I have been keeping records of the panel output from 1st June.

So far the peak output of the two panels has been 18 amps. The daily average is 75.5Ah/day The best day recorded was just under 100Ah/day. Most days when the sun is shining and not obscured by thick cloud we are getting about 10 amps between 11am and 3pm. I am in the south lakes near Haverigg.

I hope these figures give you some usefull information.

I would say fit as many panels as you can, but back them up with as many batteries as you can. We have 3 x 110ah leisure batteries. We also have a 40 amp B2B fitted. Fitting 2 x 80s means if one goes down or is damaged you still have some solar charge.

John

 

[freelanderuk]

are these panels any good , they say they are for domestic use and seam cheap
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